PINKY GILLUM ROD BUILDER

PINKY GILLUM ROD BUILDER

Abstract: This is a short history of Harold "Pinky" Gillum. The information was taken from 2 noted authors, Dick Spurr and Martin Keane. Dick Spurr's Book Titled "Classic Bamboo Rodmakers Past & Present"was published in 1992 and Martin Keane wrote an article for "Sporting Classics Magazine" in the 1980's.

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This is a short history of Harold "Pinky" Gillum. The information was taken from 2 noted authors, Dick Spurr and Martin Keane. Dick Spurr's Book Titled "Classic Bamboo Rodmakers Past & Present"was published in 1992 and Martin Keane wrote an article for "Sporting Classics Magazine" in the 1980's. Pinky Gillum spent most of his life in Connecticut except for a 5 year period that he spent in Vermont helping Wes Jordan train rod craftsmen for the Orvis Company.
Most authorities agree that Eustis Edwards at the Winchester Rod shop in nearby New Haven gave Pinky his start in rod building. Gillum was a contemporary of Everett Garrison and Jim Payne and shared rod making information with each of them.

 Most authorities agree that Gillum's rods were merely a copy of Garrison and Payne. He used similar ferrules, fashioned similar cork grips and patterned some of his tapers on models made by these two artisans. Gillum rods do not exhibit the attention to detail of other master rodbuilders. Most authorities believe that his position among the top classic rodmakers exceeds the quality of his rods. The controversy centers mainly on the quality of his rods during a brief period in the middle era of Gillum's career. The problem was delamination. The earlier rods used animal hide glue and his later rods used resorcinol glue. It was a brief period  between that he used glue  acquired from George Halstead and these rods created the delamination problem. Halstead rods suffered from the same problem and few examples exist today because of it.
 
In spite of this one problem Gillum rods still to this day command high prices. One reason for the high prices realized is that there were fewer than 2,000 rods produced during his career. His career spanned some 45 years from the mid 20's until his death in 1969.
Early Gillum rods can be identified by his name lettered on the shaft of the rod. Then after 1950 he switched to stamping his name on the metal band of the reelseat. Also early rods display a mottled flame-tempered appearance while later models have a more uniformly colored cane.

According to Martin Keane, it is an undeniable mark of honor to simply own a Gillum rod that came from Pinky himself.He refused to sell his rods to anyone who was suspect of having the slightest tinge of unsportsmanlike-like conduct. No amount of money or convincing argument could sway him. A good number of rods were given away freely to those of limited finances.

A revealing incident occurred following a somewhat reluctant sale of one of his rods to a man  Pinky did not know, but who had mentioned various well-known anglers in his comments to Pinky. A few days later, on Connecticut's Shepaug River, Pinky was fishing below the fellow he recognized as the same name dropping customer of a few days earlier. Pinky happened to glance upriver to evaluate the man's prowess and was shocked to see him violently and repeatedly yanking his new rod to dislodge the fly caught on some underwater obstruction. NO longer able to control himself Pinky splashed up the stream snatched away the startled man's rod, removed the reel, snipped the leader, and handed the man back his money. Without a word he turned with the rod in hand and went to his car. His wife, Winnie, returned from the river hours later to find Pinky in the car silently clutching the rod, a prelude to a long silent ride home.

Mr Keane had many conversations with Winnie Gillum. She recalled the many anxious moments she would undergo when Pinky would emerge from the workshop with a special order custom rod that he had just spent 2 to 3 weeks creating. The back screen door would close quietly as he went out on the lawn to test the rod's special tapers.  As minutes ticked off with agonizing slowness Winnie would await his return. Would he quietly pull the screen door behind him, or would there be a shattering slam followed by the sharp crack of the rod being snapped over his knee, and an explanation of "it just wasn't right".If it wasn't right he would  disappear for another 2 or 3 weeks to build a new rod to satisfy his fussy customer, but for more importantly to satisfy himself.

When you fish with a Gillum you can't help but think of Pinky. Throughout his life he worked absolutely alone. Except for Winnie's artistic application of the silk wrapping, each rod was Gillum's personal creation. They are gorgeous to look at  and they are incredibly sensitive with a surprising range of flexibility. In the end, however, the one thing that really makes them so loved is that a piece of Pinky's uncompromising personality is captured in each Gillum Rod.
One additional note about Pinky Gillum is that he was also an accomplished fly tyer. Although there are few examples of his craft some were recently auctioned at Lang's Sporting auction this April along with a couple of his rods.