"French" Heddon

History of the Heddon Rod Co. Feel free to discuss Heddon Rods here.

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Gil S
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Joined: 09/11/18 09:34

"French" Heddon

#1

Post by Gil S »

Yesterday I took delivery directly from a seller in France the depicted below Heddon. It had been originally sold by Manufrance a former major player in mail order in France which often rebadged products and sold under the Manufrance name located in St. Etienne. It manufactured quality shotguns and bicycles for over 100 years. The rod is a 9' 3/2 with excellent varnish, straight tips, unbroken, and tiny agate stripping guide. 5.3 oz. It apparently was not used much. I have yet to measure its taper to check against the taper directory. Other than the Heddon signature above the grip, a decal states: Manufrance Ferax St. Etienne.
If someone can tell me what the corresponding American version appears to be and a starting line to begin casting to determine line weight, it would be appreciated. Thanks. Gil
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crowebeetle
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Re: "French" Heddon

#2

Post by crowebeetle »

Knowing the ferrule sizes would be informative of line weight.

Gil S
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Re: "French" Heddon

#3

Post by Gil S »

Thanks. The male ferrule on the tip measures .198" which I believe rounded up would be a 13. The butt section male ferrule measures .285" x 64= 18.24. Rounded down, 18; up, 19. Gil

crowebeetle
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Re: "French" Heddon

#4

Post by crowebeetle »

Try a DT6 I think that would be appropriate for that rod, Others with more expertise may chime in if this is way off

Woodlakejag
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Re: "French" Heddon

#5

Post by Woodlakejag »

This is a cool rod. I would say it’s from the early 1930s and I’ve only ever seen one other Heddon trade rod from the early 30s (made for Whitney’s in Denver). The ferrule sizes don’t match up with any of their standard ferrule sizes, but that doesn’t surprise me in early rods or in trade rods. They would make whatever someone wanted, even if it was a deviation from their cataloged tapers. It’s probably about a model 35 grade...hard to say because a lot of their trade rods were kind of in-between with a mix of various grade components.
I would try it with a 6 or 7 weight line. Try a few different lines until you get one that feels right to you.
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Gil S
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Joined: 09/11/18 09:34

Re: "French" Heddon

#6

Post by Gil S »

Thanks, folks for your insights. Gil

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OldCane
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Re: "French" Heddon

#7

Post by OldCane »

The female ferrules appear to have rolled welts (hard to see in photos) and the rod appears refinished since Heddon used color preserver on their wraps. The wrap colors (red/black) seem to match up with a Model #14 and so does the rolled welting. A model #20 (maroon/black) would have had square shoulder female ferrules and they IMHO are more prone to cracking than the rolled welt design. Both would have had Japaned ferrules vs. blued. Rod bag looks almost new which is unusual since many are full of holes and decaying. A very nice looking rod in any case.
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