Split Cane Fishing Rods

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted. Having covered the various stages of restoring cane fishing rods in previous posts, I’ve been working on other projects, and doing lots of fishing of course!

If you’ve been looking on ebay for cane fishing rods to restore you’ve probably noticed that although there are still a lot of rods on offer, they are selling for less than they have in the past, probably due to the recent economic conditions.

I’ve picked up quite a few bargains over the last few months, and its probably true to say that there hasn’t been a better time to buy cane fshing rods for quite a few years.

We’re told that we’re now coming out of recession so prices will probably return to their previous levels quite soon. If you’re thinking about getting a cane rod to work on ready for the new season* now would be a good time to look on ebay if you haven’t for a while.

* I know, there isn’t a complete shutdown like there used to be, and canals and lakes will still be open, but part of being a cane rod enthusiast is still thinking in terms of the traditional close season.

Some eBay quick links:

Rods by Allcocks of Redditch
Rods by B James of London (MK IV Avon)
Rods by Hardy
Allcocks Lucky Strike
Allcocks Wizard
All split cane rods

In the last post I promised to tell you how you can own a good quality split cane coarse  rod without breaking the bank. I’ll get on to that soon, but first lets look at the prices you can expect to pay for good quality ‘named’ split cane coarse rods.

Just before writing this post I did some research on eBay in the ‘advanced search‘ section for completed listings. This is really useful if you want to get an idea of what you can expect to pay based on the price that items, in this case sought-after rods, have sold for recently.

Looking for coarse rods from Hardy, B James and Allcocks, I found the following rods that have sold recently:

• B.James Avon Perfection sold for £232.00
• B.James Avocet sold for £175.00
• Richard Walker Mk IV Avon sold for £210.01
• Richard Walker Mk IV Avon sold for £245.00
• Richard Walker Mk IV Avon sold for £236.00
• Gold Label Allcocks Wizard  sold for  £360.00
• Hardy F.W.K.Wallis Avon no 1 sold for £160.00
• Hardy F.W.K Wallis Avon sold for £138.99

These rods were in various conditions from recently refurbished, to requiring a lot of refurbishment, but in the case of these makers, if the rod is complete  with all sections the correct length and with no repairs to the cane, you would be very lucky to find one even in very poor condition for less than £100 to £150.

If that’s within your budget, you will often find a few available on ebay, but if you want a good quality split cane rod and can’t afford or justify that sort of cost, what can you do?

There are a few options. You could buy a rod with no maker’s mark – they can be had for just a few pounds, and many of them make quite serviceable rods, but as you can’t handle the rod before you buy, you could end up with one of the poor mass produced rods that are too heavy, poorly balanced or made of inferior cane.

Another option is to buy a ‘broken’ rod. Although cane can last for years if looked after, a lot of rods that turn up on ebay are ‘short in the tip’ because at some point the last few inches have been broken off.  That’s bad enough, but the owner has then butchered the top of the cane to fit a modern tip ring, usually with a screw-in adapter to take quiver tips, shortening the tip even further.

These rods will often be fine to use after restoration despite being short in the tip, albeit a little heavier in action. If, like me though, you ‘dont feel right’ using a rod that is obviously missing a few inches, you can modify the rod to make a cut down, or shorter version of the original.  As long as not too much of the tip has been lost, good quality rods will still be very nice tools to use when reduced in size, and in some situations they can be more practical than the rod at its full length would be.

I’ve mentioned in previous posts that I enjoy fishing small rivers. These call for scaled down rods for both float fishing and legering because longer rods can be difficult to use in confined swims. I find a float rod of 10 ft. and a leger rod of 8.5 to 9 ft. is ideal. If you meet me on the bank you might be surprised by the Hardy FWK Wallis Avon, and B James Richard Walker MkIV Avon I have in my bag. Why?  Because the Wallis Avon is 10 ft. instead of the usual 11 ft. and the MkIV is 8.5 ft. instead of the usual 10 ft., but the sections are all in the correct proportions.

This is because I have re-modelled both rods from originals with broken tips by shortening the butt and middle section of the Wallis Avon, and the butt of the Mk IV. Both rods cost me less than £70 each originally, which is still quite high, but not when compared to the price of undamaged versions.

Finally, another way to own a good quality general purpose split cane rod from one of the premier makers is to pick up a rod designed for one kind of fishing, and convert it to another. Sounds odd, so I’ll explain.

There is a class of good quality split cane rod that does not command a high price, despite having an Allcocks, Milwards or even Hardy logo – Fly Rods.  True, almost any rod from one of these makers will still have a high price tag if it is 8 ft. or less, even longer for some  Hardy models, but fly rods of 9 ft. or more have to be really special for a collector to want them for display, and compared to modern carbon rods of the same length, most fly anglers would tell you they are just too heavy to be used for any length of time.

Another quick search on eBay in the completed listing section and we find the following recently sold rods:

• 11ft Milwards split cane Sea trout sold for £39.00
• Allocks Popular 12 ‘ 3 piece Split Cane Fly Fishing Rod sold for £21.50
• Allcocks ‘The Test’ 9ft Fly Rod – no bids, could have been bought for £9.99
• Milwards Hexacane Flymaster Split Cane Fly Rod sold for £10.00

A big difference in price compared to coarse rods from the same makers, but still quality cane and all of the above could be converted to make very usable coarse rods.

A Salmon or Sea Trout Rod will easily handle large coarse fish like Barbel and Carp, and even 9 ft. Fly Rods can handle Trout of 5 lbs. or more, so they are more than up to the task of catching Roach, Perch and even quite reasonable Chub. Before I got the ‘Cane Bug’ I used a rod modelled from a 9 ft. carbon Fly Rod blank for all my small river fishing.

I recently picked up an Allcocks Alpha 9 ft. Split Cane Fly Rod on ebay for £14. Cosmetically its in a poor state and needs full restoration plus replacement of all the intermediate guides, but the sections are all there, the correct length, reasonably straight and undamaged, so it will make a perfect general purpose small river rod.  As a bonus, the Allcocks gold label is almost perfect!

Some photographs of the rod as it arrived are shown below.  With care using the techniques described in earlier posts, this will make a very serviceable general coarse rod for float fishing and legering on small rivers.

If you’re looking for an online source of the materials you’ll need for restoring a split cane rod, Tacklebargains.co.uk stock a wide range of rod building supplies including whipping thread, chrome guides and cork handles.

Useful links:

Split Cane Rods on eBay

Cane Fly Rods on eBay

eBay Advanced Search