I'm hoping someone can give me some guidance. I have 10 fly rods that once belonged to my uncle. He was an avid fly fisherman and he even liked making his own flies (I have that stuff, too). I know there are reels, but I don't have any info on them at the moment.

The rods are mostly from Cabela's, but I'm having trouble finding information on any of them so I have no idea as to their worth. I would like to sell at least one of the rods to a boy who is very interested in fishing. I'm thinking of giving the flies and I also want to sell him a reel, but I want to make it reasonably priced. At the same time, I don't want to price something too low.

The rods have been well cared for and the cases say things like: Sage III GFL 590 HRPL; Spectrum Series C44X, Graphite 8'11" for 7-8 line, etc.

I apologize if I'm in the wrong spot here, but I know NOTHING!

Thanks for any help.

Hello, sorry to hear about your uncle. The first thing is to ask what kind of fishing the boy wants to do and second a list of the rods and maybe pictures would be helpful. Different types of fishing require different rods, reels, lines etc. The first one you listed, the Sage RPL 9 ft 5 wt. would be an excellent trout rod for a young man. Honestly, one of the best ever made, in my opinion. A rod that should last him a lifetime. Those rods are worth in the neihborhood of $300. Some pictures and a description of each would help to determine value and also to help pick a rod and reel that work well together.
Hope this a little help.

Mike

Hi "bobs niece"....as Mike said, sorry to hear about your uncle passing. But everyone here is very helpful and friendly, if you can post what the models of the rods&reels are....or if you dont know then some pics of them. I'm sure we all can help you figure out exactly what models they are and what is a fair price for you to sell them for.

Steve

After you get the value of everything, consider this: you could donate those items to groups as Casting for Recovery (lady breast cancer survivors), Reel Recovery (men recovering from cancer), Project Healing Waters (wounded military veterans), Trout Unlimited's First Cast program (introduction to fly fishing and related skills), or the Boy Scouts (fly fishing merit badge). Might be a viable option.
Sorry to hear about your uncle. It sounds like he was really dedicated to fly fishing. Hope you will find a "home" for his rods, etc.
Edit addition: As troutrainer stated about a tax credit, make sure you get a receipt if you donate the tackle as the IRS might ask for proof if it is a substantial amount you are claiming.

You have a difficult task ahead unless you can find someone locally that can give you an appraisal to roughly provide a guide. Perhaps your Uncle had some personal fishing friends that could help. Like most personal possesions the value of most anything is what someone is willing to pay for it and the original purchase price is only only a very rough guideline. A few items hold monetary value well but many don't. The selling price on similar items on Ebay usually reflect a low value of actual worth. sceet3t has given one good option if a tax credit would be of any value to you.

You people are so nice. I'm truly overwhelmed. My uncle really loved fly fishing, but hadn't done any for quite some time. He passed away at 89 in a nursing home near us in February. Thanks for the kind thoughts.

Meantime, my parents have moved into a nearby condo and my husband and I are sorting through their belongings along with the things they had stored for my uncle. This afternoon we found four more rods and a couple of reels and all kinds of flies. Donating to a good cause is a great idea and I'm halfway thinking I would like to give the young man a rod, reel and the suitcase with the flies. I also found boxes and boxes more!

I might try to sell a couple of things (if I can) to help pay for the people who are helping us clean. In the meantime, I'll write down the information I have for the rods.

Thank you so much everyone. I cannot begin to express my gratitude.

Anne

Here is a list of the 10 rods (there are several more that I haven't gotten to yet) and I hope this makes sense:

Sage III 9' #5 GFL 590-4 RPL

Cabela's Spectrum Series IM6 Graphite 8'3" for 3-4 line (Gary Borger signature)

Scott PowR-Ply 8'5" 6 line 2.25 oz G856-57-9236

Cabela's Spectrum Series C44X Graphite 8'11" 7-8 line (Gary Borger)

Sage Graphite III 380 RPL No. 3 line 8'0" 2.5 oz

Scott PowR-Ply G90-4-68-4670 9'0"

Cabela's Spectrum Series IM6 Graphite 8'7" 5-6 line (Gary Borger - he apparently liked Gary!)

Sage Graphite II GFL 389 LL 8'9" line 3, 2-3/8 oz

Sage Graphite III 690 RPL Scarlet Ibis 690 RPL 9' No. 6 line GM

Cabela's Fish Eagle II Graphite 9' line wt. 6 or 6-7

I apologize if there are things here that don't make sense. One thing I can tell you is that all of the rods are in beautiful condition.

Here are a few prices to give you a rough idea on some of the rods. Don't take these as gospel but it should be a reasonable estimate of market resale value assuming mint to excellent condition including rod tube and sock.

Scott rods - ~$250-300

Sage rods - ~$250 except:

Sage Graphite II GFL 389 LL - $300

I can't help much on the Cabela's rods except to say though they may be good quality, they usually don't resale very high in general. If I had to guess I'd say around $100, but that is just a guess.

All-in-all, these are very good quality rods and your uncle had good taste in fishing gear. If it isn't a big deal, you should list what reels you have found as well as reels can sometimes be surprisingly collectible.

[quote name='Carlin' date='Jun 7 2009, 05:49 PM' post='146274']
Here are a few prices to give you a rough idea on some of the rods. Don't take these as gospel but it should be a reasonable estimate of market resale value assuming mint to excellent condition including rod tube and sock.

That's definitely helpful. And yes they are in excellent condition including the tubes and socks. I'll have to check the reels and the other rods, but again thanks for the information.

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about the passing of your uncle.

I'm all set on rods right now, but if you are interested in selling any of the fly tying materials I would be interested.

I think I have someone who wants that, but if that changes, I'll get back to you. Thanks for your interest.

Sorry to hear of his passing..........and wow a 389 LL what a rod.

If it isn't a big deal, you should list what reels you have found as well as reels can sometimes be surprisingly collectible.
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Hi Chris,

I have only found two reels and they look like they've had a lot of use. However, they are VERY smooth and quiet and I'm guessing that's good. One is a Shakespear OMNI 44 and the other is an Ambassadeur 178. I'm guessing they were ones he liked.