I dug out my Normark Norboron 10 foot 8 weight the other day.
I remember Magnus and Richard Walker having these and casting silly distances with ease. I believe the likes of Peter Cockwill, Charles Jardine and other prestigious anglers used them. I bought mine secondhand from one of Richards customers. (Mike something, well known local angler, worked in the paper mills) for £150..which was a lot of money back then.
The 10 foot 8 weight seems to be the one to have and commands good prices on ebay. The shorter ones seem to go for a lot less.
I also found 2 part built "Pike Fly Fishing Association" blanks that I had rolled by Harrison. I designed and made these for the PFFA and sold a couple of dozen rods from simple builds to fancy before I moved. These blanks are from the first run, one in carbon grey, the other in bottle green.
And one for the coarse anglers (but with a strong connection to Spey casting), I came across my old Daiwa AKN (AKN12H) carp rods. I built these from blanks in the early 90's and I am now re-building them. They are a highly prized find and really sought after rods. Retail was £245 but they are fetching silly money these days.
However, they really are one of the nicest rods to cast and fish with and designed by perhaps the most talented designer of all times, Nobuo Nodera.
He is now the chief designer and founder of CND Spey rods. He developed all the double handed rods for Daiwa from about 1983, and was the one that pushed the Amorphous salmon rods and gave Simon Gawesworth his break.
