9ft 3 piece Bamboo

[jbomb]

Hello All:

I recently received a 9 ft. 3 piece Governor from a friend that doesn't fish (it was his grandfathers -- my friend is in his 60's). I don't know much about the rod, but I assume it was made by Horrocks-Ibbotson. There's no label on it other than "Genuine Tonkin Cane" and the word "Governor" written towards the handle. It has a solid black plastic reel seat and the guides have red wraps.

The rod seems to be in decent condition, but it is missing a guide and there is an extremely slight bend towards the tip. I haven't decided what I want to do with it yet, but I was hoping to get some suggestions here. I don't know if it can be restored, or if the cost of restoring it would be greater than the rod itself.

I included a couple pictures here:

http://imgur.com/oZvLo
http://imgur.com/9jtgG
http://imgur.com/5dGQ4

 

[FrequentTyer]

You are right it is an H&I rod. You should check on one of the bamboo forms like Clark's for value, but I think it is in the cataegory of mass produced "working man's" rods. That does not mean it's not worth fixing, just that it is not too valuable to play around with.
The set in the tip should be fairly easy to take out with gentle heat from a hair dryer or heat gun and some firm but careful persuasion with your hands. On a warm day you can sometimes even do it just by rubbing the rod to warm it up. You probably have all the skill you need to replace the guide too and get it into a working condition. A pro would probably not charge too much to do these 2 things. A full restore would be expensive, and probably not worth it given the value of the rod. But from you pictures it looks to be in pretty good condition for a 50-some year old rod, so I don't think you need a full restore.
Mike.

 

[outsider]

What condition is the cork reel seat? My father gave me his bamboo rod that had been restored except for the grip and reel sest. The cork grip was a little punky, and the reel seat was plstic and poorly aligned.

So I gave it to Jack Mickiewicz and he put on a new uplocking reel sest, a new grip, and a Cocobolo wood insert - all without removing the guides and ferrules. Looks great, and cost me 100$. He can straighten the tip and do some finishing touches to clean up the rod

 

[outsider]

What condition is the cork reel seat? My father gave me his bamboo rod that had been restored except for the grip and reel sest. The cork grip was a little punky, and the reel seat was plstic and poorly aligned.

So I gave it to Jack Mickiewicz and he put on a new uplocking reel sest, a new grip, and a Cocobolo wood insert - all without removing the guides and ferrules. Looks great, and cost me 100$. He can straighten the tip and do some finishing touches to clean up the rod

 

[Rolf]

Mike, (FrequentTyer), has given you some very good advice. As he mentioned, you may want to ask the same questions on another board.
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=69

Please don’t be afraid to fish the rod. I would start out with a five or six DT and if you have it, Cortland SYLK as this line tends to be a little narrower and will suit the smaller guides better. A little history about HI can be found here. Good Luck and enjoy your rod.
http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=51465

 

[jbomb]

FrequentTyer: Thanks so much for the information and the information and suggestions!

Outsider: The nicest thing I can say about the cork is that it is "stable." It isn't much to look at but isn't crumbling or anything. The reel seat appears to be in working condition but the plastic just looks/feels too light and flimsy for the rod. I'll post some pictures of it later.

Rolf: Thanks so much for the ideas regarding line weight, and identifying an option that will work with the narrow guides (that was one of my first concerns when I really looked at it).

Next I need figure out where I'll have enough room to cast it

 

[DJBerg]

if i were you i would throw a snake guide on it, grab a hair drier, heat and flex that thing back into shape and fish it! or if you're lucky like i was the reel seat was nailed on my old south bend. pull the nail, buy a new reel seat, epoxy it on or you can use tightbond III(can be found at any home depot). and if you can do that before you glue the reel seat on cut the old cork off with a razor blade, and stick a new cork on there. just my .02. good luck!

 

[jbomb]

Alright, I'm getting pretty excited now. I definitely want to fish this thing. I almost like it more knowing that it's a common man's setup from long ago.

Below are some pics of the reel seat and the fittings for each segment (what are they called -- ferrows)?

reel seat: http://imgur.com/JZpzk

Fittings: http://imgur.com/JZpzk

I also have some "older" reel options ... one is a south bend finalist 1141 (i think), a south bend "oren-o-matic" auto reel (sounds cooler than it is) and a hand-me-down eagle claw model ec-10. Of course I might just spring for a new reel, but I sort of like the idea of fishing a rig my grandfather or great-grandfather might have used.

The missing guide is the first moving from the cork to the tip. I have zero experience building rods and very little tying flies, so I'm going to be very cautious getting this thing together. I'll have to look for some videos for heating and fixing the "set."

 

[bikerfish]

I'd replace any missing guides, but the reel seat and cork look fine, just some cleaning and that will look like new. I clean my cork handles with some dish soap and a sponge, they come out looking new. as for reels, both the south bend finalist and the eagle claw would go well with that rod, as long as they can handle the line that the rod is made for. as for the "orenomatic" I'd use it as a paperweight, those things scare the hell out of me, just waiting for the spring to go "boing"!
FWIT, I use a south bend reel for steelhead sometimes, and the eagle claw reels are hardy clones, both very capable of catching fish, and both are much better reels than lots of the newer stuff out there now, don't be afraid to use.

 

[outsider]

The first thing I would do is take it to Jack and ask him what level of restoration should be done. He may tell you the value of the rod does not warrant restoration by a professional. He won't charge you for this evaluation. I'm going to see him tomorrow, I'll ask his opinion based on what I know about the rod.

 

[jbomb]

bikerfish: That orenomatic scares me too. It looks cool, and seems like a neat concept but just feel too complicated.

The eagle claw is a nice reel, but it's small and doesn't seem suited to hold both line and backing (not that I even get into the backing).

The finalist looks great, but the darn spool seems to want to fall out if it's cranked backwards (not sure if that can be fixed). I also have a Martin "precision" #63 which is in good working condition, but doesn't look as appropriate for the rod (as if that mattered).

All these reels have line on them now, but I have no way of knowing the weight. I don't want to spend a ton of money on lines just to test them out, but I do have an older graphite 5/6 wt so perhaps I'll get the DT lines suggested above and try them with the bamboo and if all else fails use them on the 8'6" 5/6 wt.

Having all these rods is a funny business. I'll be the first to admit that I can only use one at a time, but I sure do enjoy the thought of needing more than one even though most of me wants to use a little as possible

 

[FrequentTyer]

I had a chance to see and cast the rod that Kirk (Outsider) mentioned above, and the work that Jack Mickiewicz did is remarkable. Kirk let me take the picture below to show the grip and reel seat replacement. When you consider that Jack did this the hard way by not removing any guides or finish, you can better appreciate the quality of the work.

 

[bikerfish]

nice! always good to see another rod come back to life and be enjoyed again.

 

[FrequentTyer]

That's the truth Bikerfish, and this one was clearly intended to be enjoyed. The action is surprisingly fast for bamboo. It cast a 7 weight line with a lot of punch and felt more like a 5 wt rod in hand. I'm not a great caster and didn't have enough time to get the right rhythm down, but I got enough of a feel to be impressed and Kirk was able to put it through its paces. I think he said it was a Weber, which makes for some potentially interesting history. I'm hoping to get a chance to measure the taper and take a shot at duplicating it some day.
Mike.

 

[outsider]

Mike, yes it is a Weber "Bob Becker" monogram rod. I still have the original tube with the logo. It was made with 2 very distinct tips. The tip we casted with is best suited for a 7 weight line, and the other tip is best suited for a 5 weight line. However, this rod really shines with the heavier tip and line. I've described this before as a combination of power and finesse. Note the swelled butt on the rod. It was refinished by a friend of my father's years ago with period-correct wrappings.

Thanks for posting the picture, Jack is a master.

 

[outsider]

Someone guess what the reel is.