Yerxa Steelhead Rod

[pgw]

PRICE REDUCED!, For sale is a Yerxa 9 Foot, 9 Weight, 2/2 hollow built bamboo “Steelhead” rod.
The rod had a detachable 2” fighting butt, original cloth partitioned sock, and brass capped aluminum tube.
It casts a WF9, Teeny T-300, and ST10 lines with ease.
Used on the coast from the Eel to the Russian.
$1,200 shipped to your door in the Continental US.
Please eMail with questions and/or responses.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

When I was much younger and stronger I cast some 9' #9 line split cane fly rods and they were very heavy.

We fished Shad, Stripers, Steelhead and salmon with Fenwick tubular, hollow fiberglass 9' #9 line fly rods and they were pretty heavy.


Tell us about this split cane fly rod, some history? What year? The case looks older.

If it was Teddy Roosevelt's or Ted Trueblood's that would mean something.


Gary Anderson (ACR) is building two-handed split cane fly rods now, but you use both hands to cast them.



*The most popular size split cane fly rod made today is a 7'6" #4 line in 2 pieces.


______________________________________________

I never bought anything from people who came in the door with old tackle from their relatives because I did not want to

be accused of taking advantage of anyone. I guess over my 50 years I should have bought some of it.


Before the birth of Spey in the Pacific North West people would come into the shop with split bamboo fly rods and very old fly reels.

90% of them were worth nothing but were good for "wall hangers". A few, 10% were EC Powells and other famous rods.


Where I screwed up was some were gigantic split cane Spey rods with huge old English fly reels on them.

We told them in the 70s-80's-90's to use the rods to stake up their tomatoes and use the reels for boat anchors.

[RSK]

I was curious about this rod and did a little research. Very strong ties to EC Powell. I think a 9wt bamboo rod would be a chore for me as well these days but would love to try casting that one.

[Rich Morrison]

This is a truly awesome rod for steelhead. Max Yerxa was a prune farmer in Colusa. His uncle, Wood Yerxa, was EC Powell’s good friend and mentor. Max worked for EC in the Marysville shop for a number of years. He then set up his own shop on the ranch in Colusa and built rods on a small scale for years. All of Max’s rods are semi-hollow built using EC Powell’s methods. I’m going to guess this rod is from the 70s or 80s. Just a superb rod here.

[pgw]

Tell us about this split cane fly rod, some history? What year? The case looks older.

.

Max built this rod for me in 1986, the only defect it has is that he put my name on it. This rod was used a lot on the Russian and Gualala which means it handled shooting heads (and Amnesia running line) and that’s s why it has a SIc stripping guide instead of a Hard chrome guide.

The first rod Max sent me was a 9 1/2’ version that was so slow I could make and eat a sandwich on the back cast and it wouldn’t carry the shooting heads…so it went back to him and he made this one.

The case is an Orvis case that I picked up to replace the Champion case that came with the rod, I figured the “black & brass” looked a little better.

Paul Wulf

PS for Bill…a lot of folks around the Rocky’s are using 8’ and 8’4” 4 weights from contemporary builders.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I am sorry but at 78 my brain is not as good as it was.



I knew split cane fly rod maker, Max Yerxa and his son, who were prune farmers in Colusa.

I would see them every year at David Armocido's amazing 'Colusa County Flycasters dinners.

They were both very large men who had a connection with the famous EC Powell family of split cane fly rod makers.

Yes, this is a valuable rod with lots of wonderful history.




I also knew split cane fly rod maker Tony Maslin in Marysville who had married into the EC Powell family.

Kiene's Fly Shop sent lots of cane rods to Tony for refurbishing and repairs.

My boss and good friend, Harry Boley, had Tony Maslin build him a 9'#9 split cane fly rod in the 1970s.


I also knew Walton Powell and his son Press Powell. Walton was kind of a "colorful guy" and Press was a real good guy.

Sadly I was not old enough to have met the famous EC Powell who was a great inventor and made the name Powell famous.

[Bob G]

You can learn more on the Classic Fly Rod Forum. Good Luck, Bob

[Rich Morrison]

1986. Thanks Paul. Anyone with a passion for steelhead should be all over this gold piece of NorCal fly fishing history.

An aside - I am good friends with the gentleman who purchased the Yerxa shop this year after Dan passed. I went to the shop in Colusa and helped him with the take down and ship out of quite a bit of stuff. So if you’re concerned about fishing this rod and breaking it, the Yerxa shop is still out there and my friend can replace sections, repair sections etc…all with original Yerxa blanks, cane, cedar etc.

[Bob G]

IMHO, it might prove helpful if you could provide a sale/price history of the maker's comparable (9 weight) rods. AND, it should enhance the Rod's attractiveness on the Classic Fly Rod Forum if you updated your price (currently $1450 + $50 shipping) on that site to match the $100 lower price ($1400 + free shipping) here on Kiene's Forum.

Best, Bob

[Rich Morrison]

That may be intentional. I usually list with a lower price here vs there because I like this forum better. There really isn’t a price history on Yerxa steelhead rods. These rods come up very rarely. This isn’t some factory Orvis or Granger and you don’t comparison shop a Yerxa. I can tell you this rod is priced very fairly. I’ve got a couple of Yerxa trout rods and paid very similar prices. There isn’t a whole lot of flux in this market. Infrequently seen top quality rods like this stay pretty steady in value. Anyone who knows what this is and is in need of such a rod will get it. Just need to find that buyer.

[Bob G]

Thank you Rich...

[pgw]

That may be intentional. I usually list with a lower price here vs there because I like this forum better. .
Thanks Rich, like minds…

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I was thinking of getting into selling some new small cane rods about 20-30 years ago.

I could buy split cane rods through some of the larger rod-making companies I dealt with.

Winston, Scott, Orvis, T&T and Powell could put the rods I wanted on a waiting list until they were finished.

In my research, I learned that their number one rod was a 7'6" #4 line in two pieces with one or two tips.

I was going to have a really high-quality custom wood/glass case made for them, like a gun cabinet.


Like other ideas, I never "pulled the trigger" on it.


I knew they would sell because I would have them in stock, where through the companies you had to get on a waiting list.


In the 1970s Andy Pyans had a legit new and used split cane business out of his iconic fly shop in Walnut Creek, Creative Sports.

[pgw]

Price reduced on 4/12/24 to $1200