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This catalog was the very first year for the Epoxite line, so the rod line was very limited. The Epoxites in 1971 and 1972 were salmon colored and they aren't seen too often. That might be from a combination of four rod models and low production. Once 3M bought the company in 1973, the Epoxites became buff/tan colored and were marked 3M. The 3M rods are seen much more often.

I love the advertising prose describing the new glass ferrules with the "gold band" and the various allusions to weddings. Bill Phillipson was a master at designing and manufacturing great fly rods. Someone on his staff was a master ad writer!

I have one of the brown glass, spigot ferruled, 3M "Epoxite" rods. These rods were never cataloged by Phillipson. I think they are Fisher made rod blanks that evolved into the Scientific Angler System rods. The flex and hardware are dead ringers for the System rods. Mind you, they are very nice fly rods. SA System rods are highly sought for a good reason. Finding any Fisher glass blank is tough. But I think the brown glass rods are Epoxites by label only.

The 9'6" Epoxite is Unobtainium. I've looked for a long time and the only one to hit the market sold for a scary high price. Rick's Rods doesn't have any of the blanks in stock (I called and asked). Rick has a lot of other Phillipson materials, including other Epoxite blanks, but none of the 9'6", 5 weight. For anyone that thinks this would be an interesting fishing experience, I recommend the 9 foot, 4/5 weight South Fork Classic. I've been fishing one for a couple months now and I'm getting very, very fond of it.


Tom