I have a local guy that has several bamboo fly rods he inherited from his Grandfather. He was fishing with one and another angler basically asked him if he was nuts because they were worth too much and should be on display. This isn't my area of expertise. If anyone here would care to offer their insight or advice send me your contact info and I'll pass it along.

Thanks.

I love bamboo but very few are actually worth much money. Unless they are made by Dickerson, Payne, Young, or Garrison then those rods should be fished!!

I'd be glad to advise. drop me a pm.

At one point in time, nearly all rods were made of bamboo. Some were high end rods, most were low end rods. Of the mass-produced models, very few have any great monetary value. One example would be the higher end Heddon rods from their "hand made" shop. By and large, however, most production bamboo rods, and only in truly excellent condition are worth perhaps $200 to $300 at best. Many not even that much.

You can tell a lot about a rod's quality by the quality of the fittings used on it. In any event, your best bet is to contact a knowledgable bamoo rod person and get their advice on the specific models you have. Just to be safe, talk to two or three. If you find a consensus on value, you've likely gotten very good information.

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I'm a member of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum which is just a few miles from my home.
The folks at the museum are always happy to provide info on bamboo rods.

If the makers' names are visible I'll be happy to run them past the guys at the museum and see what I can find out.
I'm pretty confident they'll be familiar with just about any quality name.

Just send me as much information as you have about each rod.
Names
Lengths
Line weight designations
How many sections
How many tips
Are the tips equal lengths... any trimming noted?

Condition?

Do the ferrules make the POP when pulled apart?
Any noise when flexing the rod?
How is the finish
How are the wraps?

A photo will answer a lot of these questions too.

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As for the wisdom of fishing a valuable rod...
I believe fine rods deserve to be fished well... but never abused.

In fact I know at least one high end bamboo builder who will not sell a rod to someone if it's just going to be on display in a collection.
He makes sure his rods get into the hands of real fishermen.
Even if a treasured rod suffers damage an expert builder can repair it to as-new condition.

Each year we have a Bamboo rod gathering where everyone gets to cast any of the rods people bring.
People bring rods by Payne, Paul Young, Dickerson, Garrison, Pinky Gullam others at these events and I never heard of any breakages.
It is quite a treat to be casting the work of the great masters.

BTW.. my favorite so far is a 7'4wt Payne.

I love bamboo!

DG