Split bamboo fly rod – Jay Harvey

[cogar]

Here are pictures of my split bamboo fly rod which was originally purchased by my Father, probably circa 1930’s. It is 9 feet in length when assembled.

Via a Web search I found out that the Jay Harvey rods were made by Heddon and sold by E.K. Tryon. 

I do not know what its value would be.

[waywardangler]

Cogar, my best guess just from the pics is around $100. Looks like only one tip and in need of restoration to be fishable. Nine foot rods are common and are not sought after for fishing. In their day, they were desired. Fly fishermen now want 7'-8' rods for fishing. I have an 8 1/2' Heddon #13 with 2 tips that the varnish is very bad on (sticky) and would need a complete redo to fish with. It is worth $100 at best.

[cogar]

It is in great shape as far as being fishable. The metal parts just need to be cleaned and shined up is all.

I refurbished it about 35 years ago. Stripped it, retied all the eyelets and ferrels and re-varnished it.

Boy, it sure was pretty ...... before I put the varnish on it ...... with all the different colored thread I used.

HA, I didn't know I was supposed to use a "color fast" on the thread before varnishing it.

[waywardangler]

I actually do not like to use color fast or color preserver on the windings because the varnish does not soak through then and bond to the rod blank. Some builders of new high quality bamboo rods actually use 00 white thread because when the windings are varnished, they become translucent and the bamboo blank shows through. Personal preference I think.

[Oceans64]

You guys work WAY too hard at catching fish...  I think you need one of these....

"The fish hook “gun”…that one was interesting. It appears to be a real fishing hook–you’ll notice it has barbs like a real fishing hook. Whether it was designed with any real practical application or just to become curiosa was never quite figured out. You can see the actual “trigger” in the eye of the fishhook. Imagine the hook dangling down like a real fish hook. The gun was designed to shoot anything that pulled on the hook. If someone were to pull downward on the hook, it would pull the trigger. The bullet then travelled down the length of the hook and exited at the hook’s elbow (if you look at the far right you’ll see a little notch in the elbow–that was the barrel opening.)

http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2008/01/24/tiny-guns/

No more "big one" getting away!

Saw it on the history channel and thought of you all!! 

[waywardangler]

That looks like it would just make the fish angrier than an effective way to dispatch the fish. There have been many automatic fish hooks patented and sold throughout the years and the reason why none of them are around anymore is because they are not effective.

In Wisconsin years ago, muskie fishermen used to shoot their musky at boat side with pistols. One errant round through the hull and that would put a premature end to their fishing day or they would sink.

[mart]

Wayward, is the entire rod sticky   Has it ever been redone ??  Only reason a varnish should get sticky is if its been in contact with an oil of some type !! Or,, years ago some used a combination of varnish, linseed oil and turp when refinishing furniture,, actually I still use it occassionally !! Too much oil in that mix will make the object sticky especially in high humidity !!

[waywardangler]

Yes, parts of the entire rod are sticky. The varnish is original. This sometimes happens when a bamboo rod is not stored properly...attic, put away damp, etc. A known problem with old bamboo rods that were not properly cared for. The finish can be 'melted', rubbed down with pumice or rottenstone, and tung oiled. Much easier than scraping. I haven't done it because I do not know if I want to take the time on a rod I am not going to fish. I did that once with a 9' South Bend and then sold it.

[mart]

Interesting !!  I have never redone one, and actually you just don`t find them much in our area.  Could very well be why we never see them,,, too much humidity in the south !!  I have ran into furniture that was sticky but not a fly rod !!

[cogar]

Now I was thinking, why show pictures of my fly rod ...... and not the cudiments one needs for using it.

So here is my dry fly collection, ..... which I use to sort thru to find just the "right one"  ..... and my South Bend fly reel with what looks to be a #22 Black Gnat fly still attached to the leader.