Bamboo Fly Rod for Salt?

I have done it a good but with a southbend model 24 8 1/2’ which is similar to your 59.

When I marsh fished for redfish the rod worked good cause most shots were 30-50’ and the slow action let it load quick. Those rods are fairly slow and heavy so when the wind gets up it can be a bit tricky especially depending on your casting skill.

When I got the rod it needed a little work so I stripped it all the way to bare cane, re varnished and re wrapped the guides with saltwater safe hardware. I also removed the factory real seat and installed a new one with a small fighting butt.

When I live now the shots are a good bit further so I don’t use it near as much.

I did have a freak break where it actually snapped in the middle of the factory grip but this was just some issue with the cane probably when it was made as the rod was almost in unused condition. I regripped it and shortened it about 4” and it has fished without issue the last 5 years and caught a good number or redfish, trout, bass, gar and even a couple Bonita.

There are some guys building light and much faster( for bamboo) rods that are salt specific.

To keep it somewhat period correct and to balance the weight I used a pflueger medalist 1498. I added a later model rim control spool, and also cut out the back of the spool and added a leather patch to be able to palm the spool which was a modification I read about in a article from the 80’s by lefty Kreh.

I say go for it.