Fenwick Fly rods

Question
Hi Joe,
recently I purchased two older Fenwick Fly rods at auction and cannot find any information on them. The first is an "Iron Feather" 9ft.5 wght. 4pc. w/ blue cordura rod tube.. Made in Taiwan,
the other is a "COFI 57"  8 1/2 ft. 5 wght 2 pc. w/ black cordura tube.. Made in USA. Both are in excellent condition and sold as new.

Would you care to comment or suggest a source that could help me determine if these were quality built rods and what type of value might be associated with them?

Thank you very much for your time and assistance

Tight lines,

Ed

Answer
Hi Ed,

I didn't find much either.  Do the rods have any Fenwick model designations on them...probably in the form of FF855 or similar?

Here's what I did uncover...

The closest thing I see to the COFI57 rod (made in USA) is a second generation Fenglass rod marked FF855 (8'6", 5wt, 2-piece), possibly made in the 1972-1988 time frame.  This is pure speculation.  I have no idea what the COFI 57 designation stands for on this rod.  If it is a second generation rod, it is a faster action than the first generation and it is a quality rod.

The closest thing I can find to mention of the Iron Feather (9'0", 5wt, 4-piece) rod is possibly a Fenglass (E-glass) rod made around the year 2000...plus or minus some years.  Right around that time a series of Fenwick rods were made in China (maybe Taiwan) and likely had names attached to them not in the normal Fenwick lineup.  They sold for $100 but did not sell well or become popular.  Doesn't mean they were bad rods, just didn't take off in the marketplace.  I would assume the blank is the same or similar quality as earlier Fenwicks and the offshore assembly was less expensive which created this move.  I would assume it is also a quality rod.


I really have no idea what these rods would be worth.  If they are "new", I would guess they might each be worth something like $80-$100, but I can't support that with data.  If we can narrow them down a bit more it may be possible to come up with a value estimate.  Any added information you may have would be helpful.  Particularly, any other writing or labels on the rod, the color of the blank.

Thanks,  Joe