Fly Rod Cases - James Acord's Leather
Jimmy's custom made rod cases are all made by beginning with the tanned leather hide, with only Jimmy working on the whole case's creation, from start to finish. From designing the patterns to burnishing the finished edges of the hand sewn seams, he works with your personal specifications. His standard rod cases have 2" diam., .049" thick aluminum tubing bodies, which are light but very strong. The cases are completely lined with calfskin covering the inside of the tube, sealing off the aluminum, and have sheepskin pads inside the ends.
Jimmy uses only highest quality American leather with solid brass hardware. All dyeing, design carving, painting, and sewing are done by Jimmy alone, by hand, not by machine. And all case designs are his originals. Prices start at $650. for plain cases and range to $1,600 or more, depending on size and design complexity. Much of the price shift is in the amount of hand work ordered, because the hand tooled and painted images and lettering are what takes the most time. Nothing is stamped into the leather. Length of the case needed to hold your rod is also a factor in pricing. Jimmy can build a case of any length.
3" tubing is also available, so that you can custom order a case that will hold two rods at once.
Jimmy signs, dates, and numbers each case, and can include a custom inscription if you like.
The Gunderson Double Rod Case:
Here's the new ultimate case design that Jimmy created in 2006 for Dave Gunderson of Spokane, WA. Now Jimmy offers this case design for custom orders as the Gunderson Case.
It holds two rods with thier reels attached, with each rod stored in its own aluminum tube with calfskin lining, and the reels cushioned in a shearling lining inside the end piece. As with all of Jimmy's work, you can custom order your case's artwork to include any combination of fly and fish designs, and even backgrounds settings. This particular case measures 33"long x 7.5"high, and is 5"wide at the front end and 6.5"wide at the opening end. The rod tubes inside are each 2" in diameter. Length of the case, as well as changing to 3" diameter tubes, will affect the price of an order.
This style of rod case begins at $1,300 plus shipping for a more simple surface treatment of only hand carved initials and simple flies on either side of them. (Salmon Flies cost more.) A case like this one, with initials, two flies and one fish (on the other side), will cost approximately $1,400 plus shipping. Jimmy will make your case as simple or elaborate as you like, so the price is open ended.
Rod case maker Jimmy Acord models a 52"
rod tube he built with Rainbow and Brown Trout painted carvings on one
side, each fish 7 - 8" long. On the other side are a Royal Coachman
dry fly and a Michigan Hex mayfly, flanking the hand carved name of the
customer, who lives in Northern Japan.
The leather is dyed with British Tan to Brown dyes, with dark antiqued edges. The fish and flies are carved and painted by hand by Jimmy. This case has a buckle strap cap.
Similar case $1,000 to $1,200, depending on complexity of flies and fish chosen.
This is a detail of the other side of the rod
case shown above.
Here are the Rainbow and Brown Trout tooled
and painted fish on this case.
This case is Jimmy's simple style, with only three
initials as the hand tooling decoration. Here you can see the Sam Brown
button strap closure on the cap. This one is dyed with British Tan going
to a dark smoked edge antiqued color.
A case of this simple type will cost $650.-750., depending on the length of the case needed.
This is the same case, showing the three initials
and the hand made handle and strap. Brian Thoman of Parker, Colorado owns
this case, which was a trade for his hand made rod, shown here. (This is
the first bamboo rod Jimmy acquired.)
Salmon flies are carved on this rod case, which
also has three hand carved initails. Salmon flies are more elaborate and
take much longer to create than regular dry or wet flies.
This style case will cost between $1,000 and $1,200, depending on the intricacy of the flies ordered. Customer can choose any flies. Jimmy has pretty good reference books, or the buyer can provide the images.
This is a Lady Amherst salmon fly, on the above
case. As with all of Jimmy's work, the initials are hand designed and hand
tooled, not stamped in. This makes for a much more rich and unique appearance
and feel to the surface.
On the same case, this is the detail showing
the Black Doctor salmon fly.
All the cases in this photo were ordered by a customer in Austin,
TX, to give as Christmas presents. The rod case, with two salmon flies
and initials on the other side of the handle costs between $1,000 and $1,200, depending
on intricacy. Check Reel Cases and Fly Cases for prices on similar items to the other ones
shown in this picture.
Here is a set of fly fishing equipment cases
Jimmy made for himself. They're more elaborate than most orders he's had,
but he's very happy to create more detailed surfaces like these, or even
moreso, for your custom order.
The rod case has a brook trout surrounded by reeds on this side, and a Hex dry fly and a real Hex fly flanking his initials on the other side. Fancier cases like this run between $1,200 and $1,500. Go to the Reel Cases and Fly Cases sections in the catalog to learn about ordering those types of cases from Jimmy.
This is the opposite side of Jimmy's rod case, shown
in the photo above.
Here are two special cases that Jimmy made recently.
Above is the barter case for his friend Doug Hall of Broad
River Bamboo, who's made Jimmy two amazingly beautiful and agile cane
rods.
Below Doug's case is the rod case Jimmy made for prestigious Maker's Rod '02 raffle, to hold the very special bamboo rod created collaboratively by 19 highly respected rod makers around the country, which was given to the winner of the raffle at The Trout Bum Picnic in June, 02, in Grayling, MI.
Special fancy cases will be priced, as all of Jimmy's work, according to your requests. Special corporate logo cases make wonderful retirement or anytime presents for the person "who has everything!"
Newest of Jimmy's designs is this combination
rod and reel case, featuring a cushy, sheep fleece lined extension of the
regular rod tube, so that the rod can be stored with its reel attached.
Add $150. to the price of the case,
when selecting this addition to your case order.
Detail of a 3" diameter rod case which has two
tarpon flies tooled and painted on it. The flies are always chosen by the
customer, and are not made with stamps. Jimmy draws, carves, and tools
each image by hand, one line at a time, and then paints them. All the details
of the fly, fish, initials, or whatever, are carefully carved and tooled
deeply into the leather's surface, before painting and dyeing. Add $100 for a 3" case, instead of the standard
2" diameter. Price varies on all rods, depending on length of rod,
as well.
This is the first rod case Jimmy ever made. It was purchased by
The Trout Bum Rodmakers for their 1998 handmade rod raffle. (The rod shown
here is one of Jimmy's, not the bamboo rod built for The
Makers Rod 98. ) This shot was taken BEFORE Jimmy became converted
to handmade bamboo rods!!!
A case like this one, with two large trout on one side and words hand tooled on the other side sells for between $1,000 and $1,200.
This case has two flies and the owner's initials tooled on the
other side, as well as the fish you see here.. One similar to it sells for $1,000 to $1,200.
Below are a few details.
James Acord's Leather
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This page last updated October 4, 2018