Heddon Bamboo Fly Rod

[SKMO]

I have a Heddon Black Beauty fly rod I bought at auction with a bunch of other gear back in 1982, in Fredericktown MO. It looked brand new at the tme, still had some paper wrapping on the handle. It has two identical tips, I guess for when you broke the first one. It is in a maroon flannel sleeve.

Anyway I am not a flyfisherperson and wondered if it had value and if anyone was interested in buying it.

On the butt section is says handwritten #17 -9' - 2 3/4 F - G B Goi @ Heddon

It is in about perfect condition as far as I can tell, but I know nothing about about such stuff. If anyone is intrested drop me a PM or respond online. I am not Ebay savvy and do not wat to mess with that, would just as soon sell it locally for a fair price if it even has any value to anyone. Looks like something that should be owned by a trouter, not my bag.

[Gavin]

If its in very good condition with the original bag and tube its probably worth around $250, maybe a bit more or less. Unfortunately, 9' 8wt bamboo rods arent in great demand these days....It would be worth a lot more if it was built shorter and lighter. Its not uncommon to see 8' 2 ferrule Heddons go in the $4-500 range. Sounds like a great rod to toss bass bugs...Cheers.

[TroutBum4wt]

I'm afraid Gavin is right about 9ft bamboo rod market.

I have a similiar bamboo 9ft rod in a 7wt and I think it's great.

The $500 +/- mark seems to be the starting point for a good casting vintage bamboo rod in the 8ft, 5wt range.

Heddons have a pretty good following. I would check the market more.

You can alway contact these two bamboo rod dealers to sell or just ask a question on what you may have:

They have good reputations

Heritage Sporting Collectibles

Len Codella

2201 South Carnegie Drive

Inverness, FL 34450

www.codella.com

or

Rods & Reels

Bob Corsetti

17 Massasoit Road

Nashua, NH 03063

603-886-0411

I've done business with Bob and he's above board and will be honest with you. He does NOT have a web page.

Cheers

[jdmidwest]

The Heddon 17 Black Beauty probably sold for $17 new. Heddon used the model number as the price point for selling, so I have read. Some of the best rods were the Heddon 125's. The Black Beauty was a very nice rod, nicely colored and simple black wraps. Its a bass rod or big river trout rod. I have watched the Heddon rods for years on Ebay, they sell very well, but prices vary as does the quality. Old bamboo rods could be mistreated and you could end up with a lemon.

Bamboo rods were all they had 50 years ago, alot of nice ones were made, and alot of poor ones were made. I have just started fishing a few bamboo rods I have picked up on Ebay and enjoy them. You could build them with slow actions and medium actions just like graphite and fiberglass. I fished a 7' 6" rod this weekend at Montauk and had a blast. I used a 7wt line on it and it cast it well. I believe it was designed to be a bass rod also, but I worked soft hackles and streamers with it. I don't think it will be a dry fly rod. I also have a 9' rod that casts a 5wt well and it does well as a dry fly rod.

Name your price or post some pics, it would give us an idea what you want.

[TroutBum4wt]

I found this on the codella.com site.

12921. heddon. 9'0". Model 17. Black Beauty. 3/2. #7/8. 5 oz. Medium/Fast. Tenite S/L. Black. Varnished. Heddon's revered Model 17 in totally original and complete condition. The rod appears original throughout with no short or repaired sections. Factory rated for a DT7 line, but casts a WF8 line even better. It could stand a coat of varnish to "dress it up", if you are real fussy, but it is sound, straight, and tight enough to fish "as is" without concern. The shaft lettering is original and perfectly preserved with the 2-1/2 ferrule size indicated in black ink. Comes with the original cloth bag and cloth spec label all intact and with the original Black finish aluminum case with foil label. Ready to fish with no work needed. Circa the late 1940's. VG. $425.00.

[SKMO]

Thanks for everybodies input

Here are some pics I just took, not the best quality, I could probably get some better in the sunlight.

Actually each section looks perfectly straight and there are no nicks or wear on it aywhere, I believe it was never used when I got it. I took it on a trip or two to a bass pond where it saw little action. It has been in a PVC tube in my basement since I purchased it in '82. It's in really perfect condition, in my opinion.

I do not have the original "tube", whatever that was. I should probably call and talk with the guys TroutBum4wt suggested.

[jdmidwest]

Looks like a nice one, too bad you don't have the original tube. All sections are straight and the same length. Looks like it is in great original condition. Would be a nice rod for someone.

[SKMO]

I have a Heddon Black Beauty fly rod I bought at auction with a bunch of other gear back in 1982, in Fredericktown MO. It looked brand new at the tme, still had some paper wrapping on the handle. It has two identical tips, I guess for when you broke the first one. It is in a maroon flannel sleeve.

Anyway I am not a flyfisherperson and wondered if it had value and if anyone was interested in buying it.

On the butt section is says handwritten #17 -9' - 2 3/4 F - G B Goi @ Heddon

It is in about perfect condition as far as I can tell, but I know nothing about about such stuff. If anyone is intrested drop me a PM or respond online. I am not Ebay savvy and do not wat to mess with that, would just as soon sell it locally for a fair price if it even has any value to anyone. Looks like something that should be owned by a trouter, not my bag.

Just out of curiousity can someone tell me what the numbers mean? I don't know bull sugar about fly fishing.

I have seen some of these rods on the internet similar that were #17 9' 3F

What is the 3F? (mine is 2 3/4 F)

Was GB Goi the guy who made the rod ?

How did you all know it was an 8 wt rod?

For all your information I called about 5 vintage bamboo rod dealers and got pretty much the same story: "too bad it is 9'' (bigger obviously not better). They all call it a "bass rod" with a tone in their voice that would make a person think bass were an aquatic vermin of some type. A couple guys said they would pay about 225 for it to resell, but everyone I talked with said to put it on Ebay and I should see 350-400 for it. All sounds good to me because I think I paid $17 for this rod and about 5 others in the action. Hoping to convert it to a couple new dropshot rigs.

It's just a pretty thing and I think it needs a good home. My son is Ebay savvy and I'll let him sell it there.

[Gavin]

9' Heddons came in 4 ferrule connfigurations..#2 #2 1/2, # 2 3/4, and #3 the bigger the number the heavier the rod. 2's are usually 5 wts, 2 1/2 are usually 6wts, 2 3/4 are usually 7-8wts, etc..

The GBG is in reference to the recommend line for the rod..Here's a link to a table that converts the old line rating system to new. Not perfect but a place to start with an old rod.

http://www.keone.com/aftma-to-silk-fly-line-chart.html

Your rod looks like its in great shape...even w/o the tube..It should do pretty well on eBay. Good luck

[dave potts]

The best info on bamboo rods can be found on Clark's board. Post your info and pictures there and you can get a good estimate of its value and you can also sell it on their board. Here's a link:

http://clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com/

Dave