Info on Hardy rod/reel

[monger]

So this #7 thing followed me home today. Looks barely used. Haven't used a glass noodle rod in years. And is this one of those reels that you can hear from 2 miles away? I need input from Taco and any other Hardy pros who can tell me what I have

[BrianR]

I have the same reels.Good .GREAT for attracting loons IMO.  The spring broke in the same reel 2x.I fished them ,for 10-15 yrs,only issue the noise.When Frenchy's went up in smoke,i bought complete sets for $25.00  .Smoke damaged...Still have 2 left..

[DonAndersen]

The first Hardy Marquis I bought was in 1971. It still gets used 50 or more days a year. The Marquis forms the backbone of my reel collection with sizes 1>7 in use. I have 8 Marquis c/w many spare spools. After 100>125days/year  since 1971 which means 4500 fishing days with only one issue detailed below, you cannot go wrong.

The only issue I ever had with the reel is when they switched from nickel silver line guards to chrome plastic. That happened on one reel in the late 70’s. 

The Hardy rod you got will be a honey of a rod. The blank was built by J. Kennedy Fisher who also built blanks for many other rod companies including Winston when they were in SAN Francisco.

i have owned several of the blanks all who have cast just great. The rod will not cast like the graphite’s of today but toss it a line it will very well. You will have to drop the (windshield on fast whip/whip stuff) exhibited by the fast action graphite bunch and adopt a more lazy stroke. 

Enjoy your purchase.As far as the Hardy drag, noise, I I hope they never change it. Like the grumble of a Harley, the throaty blast from a MGB , Hardy drag noise is what FFing is all about.

regards,

 

Don

[Dangus]

I think it means you need to put that Allen reel away and have this one lined up. Haha

only thing I find is that they’re pretty light which doesn’t balance things well.  I put lead core under the backing and it improved things quite a bit on the rods I use them with.  Just do it backwards first.  Line->backing->leadcore until balanced adequately and spool filled to ideal height and then just reverse.  Probably obvious for most, but this dumbass did it the hard way a few times. 

[monger]

Thanks for the info folks. From what I found the rod looks to be a Fibalite #7, 8.5ft produced around 1976

The rod was my late uncle's who was not much of a serious fisherman, hence it was barely used. His wife bought it for him while on vacation in England.  I also was given an old bamboo rod that looks like it has seen a few hard days. I'll post some pics of that later.

Now I have my Dad's bamboo, Uncle's bamboo and this old Hardy fiberglass to go exercise some mountain fish on Family Fishing Remembrance Day. I may need some ear protection until I learn to enjoy all the reel noise

[SilverDoctor]

Wow great find, Hardy the Marquis are great reels, last for a life-time. It’s the workhorse of the line with a palming rim & classic sound. I’ve taken quite a few Steelhead with a #2 Salmon sized one. Would be nice to see the face of the reel to try to date it as the color of the face changed. This is the Trout/Light Salmon sized one. 

The Hardy hardy Fibalite Perfection is a nice find, owned on many years ago. The spigot ferrules help to more efficiently transfer energy for a smooth cast. Medium-fast, action bit faster than most glass rods of this time period with lots of backbone and sensitive tips.

[reset]

Yes a great find indeed. Love old reels. Especially vintage Brit fly reels. I hope you get great pleasure out of using it. 

[SilverDoctor]

Love vintage Hardy's and other old reels have a modest collection amassed over the years. If there is enough interest In vintage stuff I'll start posting some.

[reset]

41 minutes ago, SilverDoctor said:

Love vintage Hardy's and other old reels have a modest collection amassed over the years. If there is enough interest In vintage stuff I'll start posting some.

Please do. That would be great as far as im concerned anyway.

[monger]

Another picture for you Lornce. Looks like a chrome covered plastic line guard

 

[SilverDoctor]

From what I know it looks to be from the '70s, the spools on them was silver like you'res, they later went with a solid grey spool in the '90s. The earlier ones came with a blue vinyl case. Hope this helps.

[Roast]

I have a scientific angler system 6 reel that was made by Hardy and I believe was a precursor to the marquis line. I also have a Marquis 6 and they are both great reels.  Yours looks to have the ring tension system versus the click pawl, and I haven’t used one with that style drag. I found the drag know doesn’t make a huge difference, but It doesn’t matter as it has the palming rim. I love when you get a hot fish on these, they sing. I want my ringtone to be a screaming hardy click pawl reel, it’s one of my favorite sounds.

[monger]

Well I put about 50 fish to work with the old rod and reel this weekend. Had to slow the casting stroke down considerably, but it was pretty nice to fish. Fighting the fish was sure different, with the rod bending all the way down to the cork. Can't say the rod has bumped it's way into the line up, but I will use it occasionally.

The reel sounds better about 10" under the water

[DonAndersen]

On 4/21/2019 at 9:14 PM, monger said:

Well I put about 50 fish to work with the old rod and reel this weekend. Had to slow the casting stroke down considerably, but it was pretty nice to fish. Fighting the fish was sure different, with the rod bending all the way down to the cork. Can't say the rod has bumped it's way into the line up, but I will use it occasionally.

The reel sounds better about 10" under the water

Peasant!

Hardys are meant to be heard.

Please send it to me, I appreciate quality.

 

Don

[monger]

It is true Don, I don't have the ears for a Hardy. It works well enough though.

All my reels are essentially silent and that is what I am used to. Obviously I just don't know what I am missing.

I think I will give it away to some person who is just learning this fun, new game

[reset]

2 hours ago, monger said:

It is true Don, I don't have the ears for a Hardy. It works well enough though.

All my reels are essentially silent and that is what I am used to. Obviously I just don't know what I am missing.

I think I will give it away to some person who is just learning this fun, new game

What a wonderful gift that would be and what a way for a newbie to get broke in listening to Hardy music.  Hopefully that person appreciates what he/she is getting. 

[Taco]

meh... the Islander IR shriek is much cooler

[bowbonehead]

Hey Rob, good find and yes they are loud.... everyone will know you have one on now..... I still have all mine from back in the sixties seventies era mine were purchased from WOODWARDS  and Frenchies as this was pre fly shops.... you definitely will need to palm these as drag is minimal with the spring pawl set-up.....

[monger]

Oh great BA, like I need those other obnoxious guys I fish with trying to get into my bucket.

News from the sandy south sounded pretty awesome

[DonAndersen]

23 hours ago, Taco said:

meh... the Islander IR shriek is much cooler

Taco,

The Islander is Canadian after all.  It is expected to be low key even apologetic.

Don

 

[FishnChips]

I have a Hardy JET 9WT that I collected a few years ago. The glass blanks are identical in colour to fibreglass Hardy Mooching Rods which were popular in the '70s on the BC coast. The mooching rods were best paired with Hardy Longstone Reels which I loved to listen to when a strike occurred. The Longstone Serenade was a delight back in the day.

When I fly fish, rather like Monger, the noise of some Hardy reels is a tad intrusive. I have a Marquis, but it's just gathering dust. I use a St. George on a lovely 4 WT bamboo rod my wife gifted me years ago. It's growly and I like it very much. It's a work of art and I love the leather box. For me, Hardy has always been the Rolls-Royce of fishing equipment. There is flashier stuff, even better stuff, but Hardy set the standard imho. I believe Islander in some ways is the heir apparent to Hardy on the BC coast.

I fish my Hardy JET 9 WT with a Ross reel. Gets the job done. I bought the JET off the 'web, it was in near-new condition, though the tube was a bit rough. The original owner's business card was still taped to the tube and the original receipt from Harkley & Heywood in Vancouver was included. I sourced the rod from Oregon, but the business card was from a downtown office tower in Vancouver, on Hastings Street, just a long cast from where my Dad's office was... it was a funny coincidence all those decades later. 

For nostalgia buffs there is a nice movie entitled The Lost World of Mr Hardy which is most worthwhile.

 

[DonAndersen]

FishnChips says “ I have a Hardy JET 9WT that I collected a few years ago. The glass blanks are identical in colour to fibreglass Hardy Mooching Rods which were popular in the '70s on the BC coast.”

The rod blank was made by J. Kennedy Fisher who built blanks for Winston & Hardy as well as a number of smaller companies. I have owned a number of blanks built by them. Wonderful rods. 

 

Don

[Roast]

I’ve have 2 islander Large arbor IR reels. I have had problems with both of them. One had too much play when locked on the spool. Islander was great to deal with and when it came back it was much better.

The other has drag issues, the drag locks up. Switched out pawls and posts, still doesn’t work correctly. Will have to send it back as well. Not impressed when compared to my Hardy’s that are 30-40 years old and have no issues. Wanted to support a Canadian company, but won’t buy islander again.

[SilverDoctor]

Have owned a few Islanders with no problems. A XL4" which I used for 6 years and now lives with another owner. and an XL for small streams. Mind you my fav is a Hardy Cascapedia MKII.