R.C. Kirk, Hampton Court hand built 7′ two-piece cane trout fly rod rare

Maker: R C Kirk

Model: Trout fly rod

Approximate year of manufacture: c1940s

Condition: Good

Material: Split Cane

Length/ diameter: 7′ 2-piece

Country of manufacture: England

Ideal use: Trout, display

TT opinion:

A fine and rare two piece 7ft cane rod with light red whippings, cork handle and alloy reel fittings. The rod is detailed with the maker  – RC Kirk of Hampton Court. He made and signed each rod he made as per this example and consequently wrote his book as briefly detailed below –

A Fishy Tale is the story of one man’s life spent fishing and in the fishing tackle trade. It’s the kind of autobiography that was much in vogue in the 1960s and 1970s and that, sadly, we don’t see nearly enough today. Kirk had a wide and varied career, and he recounts many stories beginning with growing up in the 1930s. It was in Depression Britain that he first gained a love of angling, fishing the Thames, the River Meuse and the Royal Parks.

Kirk was a fine rod maker who signed his work “Hand Built by R.C. Kirk, Hampton Court.” Much of the middle part of the book is spent discussing the intricacies of the tackle market in Britain as well as the details of custom rod making. Included in this are invaluable memories of the first London tackle trade shows beginning in 1959.