clear admission that the line guard could, if necessary, be replaced! Unfortunately, the quadrangular shape, as opposed to a half round shape, focused line abrasion at a single point in the corner. In (Medalist) Diamolite it did not matter. In nickel silver it invited more concentrated wear to a corner the material would not resist. Secondly, the guard was almost wafer thin, presenting a blunt knife edge that both seriously scraped a line pulled at angle across it AND resisted abrasion to itself the least. Problem NOT solved. Actually made worse.
No Hardy reel of that era ever achieved the bullet-proof indestructibility of the Medalist. Of course, the Perfect remained….the Perfect.
1950 roughly marks the modern era of fly fishing. Synthetics. Fiberglass….then graphite. Fiberglass WAS mass manufacturing. Fiberglass was dirt cheap, light in weight, ageless, and predictable. Fiberglass did not break (easily), warp or delaminate under pressure, heat, or moisture. Fiberglass was home grown and did not depend upon geo-politics for availability. Fiberglass could be literally “ridden hard and put away wet”. Fiberglass was a blue collar material that put a rod into everyone’s hand and a fly rod into the hand of any fisherman who was interested. Fiberglass was waterproof, corrosion proof, and big fish “set” proof. Fiberglass and the to-follow synthetics made salt water fly fishing possible.
Fiberglass rods were not coddled and could easily retain their fishability for a lifetime, so the attached reels had to be equally durable…and inexpensive. As popular as the Medalist was before synthetics, it was THE reel to be hung on a fiberglass rod. There are probably very, very few American fly fishermen over the age of 60 who have never owned and fished with a Medalist, and who eventually put it up, for a variety of reasons, still functioning perfectly.
Unfortunately, the Medalist suffered from three fatal problems as time went on.
One major advance in reel design in the fiberglass era, especially in the light trout world where the classic click and pawl drag was sufficient , was the exposed rim of the spool . An exposed rim allowed fast and easy modulating of drag with a fingertip. Exposed rim was a major advance and swept reel design. Unfortunately, the Medalist was an old design with millions of reels sold and in use. There was a market and advantage to basically interchangeable parts and spools across a 40 year run. A re-design to achieve an exposed rim would simply not be a Medalist and would end the spool and parts compatibility issue. Tradition!
Secondly, the Medalist was heavy, not the least of the reasons it was indestructible. That was fine to balance fiberglass rods. A new, lighter rod material would transform both characteristics into a negative.