A co-worker brought in a bamboo rod to show me today. It's labeled H-I, which I'm assuming stands for Horrocks-Ibotson (did I spell that right??) It's a President model, no line weight rating, but a sticker noting that it's Tonkin cane. Neat old rod, the handle assembly looks more like a spinning setup - picture no foregrip, a cap/ring seat, and about a 6-7" long cork rear handle. It has snake guides, missing one, and one female ferrule has come apart from the bamboo. The corresponding male ferrule is dinged/tweaked. My guess is someone got a bit rough trying to remove the sections and did this. He's asked me to repair it - and also to see if I can find a 'rough' value of the rod. I've not worked with bamboo, so I'm very leary - I don't want to ruin this rod. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good bamboo repair book or site? Also - anyone have any more info about this rod, including a guestimated value?

If need be, I can post some pics.

Thanks in advance!!

I just rebuilt a Governor model of this same rod for a customer. All the ferrules were loose, two splits in the mid section, one in the tip section, all but three guides missing, the reel seat grunged, the cork grip split most of it's length and swelled and rotted besides. There are some things to look for and some techniques you can use that might help. Joe Douglas and Andy Dear and several others on this BBS helped me a lot. Email me directly and I'll try to help.

These were "hardware store" rods, not necessarily low-end but fairly common back about forty to sixty years or so. The can be fixed up very nicely.

Uncle Russ
Calico Creek Rods

Thanks guys - Ibbotson it is :-)

Fred - I'll do a search there - I think I know the site that Tom's filter screened out on your post.

I kind of figured it was a low-end rod, it's short on fancy and long on 'production' :-) Neat rod though - I'm going to work with it.

Thanks again!

Rich

Let me tell ya, the Tonka Queen I have is one of the finer casting rods for my fly fishing stroke out of all the bamboo rods I have (some pretty high end). Plus it was my grandfather's rod that I learned on, so for posterity reasons alone its nice to have around.

The only thing that I wish was a bit better was the hardware, but that can be changed if you are in the mood to do it. I am lucky enough my grandfather babied that rod and it was in new condition (including sock with labels and tags) when I got it.

One day I'll get one of my custom 'boo maker buddies to build me up a tonka queen blank and I will retire my grandfather's rod. Then I can put all the niceties on the new one and keep the old one original.

Rich
I just picked up a fiberglass H-I fly rod about a month ago and asked just about the same question. At one of the users on this sites request I googled H-I. Interesting read with some good information on how to Identify roughly when your rod was made by the different labels that were used at different times. H-I started making rods in the late 1800's and at one time were the largest fishing equipment manufacturer. Having a fishing rod that belonged to your grandfather makes it priceless in itself.

Rich;
The President was one of their top 6 models out of several dozen all the years that model was made, in the earliest years it was the to of the line model. If I understand you correctly, the grip and seat are set up like a casting rod, with the cane going into the reel seat and the grip at the back and snake guides on the rod? If so, see if there is a female ferrule in the back of the grip and also see if you can separate the grip /seat assembly from the rest of the rod, it sounds to me like you might have a combination model that can be used as both a fly rod and a casting/spinning rod. As for value, even the best H-I isn't worth a whole lot, there were just too many of them made and they weren't expensive when new, but a top of the line model will at least be a decent fishing rod. What length is it, btw?
john

Rich,
A very good reference on the restoration of the early bamboo fly rods is Michael Sinclair's "Bamboo Rod Restoration Handbook." He lists many of the models of the major manufacturers and discusses their hardware and wrap specs. This book is almost always available on @#$%&. As John mentioned the President fly rod model was top of the line at H-I in the early 20s. Selling price, according to Sinclair's book, was $18, a lot of money to pay for a fishing rod back then. In the 30s, other models like the Cunningham and Vernley, rose to the top of the line. I believe that H-I also made a casting rod with the same name and it sounds like that's what you may have. Either way, refinishing techniques will be the same and there's a good discussion in Sinclair's book.

If there's a decal on the rod, you can roughly place the time of manufacture with the H-I rods.

I love to fool with these old bamboo rods. The two-piece H-I rods, like the Tonka Queen Steven has, are very good rods. The Canada Creek also has a good taper and is worth owning. They're fun to rebuild and a lot of fun to fish. They deserve a second life. Drop me an email if you have any questions as you get started on this project.