Antique bamboo fly rod appraisal

Question

I inherited a fly rod from my dad who was born in 1892. Description follows:

   The rod comes in a cloth case, is 5 short sections,
Total length when put together is 7 ft 6 inches. The
handle is cork with I believe a nickle-silver reel holder
which has a jTk marking engraved in the metal. Each section
has one line guide secured to the rod with a dark green
threat. Each section of the rod has alternate red and dark
green tread wrapped bands 1 5/8" apart the length of the rod.
There is no cracking in the varnish or what ever the coating
is over the rod and wrapping and line guide wraps. I believe
it is early 1900's.

  Any thoughts on the value of this or where I could get it
appraised would be appreciated.
 Tnx
 Dave H.  

Answer
Hi Dave,

Sounds like a nice rod.  I am not familiar with the jTk marking, so that will take some digging to find out who the rod maker really was.

Is the handle made of sheet cork or cork rings?  If rings, approximately what size?

The reel seat is nickel-silver.  The intermediate wrappings indicate an older rod made from what is called "Calcutta cane" and serve to reinforce the glue used in joining the six strips together.  The glues they had in those days were not as good as what we have now and the intermediate wraps are functional.  The rod is probably coated in varnish and you are right, it is probably late 1800s or early 1900s.

Value would depend somewhat on maker since you indicate the rod is a pretty good shape.  If this one is pretty rare, the value would be higher.  If it is pretty common, the value would be lower. Some people don't like the old pack rods because they think the multiple ferrules detract from the action.  Some people do like them and collect them.  I would guess (this is really a guess) the value for even a more common version would be in the $200-$300 range.  If you can provide pictures it would be helpful.  Send them to [email protected] and I'll see what else I can uncover about the rod.

If it turns out to be rare, then you would need to find an appraiser near you.

You should get some sort of tube (even PVC pipe will work) to protect the rod.

Thanks,  Joe