J S Sharpe
Sharpes of Aberdeen
J. S. Sharpe opened his fishing tackle business at 11 Belmont Street, Aberdeen in 1920. Over the next 50 years, the firm would occupy a total of three retail premises, but all at various locations on Belmont Street. In addition to the shops, Sharpes operated two factories manufacturing reels, lures but most famously, cane fishing rods.
Sharpes pre-WW2 rods were fairly conventional UK pattern split cane rods, with multiple intermediates, bridge guides and the familiar rubber butt button for a butt spear. It is only after the war that the practice of immersing rod blanks in phenolic resin was introduced. These "impregnated" blanks became the foundation of the "Scottie" range of rods with the instantly recognisable Scottie Dog branding. Like many other companies with machining/assembly capacity in the fishing tackle industry, Sharpes undertook war work during WW2, and like other companies, the experience was to have a profound effect on their post war products. For Sharpes it was the availability of precision high capacity milling machines, - supplied to enable them to produce components for aero-engines, that made the increase in volume and quality of its post war rod output possible.
In 1971 the firm was acquired by Farlow's, with whom there had been a long-standing retail agreement. Farlow's continued to operate some of the Aberdeen manufacturing facilities, but cane rod making ceased in Aberdeen in 1982 at which time the brand and assets were acquired by S & J Tackle. S& J Tackle were Simon and John Weaver, who were responsible for the much respected Weaver fly tying vice. Today you can buy a new made Scottie fly rod from Pete Waterhouse at Scottie Products. The little dog just keeps going on and on...
Even before taking over the operation in Aberdeen, Farlow's had a special relationship with Sharpes. This is the export catalogue from 1970, the year before the takeover and includes Sharpes entire cane rod output. There's a fascinating article about Sharpes manufacturing methods as well as descriptions of all the available rods which makes it a handy template for displaying the examples of Sharpes rods in WVFFM.
You can read a much more comprehensive history of Sharpes on Colin Innes web site, Feathers, Flies and Phantoms
Sharpes pre-WW2 rods were fairly conventional UK pattern split cane rods, with multiple intermediates, bridge guides and the familiar rubber butt button for a butt spear. It is only after the war that the practice of immersing rod blanks in phenolic resin was introduced. These "impregnated" blanks became the foundation of the "Scottie" range of rods with the instantly recognisable Scottie Dog branding. Like many other companies with machining/assembly capacity in the fishing tackle industry, Sharpes undertook war work during WW2, and like other companies, the experience was to have a profound effect on their post war products. For Sharpes it was the availability of precision high capacity milling machines, - supplied to enable them to produce components for aero-engines, that made the increase in volume and quality of its post war rod output possible.
In 1971 the firm was acquired by Farlow's, with whom there had been a long-standing retail agreement. Farlow's continued to operate some of the Aberdeen manufacturing facilities, but cane rod making ceased in Aberdeen in 1982 at which time the brand and assets were acquired by S & J Tackle. S& J Tackle were Simon and John Weaver, who were responsible for the much respected Weaver fly tying vice. Today you can buy a new made Scottie fly rod from Pete Waterhouse at Scottie Products. The little dog just keeps going on and on...
Even before taking over the operation in Aberdeen, Farlow's had a special relationship with Sharpes. This is the export catalogue from 1970, the year before the takeover and includes Sharpes entire cane rod output. There's a fascinating article about Sharpes manufacturing methods as well as descriptions of all the available rods which makes it a handy template for displaying the examples of Sharpes rods in WVFFM.
You can read a much more comprehensive history of Sharpes on Colin Innes web site, Feathers, Flies and Phantoms
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The first of the rods offered int he catalogue is the "Featherweight". Farlow's describe it as:
"Lightweight as their name implies ,yet powerful enough to fish all day without strain or fatigue. Suitable for dry or wet fly on small to medium rivers." The rod was available in 4 length: 7', 7' 6", 8', 8' 6". This particular example is the longest. Originally supplied with a single tip, the original tip has been shortened and a second replacement tip supplied by Sharpes. Ferrules on Sharpes rods were marked with a unique rod number, on each male and female. You can tell that a Sharpes rod is all original by matching the numbers. A mismatch is from another rod, a blank ferrule is a replacement section. |
The second group of rods illustrated are described as "Sharpes Staggered Ferrule Series". These rods were based on designs from the Swiss fly fisher, Charles Ritz who developed the distinctive asymmetric blank to provide what was described as a "parabolic" action. Some models in this range were made up on cane blanks supplied by Pezon et Michel, the French equivalent to Hardy's, with whom Ritz had been collaborating. The catalogue features the "Eighty-Eight" at 8' 8", the "Eighty-Three" at 8' 3" and the "Seventy-Nine" at 7' 9". WVFFM doesn't have examples of the first two, but we do have a "Fario 85" at 8' 5", again designed by Charles Ritz.
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These rods were marketed as being ideal for the bigger dry fly rivers. Powerful but accurate the "88" became one of Farlow's best sellers. Most of Sharpes' later rods were wrapped in burgundy with the ferrules occasionally wrapped with copper wire. This rod is finished in a very handsome scheme of apple green silk, tipped burgundy. Another important feature is the lightweight, anodised aluminium reel seat, set directly on the cork. There is an extensive green jasper silk repair wrap on the top section.
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This feature of a lightweight reel seat is carried over into the shortest of the staggred ferrule rods, the 7' 9" "Seventy-Nine". Introduced in 1970 this rod was described as being "sweet in the hand, with an ample reserve of power".
Aside from the reel seat, the rest of the rod follows the typical pattern for a Sharpes' rod of the period. |
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The next page of the catalogue features the ubiquitous "Scottie". This was the mainstay of the Sharpes rod range and was available in a variety of lengths, 9', 9' 6" and 10'. Scottie rods were uniformly finished with burgundy wraps and supplied as two-piece , one tip.
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The Scottie was also supplied as a three-piece rod, designed for convenience and re-branded as "The Aberdeen".
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