Sweet. I just read about those, last night, in my new copy of "Fiberglass Fly Rods", by Vic Johnson, Jr. Let us know, how you like that bug wand.
P.S. An 8' Action Rod, made by Bronson, from the 1600 series, will weight somewhere around 5 oz. to 5.6 oz. Such a rod, is likely going to be more like a 5 - 7 weight rod. Only a much shorter / lighter rod, would be well-suited for a 1 wt. reel. So, you'll want/need, a larger weight reel for your longer/heavier rod. A little of this, is guess work--based on limited information from their 1956 catalog. (I have only 3 pages of it. Plus, your rod may be older or newer than that).