Payne 205 Fly Rod 8'6" 3/1 #5/6 HL Leonard Dual black aluminum sliding ring

Dual black aluminum sliding ring reel seat over a mortised cork spacer

The ferrules are Leonard style step down and all the hardware is polished bright

Black and very fine gold tipping at the winding check

not sure why

Payne 205 Fly Rod 8'6" 3/1 #5/6 HL Leonard Dual black aluminum sliding ringAn excellent E. F. Payne model 205 fly rod, 8'6", 3 piece, 1 tip, built for a #5 or #6 line. Serial #6140 and weighing 4 7 8 oz according to the hangtag. 1950's rod with finial ferrule plugs. Fairly fast action. This rod appears to be in original condition and virtually unused. I could only see a little tiny bit of cleaning on the grip but given the lack of wear elsewhere I suspect that it could have been to remove soiling from basic handling or