Horrocks Rod

kmudgn · Mar 16, 2023

I was given the Horrocks Rod shown in the pictures by a friend who was cleaning out his Uncle's house. I searched the web (Classic Fly Rod Forum) and believe that it was built in the early 1940s. It is an 8"8" 3 piece rod 7oz. with two tips, labeled "Spinner". It is in what I believe to be an original tube and sock, but both are in bad shape. The wraps and varnish appear to be good.

It is still too cold where I live to lawn cast, but I belive it to be in the 5-6wt range.

Does anyone have any further insight about this?

Thanks

Mike Monsos · Mar 16, 2023

Nice gift! Do you have a few more pictures of the grip, guides and ferrules?

kmudgn · Mar 17, 2023

Additional pics. I suspect that the reel seat is not original as it is plastic and I believe that original was wood. Other than that seems untouched. No set on either tip which is suprising to me as it was kept in a basement without temp control

Bambooflyguy · Mar 17, 2023

Are the mid section ferrules stuck together? I’d say that is the original reelseat. 8’8” is an odd length....are all the sections the same length? The Spinner came in 8’6” and 9’. Looks like a good fishing rod!

kmudgn · Mar 18, 2023

Male mid section ferrule is loose and slides off when taking rod apart, but can be separated from the female end. I am planning to glue it soon. I measured at just over 8'6", but the tube cap has 8'8" written on the outside. I looked on ebay and could not find any Spinners listed. Similar Horrocks rods were in the low $ 200s, so when the weather here changes I plan on fishing this rod as it is not too valuable to use.

Bambooflyguy · Mar 18, 2023

I use five minute epoxy for gluing ferrules. Check the snake guides to make sure they don’t have any rust or rough spots as that will ruin a fly line.

Mike Monsos · Mar 18, 2023

If by chance your female ferrule is a tad loose when you refit it, you can do an open type of wrap of thread to help fill the void. If you tie flies, you can use different sizes of thread to make the fit proper. Then maybe use Rod Bond U40 to glue the ferrule on. Another trick is to try to get the shaft as dry as possible to shrink it as much as possible before gluing on the ferrule. When the rod regains moisture, it will "grow" a very slight amount and make the fit tighter.

Mike

kmudgn · Mar 18, 2023

Mike Monsos said:
If by chance your female ferrule is a tad loose when you refit it, you can do an open type of wrap of thread to help fill the void. If you tie flies, you can use different sizes of thread to make the fit proper. Then maybe use Rod Bond U40 to glue the ferrule on. Another trick is to try to get the shaft as dry as possible to shrink it as much as possible before gluing on the ferrule. When the rod regains moisture, it will "grow" a very slight amount and make the fit tighter.

Mike

Thanks. I happen to have some U40 around from another project. I will try differnet threads, but am thinking 6/0 will work. If not, I have some thread wrap I can try

_WW_ · Mar 19, 2023

I have a Horrocks Ibbotson reel that I reconditioned after someone had loaded it with mono and spread the spool. I was able to return the spool to it's original shape.