The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

I picked up this rod about a year ago on Flea Bay and it's a real beauty: 10 ft of perfectly tempered cane. I assume the name is a pun referring to golf (which appears to be referenced a lot in Mr Constable's rod names) and a certain record carp. The action is really nice, tippier than a Mk IV, which makes it a really versatile rod. It's become my favourite barbel rod.

Does anyone know more about this rod?

I have a Constable Forty Fore which I bought on ebay several years ago and had refurbished by Barry Grantham but have only used it a couple of times since. I should get it out again.

I know nothing about Clifford Constable apart from what Edward Barder told be in an email when I asked him what he knew.

"Cliff Constable was very good rod maker from Bromley (and later Petts Wood) in Kent. He was most famous for his Wallop Brook series of staggered ferrule fly rods. These were designed and marketed in a big way by the late Dermot Wilson. He could really sell stuff, having been a founding partner in J Walter Thompson. I bought the stock and equipment left over from Cliff's business about thirteen years ago, and knew him quite well. He was a very nice old boy, but years of dust etc knackered his lungs"

Picked up one of these yesterday at Romsey. Very nice rod, and much, much, better cane than B James. Rings are a bit small and the spacing eccentric, but I won't change it as it's all original and just needs a touch up with some varnish here and there. Funnily enough, my second thought was that it would make a nice barbel rod; lo and behold, I find Sean had reached the same conclusion!

It looks to have an interesting taper. It's very difficult to measure due to the inters, but the power does seem to come in a bit lower down than a Mk IV. I think it's near on perfect for small river barbel fishing, or down the side on wider rivers.

I've only had time to make a visual comparison between it and a couple of other MkIVs - one a standard late model B James and the other my AOK Farnham MkIV Plus. I'll run a micrometer over them when I get chance, but first impressions are that the Forty Fore is almost exactly the same as the AOK until a point about eighteen inches below the ferrule, at which point the latter starts to get very slightly thicker. The B James is thicker than both, and the taper differs also, though I'm not sure how valid a reference point that is. Power-wise the James is the heaviest of the three; the other two seem very similar.