Snyder Glass Surfcasting Rods

[timbo2410]

Hi all, Well I have been out of Oz for over 10 years now but will be returning shortly (thank god).  I was busy packing my fishing gear (which hasn't been used in all the time I've been gone) and I decided to look up some current replacements for my gear. I've a Snyder Glass MT 7144 and an MT 8144 that have been my favorites for years. So I looked up Snyder Glass and couldn't find a website for them. It also appears that nobody seems to stock them where I'm from (not that I could find anyway) .. have they gone bust? What's the latest and greatest 12-13 foot rods around now? I need to match to a Penn 850 and/or Mitchell 499 (yes ancient I know but still in perfect working order).

[Old Scaley]

Hi Timbo. Welcome to the site. I have Snyder glass surf rods as well, and have never seen a reason to change them to something newer. Sure you might find something more contemporary and lighter but it will also be more fragile and won’t last as long as your Snyder rods under the rougher conditions that surf fishing present. They are really tough and cast a mile. If they are your favourites and still catching fish, why change? 

[timbo2410]

Well I would love to .. the only thing that concerns me is that the rods must now be around 20 years old (guessing). They have been inside a sealed (glued caps either end), PVC tube that they were shipped over in for the past 10 years. Can fibreglass go brittle or decompose? They were in pristine condition when packed, always cleaned after use along with my reels .. I suppose the only real test (pardon the pun), is to get them out, load them up and cast .. see what happens. I was more interested to know what happened to Snyder? What connection there is to "Wilson"  and why it all happened .. is it like what happened to Alvey reels? I have a bunch of them but never really got on with them apart from cliff fishing up North W.A. then they came into their own. So if anybody has any insight into Snyder I'd love to hear. So what in the grand scheme of things is considered the best surf rod these days ..