Tag Archives: Bamboo Fly Rod

Horrocks-Ibbotson

Posted on by
Reply

Known as America’s largest production rod companies for many years, Horrocks-Ibbotson was one of the companies that was competing head to head with Montague and South Bend. Horrocks and Ibbotson became known as the World’s Largest Manufacturer of Fishing Tackle. It traces its history from its beginnings as the George A. Clark & Co. in 1880, to the renaming of Clark-Horrocks Co. in 1891, to Horrocks & Ibbotson in 1909.

The companies history traces back to 1812 but did not become involved with fishing tackle until 1863 when an English immigrant named James Horrocks was hired as a clerk. In 1894, Edward Ibbotson was hired as an errand boy. Gradually the company acquired existing tackle companies. In 1905 the company built a new factory in Utica, New York and continued to grow until it was known throughout the world. The firm was incorporated in 1909 as the Horrocks-Ibbotson Co.

The rods made by Horrocks-Ibbotson up to 1935 filled every need for the consumer. The higher grade rods such as the President and the Chancellor featured nickel silver fittings and were as good as any of the rods being produced by their competition. At the other end of the spectrum were the cheapest production rods. Horrocks-Ibbotson made hundreds of different models throughout the years, and many had such minor differences in fittings and wraps that they were indistinguishable without direct comparison.

Decals are useful for dating Horrocks-Ibbotson rods. The diamond with the UTK logo dates from 1905 until World War I. This logo is usually stamped into the reel seat, but also appears as a decal. The Trout logo decal was then used until 1929. It is rarely seen and is the most beautiful of the H-I decals. Next to appear was an elongated Double Diamond with Utica, NY inside and was used until 1933. In 1934, a double-diamond logo including the banner reading Best by Test was introduced and was used until 1939. Next came the fanciest of all Horrocks-Ibbotson decals featuring a bright red H-I on a white diamond and accompanied by two banners reading Fish Rod and Genuine Tonkin Cane. The decal of the early 1950′s was rectangular with a small gold foil diamond logo. The final decal was a simple red diamond with a large white H-I.

When trying to identify a rod that has no decal, the writing of the model name is helpful. H-I used white ink, and usually wrote with the words running toward the grip. The only other maker that used white ink was Edwards, who usually wrote with the words reading away from the grip. The reel seats did not change much; the spacers were usually solid color plastic before World War II, and marbleized plastic after the war.

As with all rods, the most recent Horrocks-Ibbotson products are the most commonly seen. However there are still some rods out there that are worth looking for.

South Bend

Posted on by
Reply

You will notice Wesley D. Jordan’s name associated with a few companies that produced Bamboo fishing rods. He deserves a place in history as one of the truly inventive bamboo rod makers who had a major influence on the bamboo fly rods that we know of today. Jordan was involved with producing bamboo rods for more than 50 years, first with the Cross Rod Co. of Lynn, Massachusetts, then with South Bend in Indiana and finally with Orvis in Manchester, Vermont.

Wes Jordan was on a fishing trip in Maine with his friend William Forsyth. Mr. Forsyth broke his fly rod and talked Wes into making him a new one. From all accounts Jordan was a skillful fisherman and was familiar with good bamboo rods. He spent almost a year studying the construction of bamboo rods and reading all the literature he could find. He finally succeeded in making several hand-planed rods of Calcutta cane. Mr. Forsyth was so enthralled with the results of Jordan’s efforts that he proposed a rod making venture. In 1920 they formed the Cross Rod Co., named for Bill Cross, a friend of Forsyth’s who bought stock in the new company and also joined in learning the rod making trade.

With the help of his brother Bill, Jordan had designed and built a milling machine so rods could be produced faster and efficiently in order to compete with companies such as F. E. Thomas and H. L. Leonard.

Unfortunately Mr. Forsyth died suddenly in 1925 and his heirs sold the Cross Rod Co. to the South Bend Tackle Co. in South Bend, Indiana. Jordan moved to South Bend to set up the machinery, organize a rod production facility and train the employees. This arrangement lasted almost 15 years. During this period Wes Jordan designed methods and equipment to aid in making rods with low production costs in order to compete with
other bamboo rod makers such as Montague, Union Hardware, Horrocks-Ibbotson and Wright & McGill. One device was a power-driven ram for splitting bamboo culms to be used for mass-market rods.

South Bend also made rods for other companies, such as Sears Roebuck for as little as 83 cents wholesale. Cane for the higher quality rods built by South Bend and all the South Bend-Cross rods were split by hand or sawed. Rods and blanks of higher quality were also marketed to other companies, most notably to the Paul Young Co., for several years prior to 1930.