On Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:33:28 -0400, "nrosefl"
wrote:

A neighbor of mine gave me a bamboo fly rod that belonged to his father.
The name on the butt is KIRAK .

That isn't the name of the maker, it's the sound it'll make if you
actually hook up with it...

It had been in his garage for 30 or 40 years
in Florida. He's
80 years old and he doesn't remember when his father got it . It's a 3 piece
rod with an extra tip that came in a wooden box.
I believe its japanese made.

Seriously, it sounds like a Japanese post-war, er, "special" - cheap
"whitewood" box, shiny chrome and bright wrapping?

The top ferrule of the butt section is loose and
I would like to reglue it.

any advice as to glue ( I was thinking Gorilla glue ???)

Ferrule cement. Never use permanent cement on a rod. On the rod in
question, it probably won't matter, but if you got REALLY lucky and got
one of the few decent ones, it'd be a shame to do anything to it one
shouldn't do to a, um, well, real rod.

I would like to try to use the rod but there
is no line weight specified on the rod

Back when these were being made, there was no "weight" rating in
numbers, it was diameter expressed as letters, I (thin) to A (heaviest)
- long story short - all silk weighed the same, so it was diameter that
was key. Look for single letters on it, like H or E, or a 3-letter
group, like HDH or similar. Chances are it has no rating, or has some
arbitrary letter(s) on it, because it isn't a particular taper designed
for a particular line size/weight. Try a 5, gently.

Also should I varnish it before using it ?

If it needs it, sure. There's not really any way to hurt the value.

I would appreciate any information about the rod and any suggestions
about caring for it and type and weight of line.

What you have is , _almost_ certainly, a post-WW2 Japanese rod made to
separate naive gaijin soldiers from their money and, sorry to say, it's
likely not very well-made or much of a rod...but...every so often, one
of these is actually a decent enough _using_ rod. None have _any_ real
monetary or "collector" value. If you are an experienced caster, you'll
know pretty much instantly as to its casting quality. If you're a rank
novice, I'd recommend putting it aside and learning on something else.

As to care, if it is what it sounds like, no special care is needed.

TC,
R

Thanks
Norm Rose