The Houghton Rod

Hardy's: Hardy's Historic rod, very early model of "The Houghton Rod", 10 p in three sections with two tips, protected in a hollow bamboo tube. Unmarked on the bamboo, the Hardy brand appears only on the butt. Lockfast ferrules, agate start and tip rings, characteristic of the house before 1900, "Bridge" body rings, also characteristic, green ligatures typical of this model, brass reel seat (year of manufacture 1894/1896). The "Houghton Rod" or "Houghton" Dry Fly Rod, in 10 and 10.6 p, was made at Frederic Halford's request in 1894 in honor of the famous Houghton Club on the River Test in Stockbridge, the oldest fly-fishing club in the world, founded in June 1822. So successful was this model that it was manufactured without interruption until 1957, a period of 63 years. Even in 10 p as shown here, the "Houghton Dry Fly rod" is a very powerful rod for dry fly fishing the wide chalkstreams of southern England, where large trout weighing 4 to 6 pounds were common pre-war.
The model on offer, given its perfect condition and age, was probably fished very little as a prototype. In its original canvas sheath, this rod from the Pierre Creusevaut collection was given to him by Harold Hardy, a professional caster for Hardy from 1930 to 1958, when Pierre Creusevaut had reigned over most casting events, both fly and shot, since the late 1930s.