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Graham Phillips Barbel Rod

Roger Simmons

Roger Simmons

Active Member
I have just acquired one of these in a 1lb 1/4oz test curve with a built in quiver. I believe they were made by a certain Paul Boote who use to post on here. I just wondered if anyone knows what blank etc they were made from?
 
I cannot offer any information on that rod I'm afraid, but owning a couple of rods from that stable, I would bet money on it being a wonderful thing.
 
I think many of his rods were built on Century blank. I have 2x 1.75 and a 2.25 built by Paul in about 1984. They have gone very soft over the intervening 40 years !
 
Sometimes I wonder why I bother replying to these threads. It must be the Close Season.

Moderator Edited - post reported and edited.
 
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Hi Roger

I've had a couple of Graham Phillips Barbel Quivers for nearly 30 years now. These were highly regarded in their day. Paul Boote built the earlier rods until Nicholas Whip took over the company and continued the building.

Mine are the 1.25 Barbel Quivers. These came with a removable top eye and an overfit quiver, Fuji single leg eyes and Roberts reel fits, and built on Century blanks. A proper through action rod that will bend tight through to the butt when maximum pressure is applied. Matched with a Cardinal 54 they accounted for 99% of the Cherwell and Upper Thames barbel that I landed, until I moved down under in 2000. They also doubled up as superb Tench rods, matched with Cardinal 55s, and accounted for all the Tench I landed from Queenford Lagoon during the same period.

I got Nicholas Whip to kindly supply me with an extra top section for one of the rods, which I passed to Merv Wilkinson (RIP), who chopped it and spiced a 2 ounce quiver into it, which I used for all my Chub fishing. I never was a fan of the overfit quivers as I wanted to retain the rod length at 11ft.

My fishing companion bought a used Graham Phillips Barbel 1.5 SU about 18 months ago. He stripped it, put a new cork handle and screw down reel fit on it, rewhipped it with the original eyes, and touched up the varnish. Our next session on the Thames he landed a 15.4 lb Barbel on it!

The two rods I have are still fully in tact, with removeable top eyes and overfit quivers, and in very good condition for their age, which is testament to the quality of the rod build, no ED problems either!! Had thought about cleaning them up and moving them on, as I have slowly converted to Harrisons over the last few years.

Mick
 
I think mine might be the same as yours Mick. I have given it a good rub down with a viagra based matt varnish and teamed it up with a speedia. The total cost for the reel and rod was ten pounds of your finest english money (seven for the rod three for the reel). Looking forward to the new season trying them on the stour/avon.
 

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Derek Funcks said:
Get a life.
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Apologies for the offence.

What I actually said was <edit> - an admittedly abstruse reference to somebody overly concerned about the onset of old age and things going ‘soft’.

If I’d written <edit> - then I need a good telling off.

FWIW the original comment about those Century blanks changing with age was made in good faith - to warn people to check them before they consider buying them…..
 
Hi Roger - I knew I had this somewhere. More info on Graham Phillips rods you may find useful. Very nice rods…
 

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I have a Tench Float and a Barbel Quiver and I would say that even today, for light line big fish fishing they are pretty unrivalled.
 
Roger Simmons said:
I think mine might be the same as yours Mick. I have given it a good rub down with a viagra based matt varnish and teamed it up with a speedia. The total cost for the reel and rod was ten pounds of your finest english money (seven for the rod three for the reel). Looking forward to the new season trying them on the stour/avon.
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Good luck on the Stour and Avon Roger. Cracking rods to play fish on. I just had a little play with one of mine and a Speedia. They balance very nicely, and the Roberts fits hold it on very tight and you can position it perfectly on the butt. After my mate got in all sorts of trouble last year though, using a pin trying to land a big Thames lump and losing it at the net I'll be staying with Daiwa SS. :)
 
Roger Simmons said:
I have just acquired one of these in a 1lb 1/4oz test curve with a built in quiver. I believe they were made by a certain Paul Boote who use to post on here. I just wondered if anyone knows what blank etc they were made from?
Click to expand...
I'd go with Century though don't know for sure. I have the 12 foot Barbel trotter which I'm pretty sure is on a Century. Despite its age its still a first class rod and the best I own for trotting lumps of flake for Chub. I also have the original Barbel quiver. There were lots of these about in the early 90s when people usually used 1 1/4lb TC rods!
 
Andrew Jackson said:
I'd go with Century though don't know for sure. I have the 12 foot Barbel trotter which I'm pretty sure is on a Century. Despite its age its still a first class rod and the best I own for trotting lumps of flake for Chub. I also have the original Barbel quiver. There were lots of these about in the early 90s when people usually used 1 1/4lb TC rods!
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Mine has the detachable quiver tip so not the same as yours. I rarely used the quiver tip!
 
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