I have a customer's antique solid wood fly rod, made by Henry Wilkes & Co, of Studley - Redditch England. It is 8' 8" long, in 4 sections, with brass ferrules and locking rings on the "reel seat" and a brass plate with the maker's name, as above, close to the butt. As I said, it is solid wood and not cane. I am going to take a few quick photos and post them in just a few minutes.

All I can find out on this is that Henry Wilkes & Co made needles, fish hooks, and other fishing tackle including a reel called the "Osprey" from like the 1860's till early 1900's. I was just curious if anyone knows more of the history of these rods or the company.

My customer wants me to put some guides on it (all of them are gone) so it looks right to hang on the wall, so I am trying to do a little research on it for guide type, colors, etc., as well as just out of curiousity.

Thanks

Matt Smith
Greensboro, NC

Matt,
Can't help you much on the history of the maker, but fly rods in the 1860-1890 time frame typically had loose ring guides of nickel silver or nickel plated brass, pretty much exactly like the captive ring hook keepers still available for fly rods today. A rod of that length would have had about 7 guides - 2 each on the tip and both mids, and one on the butt, all the same size. Fly lines of the period were smaller in diameter than today's lines, made either of silk or a silk/horsehair blend. Intermediate wraps weren't usually used on wood rods - no need. Agate butt guides weren't very common. As far as wrap colors go, it's hard to go wrong with scarlet 00 silk; it was a very common color on rods of the period. Second most common was black, followed by medium to forest green. Higher end rods might have used a second color for tipping, but most were just one color. Butt wraps ahead of the winding check or hosel, if present, tended to be simple spaced wraps of the same color as the guide wraps.
Hope this helps.

Henrey wilkes had a brother William who distributed the Osprey brand of fishing tackle in Toronto until 1910. Henry wilkes & Co exhibited their fishing tackle at the 1929 trade fair in London.I rememer the Osprey brand as a kid in the early 60s, but I could not say that it was from Henrey Wilkes & Co. There is a little history available on google.
It is quite probable the the rod is made from Greenheart wood which was popular around this period at the end of the 19th and early 20th century. Greenheart rods were made in round and hexagonal cross section. The round tended to be earlier models I believe. Generaly speaking fittings were of the same type as the early cane rods. Handles tended to be made from a single cork sheet rolled around the blank and glued to form the handle.