Life's too short to fish a Wonder Rod! Great memories, but the first
generation synthetic rods weren't all that great.

I must have had at least a dozen fly and spinning Wonder Rods over the
years, so they gave me plenty of enjoyment. Most were bright white
with red tipped with black windings. However, they nearly all failed
from UV light cracking the binding cloth. The last one I fished was a
8 wt I used for bass poppers. I didn't use it much so it lasted about
35 years, but it eventually broke down too. I also had a 6 ft 4 wt
Wonder Rod with gray tipped with black windings. It was such a wet
noodle I sold it at a yard sale, but I wish I had it back.

I still have one Presidential rod - the top of the line Wonder Rod.
Back in the late 50's and early 60's the Presidential rods were just as
expensive as a Payne bamboo rod at about $50! Guess which was the
better long term investment. It is just OK compared to today's rods
but it comes in a heavy wall extruded aluminum tube which is the most
rugged rod tube I have ever seen.

My Wonder Rod days ended in 1969 when I got one of those brown 9' 5 wt
Fenwicks. I couldn't afford to buy the rod, so I went to a sporting
goods wholesaler in Bethlehem PA that had the blanks and I made it
myself. Those brown Fenwicks, Berkeley Panametrics, and Scientific
Anglers rods spelled the end of the Wonder Rod era, and it wasn't long
before graphite rods took over.


--
JeffK
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