A nice Maxwell Leonard bamboo fly rod, 38DF-4, 7', 2-piece, 2 tips, built for a #4 line. Serial #514 indicating a rod built in 1979. Medium fast DF action yet the rod flexes down to the swell. The rod is used but in excellent condition. The varnish is perfect and there are no casting cracks at the ferrule wraps. The snake guides have just a slight hint of wear. The cane is oven tempered to a wheatstraw color and is done in a three up node pattern. The nodes are pressed using a steam box and a hand press from Payne that was on loan from Walt Carpenter (we allowed for a shrinkage factor as the strips were oven tempered after cutting). Light honey colored wraps, brown at the ferrules, and with purple edges at the keeper, ferrules, and tip tops. The sections are nice and straight. The grip is well tanned from hand oil and is done in a slim cigar profile that's 5" long. The reel seat is a cap and ring with a mortised curly maple wood spacer. The butt cap has the roller die stamp "HL Leonard Rod Co, The Rod Maker, Since 1869" in a cartouche. The oxidation on the cap and ring is somewhat worn in places. Despite this the oxidation on the ferrules is near perfect. The bag is brown cloth with a stiffener and a leather pull tab. The case is the older style aluminum with a brass top and bottom.
This rod comes from the collection of Dr. Earl Fleegler, a passionate angler and well-known collector in the fly fishing community as well as a renowned hand surgeon. Dr. Fleegler was close friends with a number of angling luminaries including Tom Maxwell, Vince Marinaro, and Stan Bogdan (among others) and devoted considerable effort to collecting some of the finest tackle available from masters of the craft.
