Old School fishing tips /advice

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by Irishman

My Grandfather taught me this...over thirty years ago....when you first get a new fishing rod...grab clear coat nail varnish and paint the top and bottom of where the eyes meet the rod. It was from when he made his own fly rods and it sealed the wrap. I have done it ever since the and it prolongs the life of a rod, plus adding strength. Bet it would be sage advice for kayak fisherfolk.

Thirty+ years ago most rods were single wrap with a minimal coat of varnish over the wraps. This type of coating was particularly susceptible to cracking especially at the top and bottom of the wrap.

Rod wrapping supplies were also harder to find then today. For instance when I started wrapping my rods my only source for wrapping epoxy was in Port Aransas hundreds of miles from my home.

Since fingernail polish was widely available guys would often paint fingernail polish over flaws or cracks in the varnish over the wraps.

Some guys became like fingernail polish experts. They'd paint it over the whole of the wraps while turning the rod to get a smooth finish, remove it when it started to crack with finger polish remover then re-coat it periodically to keep there rods looking "good".

It's all relative. The Technology has advanced. Wrap epoxy is easy to find now, the finish you can get with epoxy looks better and is also far superior then anything you can get with fingernail polish.