Bamboo rods for flymphs

[Eric Peper]

I fish bamboo 100% of the time, and I don't give any of the rods more or less care than I would a good rod made of any other material. Well, I do give each a coat of paste wax at some point during the winter. My rods range in age from a couple years to 72 years old. All are in excellent condition, and my oldest rod (a Granger 8-footer) sees a good deal of action every season. I fish primarily dry flies and what I call "moist" flies, softhackles in the film. My river of choice is the Henry's Fork, and each day that I fish I have shots at fish in the 20"+ class. My 4 weight bamboo rods handle these big fish as ably as any plastic rod would, and I suspect their sensitive tips do the job better when a 6X tippet is involved. Finally, I know their lovely appearance and the knowledge that there is a bit of the maker's soul in each rod increases my enjoyment of them immeasurably.

Eric

[tie2fish]

The experiences posted by Bob and Eric about their use of bamboo rods as their everyday choices has convinced me to start using the ones I have on a regular basis. Actually, the 9 foot 5 wt built by Ruard and the 7 foot 4 wt gifted by Mark Romero will cover 90% of the fishing I do, so there's no good reason to not use them. Thanks, guys, for nudging me into the "natural" world .

[Ruard]

The experiences posted by Bob and Eric about their use of bamboo rods as their everyday choices has convinced me to start using the ones I have on a regular basis. Actually, the 9 foot 5 wt built by Ruard and the 7 foot 4 wt gifted by Mark Romero will cover 90% of the fishing I do, so there's no good reason to not use them. Thanks, guys, for nudging me into the "natural" world .

You make my day Bill, but I do not think I made a 9 foot bamboo rod for you??? I think it is a 7' 6" foot rod.

Greeting


Ruard

[tie2fish]

You are, of course, complete correct about the length, Ruard . Well, it casts like a 9 footer .

[raven4ns]

Thanks, guys, for sharing your thoughts on bamboo rods. Perhaps it is my ignorance about bamboo rods and their capabilities that keeps me from getting one. In any event, I have enjoyed reading about your experiences and thoughts on bamboo rods very much. Thank you.

Tim

[Mataura mayfly]

We are all (well most of us) a bit guilty of following an old traditional fly tying/fishing style...... but jumping on the latest and greatest rod & reel band wagon........
And why not? Marketing advertisers are paid well to "bend" our train of thought. First it was glass and then graphite became the latest "space aged" improvement in the must have of fly rods. But which has had the longest practical life?
When did split cane rods become mainstream? I will take a stab and say around the 1880's. They remained the rod of choice until the 1950's when glass made a real push, not a total take over- but a real push into the fly rod market, but they also shared the shortest lifespan and were superseded by graphite perhaps 30 years later and bamboo became somewhat of a cottage industry.
Split cane and glass are making small inroads again now (in the World scene) and there are (have been) forays into carbon and boron rods...... but split cane has out lived them all.
Many 20lb+ fish were landed here in the NZ heyday of trout fishing on cane rods from Britain that were usually 9-11' long and rather "chunky", but many a user could cast 100' plus with such set-ups.

Think back to your fathers (grandfathers for the pups here) and cane was the only choice. Plenty of large trout and salmon were landed on cane rods- okay- the rods may have been longer and heavier than today's more usual #4 weight fine tipped dry fly cane rod- but they were still made from organic vegetation!

Bottom line, the flies designed hundreds of years ago- still work. Same with rod designs and manufacture. If you wanted to fish an old lancewood or greenheart rod for trout- guess what- you would catch fish. Might not be as comfortable as a more modern graphite rod, but it would work. Modern cane rods are way ahead of mass produced long heavy line weight cane rods of days past in regard to modern line weights, modern fishing and use of new stronger glues and materials, but both have a place.
Modern rods command a price- somewhat unfair to the maker believe it or not, when you look into just how many hours go into building one and the hand made aspect of a custom six strip rod. Vintage can be cheaper, but sometimes at the expense of weight, less refined finish and guides more suited to thinner silk lines.
All comes down to what you can afford and your own desires/wants/needs.

In regard to strength and tip breakage. You have to fish/treat bamboo a little differently. You have to learn to use the entire rod to play fish (especially larger fish) and not tip load the rod. Some like to alternate the bend of the rod whilst playing big fish by rotating the rod 180 deg in long fights. It pays to look after a cane rod a little more than we do with graphite, dry them down before storage as they can suffer from water damage if it gets inside the rod finish and rot can set in, but I have never (touch wood) broken a cane rod tip fighting a fish and I have caught the odd bigger fish on cane. I have had several graphite rods break under fish pressure over the years, but never cane.
If one was to break, it can be repaired. Some makers can repair a rod section to a point the repair is hard to find with the naked eye..... but you pay for such work and often that will be more than the rod is worth if you were talking mass produced factory rods from last century. New sections can be made, short sections spliced in, sections repaired or glue up a split- wrap it in white thread and varnish over...... basically any damage is recoverable.

Now, having said all that. I have a beautiful 6' 6" 2/2 rod made for me by Boris Gaspar, that I only use with single dry flies or single small unweighted nymphs and soft hackles, with short line casts to selected sighted fish that are of a size I think will challenge the rod- but not overstrain it!

[raven4ns]

In the new year I will be getting a St. Croix Imperial 9' 6wgt 4pc fly rod and use the Sage as a back up because I don't trust it. While I have a 7'6" 4wgt 2pc, it will be replaced by the same rod as above but in a 7'6" version thus converting all of my rods to 4pc rods and leaving my 2pc rods for home water duties.
It's not as though I need another rod, it's just the nostalgic aspect of a cane rod on a small trout stream that appeals to me so. Maybe I will cross paths with a fellow fisherman who wants to sell a 7'6" 4wgt cane rod and a deal will be struck because of the man and the rod.
Your shared thoughts and experiences have broadened my knowledge for which I am very grateful. However, if I do buy one and I catch grief from my wife, I will blame each and every one of you....lol. Thank you.

Tim

[Mataura mayfly]

Hey! Don't blame us..... we are all following the same addiction here.....
I suggest you start earning "Brownie points" with the wife now and save them up for next seasons new rods/rods.
For just a little outlay and a bit of math...... you could always have a go at making a PMQ (poor mans quad) that would suit a #4 weight line, though if heading the 7'6" route I would be more inclined to look at a two or three piece rod rather than a four..... especially if using metal ferrules.

Nostalgia has a great following. Cane rods, period reels and silk lines....... where is Mr Kern? There is something that pleases the mind and relaxes you in some kind of old world way when you pursue trout with a cane rod.

[redietz]

Whenever I hear comments about how fragile cane is, I think of this picture and smile to myself:

phy_1950_catalog_yuku280.jpg (32.53 KiB) Viewed 4204 times

Yes, that's a cane rod.

[letumgo]

Bob - Man, that is impressive! The photo reminded me that I've seeing old video footage of large sea run salmon caught on Hardy bamboo rods too. The fish put a deeeeep bend in the rod, but in the end, the rod and the anglers won.

Last year Boris was posting photos of bamboo rods constructed with overlapping taped joints. I seem to remember him mentioning that the joints allowed for construction of long steelhead bamboo rods, which were very efficient at transferring the torsional stresses in the rod. I found the construction fascinating.