Bamboo fly rods

I know Kusse fly rods are great but I need a fly rod in the next month........anyone have experience with Green River or Orvis Bamboo fly rods

DEcevR,
Check out Elkhorn Flyrods. They are a sponsor. [url=http://www.elkhornflyrods.com/rods.html:17da6]http://www.elkhornflyrods.com/rods.html[/url:17da6]


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A free gift waits for those who ask.
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Lotech Joe

No experience with Green River but I do have several Orvis that I like. If you want to save a little and still get the rod in the next month try one of the "used" dealers. I know Jim Bresko at Coldwater Collectibles has a few Orvis kicking around. I've dealt with Jim in the past and he's a straight shooter kind of guy.

I have an Orvis, Madison Far and Fine, 7'6", 5 wt. and I like it a lot. It's become my favorite rod.

Vic

I use a 7.5' Orvis Battenkill that was made about 40 years ago and it is a fine rod. These rods are very common and you should have no trouble finding a used rod in great shape for about one-third to one-fourth the price of a new one.

As always you really should cast any rod - and particularly a bamboo rod - before you buy.

David

The ElkHorn cane rods are just dandy - price is really good, and I would not hesitate to buy one! I 'fished' one at the Bellevue Show, (as opposed to just casting one) and was delighted at the accuracy and overall
feel of the rod. Cosmetics are very nice.

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

As an alternative you might try a Hexagraph. They are similar in construction except with graphite and foam cores. The nice thing is they feel great! Hexagraph has a list of sale items and you might even be able to save a few hundred bucks on a great rod. [url=http://hexagraph.com/:5f98e]http://hexagraph.com/[/url:5f98e]
There are articles on FAOL about these awesome rods.
Migs

DEcevR!! Your alive!!! If you want a great rod there is a Kusse on ebay, it was make in late 2002. Looks to be in gem mint condition. It's a 7' 4wt awesome rod. Check it out! [url=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23819&item=7147552 846&rd=1:ae811]http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23819&item=7147552 846&rd=1[/url:ae811]


[This message has been edited by Ray (edited 06 April 2005).]

If you are looking for a bamboo rod within a month your best bet is a seller not a maker. Check out sellers like Ron at Ron's Rods or Len Codella at Heritage or Jim Bresko at Coldwater Collectibles. Any maker will take a lot longer than a month to get a rod to you (unless they just happen to have a rod or two on hand). By the way, Green River rods are among the top rods today. Joe Gorman is an outstanding craftsman. Ron at Ron's Rods usually carries several Green River rods.

"Trolling Trolling Trolling, keep that motor going, gunwales flowing over,............<:}WALLEYE}}><!

Through Storms,Rain,and Weather; we will be together, with my flyrod by my side.

Cast it out, Strip it in, Cast it out, Strip it in.........<;}WALLEYE}}>< !"

Sorry JC, I just had to sing the "Fishing Song".

~Parnelli http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif



[This message has been edited by Steven H. McGarthwaite (edited 06 April 2005).]

Very good! I like it. Did Frankie Laine make a version of it?

try: [url=http://www.blacklabfliesandsupplies.com/default.htm:3255f]http://www.blacklabfliesandsupplies.com/default.htm[/url:3255f]

he often runs a special

he sent me one to raffle off for my youth program and it was nice looking and casted nicely
[url=http://www.maineflyfish.com:3255f]www.maineflyfish.com[/url:3255f]

As someone previously mentioned, a used Orvis Battenkill is a great choice. They are excellent rods and can be had at a reasonable price (by bamboo standards, anyway). I highly recommend them.

JC....you ought to know I never troll.....It has been longer than I can remember since I fished for trout till this week. I was muddied out off the Susquehanna Flats this week so I got a trout stamp and a DE freshwater licence...pulled out my old Orvis 1 oz and headed to White Clay Creek for a Hatchery trout slaughter.....50 fish days c'mon now this was ridiculous. They had nowhere to run and nowhere to hide and had to eat = a formula for a fish slaughter.

I was then thinking about how tough it was to catch a Letort Native Brown Trout in comparison and thought maybe I would get a 7-7.5' 3-4wt bamboo rod and some silk line and go after the Letort Brown's traditionally for a challenge and a change of pace from saltwater fly rodding.

Waiting for a custom built bamboo rod is not an option because I really consider this trip to bamboo as more of a whim than an obsession....saltwater is my passion and I really don't take freshwater trout fishing seriously as you know. I was looking for a quality rod that would be an in stock item that is why I mentioned Orvis and Green River. I did look at Winston but at $3000.00 they are far more in love with their rods than I would ever be....at that price I figure they love them so much the don't want to sell them http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

Ladyfish, the Elkhorn are really nice? I figured at that price they would of been clubs.

Howdy DEcevR
Try this site [url=http://home.comcast.net/%7Esplitcane/index.htm:630a5]http://home.comcast.net/%7Esplitcane/index.htm[/url:630a5]
Dave has Cane Fly rods Not bamboo real cane rods. His site is a great place to learn about cane rods. From way back to today.
He is a straight shooter on price and quality.
ol Al
Caster of cane and lover of the feel of a great cane in my hand.


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Ol' Flysoup
Flycasting is as easy as flysoup

Hey Ray......long time for sure. I can't get into the chat area here because I am running an Apple system......I see the frog and flies but get no enter box.

You still into those "grass" rods and worm secretion lines? http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

I am looking to play in your venue this year....grass rod, silk line, terrestrials, and native browns on the Letort. (think I am going to take a butt kick'n via Letort.....it was as I remember the toughest trout stream I have ever fished with the spookiest fish). Now going after them with traditional fly gear is just the challenge I need to fire up my interest again.

Any suggestion on where I can get a in stock new bamboo rod 7-7.5' long dry fly action in a 3 to 4wt that I would be happy to cast (Ray you know me this might be tough http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif ) using silk lines would be greatly appreciated.

The ElkHorn cane rods are not clubs at all!
Very nice dry-fly action. Also, while I'm thinking about it - try the Cortland Sylk instead of a silk line. You will be pleasantly surprised, they feel 'right'...
although I understand the desire to go 'traditional,' as I have both silk and Sylk lines.

Nice to see you back here! OH - on the Chat Room, maybe if you download this it may allow you in the Chat: [url=http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp.:82776]http://www.java.com/en/download/manual.jsp.[/url:82776]

I know it works on Mac. Could work http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/biggrin.gif



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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

I clicked on the Java site but it stated it could not find the file.

The Elkhorn's are a dry fly action huh? Sounds worth checking them out a bit closer....do they build these themselves or are they contracted under their name.

The low $500.00 price tag scared me off truthfully....how sick is that? Yeah please overcharge me so I will take your product seriously......I need medical help! http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

The ElkHorn are contracted, in China. That put me off initially, until I had a chance to really play with one on the water. I hate to say it was every bit as nice as the Royal Wulff Lee Wulff Classic I had, but actually the cosmetics of the ElkHorn were better!


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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

DEcevR, Did you look at the Kusse on ebay? It's a 7' 4wt. Perfect for what your looking for without the 3 year wait. By the way do you know how to cast a rod that's not 15' long??

Ray, I just take one hand off the rod and act like I am casting one of the sections off a real rod right? http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

Yeah I looked at it Ray but I guess I am too old of a dog for new tricks....I have never bought anything off of EBAY. I have a problem with buying things from unknown locations and unknown individuals. I like to know where to go if by some chance I may need to. This seller is 1 star and on the wrong coast http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

Lady, I see they have 2 new models this year a 7.5'er and an 8'er ......which rod did you cast the 7, 7.5, or 8'er?

I just purchased the 7.5' Elkhorn. It is my first bamboo rod, so I cannot compare it to other ones and would defer to LF for her comparison. Have only lawn cast it so far with a 4 wt WF Sylk line. MAN! Is that different compared to graphite! I was asking a fella who builds cane rods about the difference btwn cane and graphite and he said that graphite is built to shoot line while cane is built to cast line. After casting this one I would believe it! The timing is totally different! But you may already know that. I can hardly wait for the water levels to drop and the temps to rise around here so I can get a crack at fishing it!

When I bought the Elkhorn I spoke with the owner of the company. He recommended the 7 and 7.5' models over the 8' for right now. He said the 8' is not quite where they want it and they are still tweaking the taper.

I concur with LF, the rods are very nice looking and appear to be very nicely built. Also check out the little Peerless nock-off reel the sell. Really nice look, and very nicely built for a sweet price! I bought the whole package at a recent flyfishing expo. You would CRY if I told you what I paid for it! It felt like stealing!

The 7.5 was what I cast - I wanted to try the 7 but they had sold all they had with them!

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LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL

Thanks Lady for the reply.... the word crisp defining the action of the 7'er interest me. Might be a bit faster than the 7.5'er.

This going back to traditional thing is getting interesting though I couldn't wait to get a fiberglass rod after I traded for a bamboo rod back in the early 60's and never have had to use silk line though our lines were still designated in silk nomenclature when I started this game with a HCH fly line.

Anyone cast the Elkhorn Bamboo rods with a silk line (either 7' or the 7.5'er) I just got off the phone with them and they haven't used silk on these rods themselves.

The reason I ask is that using silk sometimes requires going one size lighter in recommended line weight to achieve the desired action out of the rod due to silks thinner diameter and density.

If this is the case with the 7'er then I would have the ideal traditional spring creek bamboo rod at 7' and a 3 wt DT silk line and could have it all in hand in less than a week. How's that for timing with the PA season opening next week and still be hundreds under $1000.00 . http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/wink.gif

Any comment will be appreciated from anyone who has casted either the 7' or 7.5' rod at a show as well.

Just wanted to post an update regarding my 7.5' Elkhorn that I spoke of earlier. I went back out in the backyard last night and tried casting again (still waiting to get out on the water http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/frown.gif Hopefully soon!). This time, there was no wind. The last time I cast it was my first time and it was into some rather blustery wind (steady at 5-10 mph with gusts up to maybe 15 mph). Not real bad wind, but enough to make you know it is there for sure. While in the wind the rod had a hard time throwing nice tight loops. I switched over to a 7' 4wt Orvis TLS for comparison sake, which for a 7' rod is always a cannon of a little rod. While I was able to do better with the graphite rod (able to through tighter loops into the wind for more distance) than the bamboo, the wind was still doing a number on my casts. Both rods were equipped with 4wt WF lines, the Orvis with a Silver Label and the Elkhorn with a Cortland Sylk line (this may also have something to do with it). While the Orvis is a mid flex rod, it definitely is stiffer than the Elkhorn.

Last night though I was able to cast in a dead calm, and I must say that I was really impressed with the performance of the Elkhorn! Again with the Sylk line I was throwing 45' casts straight as an arrow, NO SWEAT. Less than that distance was also great. I am not an experienced caster (5 years of flyfishing experience)so I am confident an experienced caster can get even more (but why anyone would need more out of a 7.5' trout rod is beyond me). Also being new to bamboo rods, I cannot get over how they just seem to flow. You don't seem to have to apply nearly as much power to them as a graphite rod. You just go through the proper casting motion and the rod does the rest. Again, maybe this is more due to improvements in my casting more than anything. The bamboo forces you to slow down a bit, and as such maybe I am forcing things less. I will try the same speed and technique to the graphite the next time to compare (hopefully on WATER this time! http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/smile.gif ). Hope all this helps.

There are a few other options, have one built, there are a number or builders who can get you a rod in under 6 months, Don't rule out guys like A.J.Thramer, Bill Taylor and John Channer. Or contact a dealer who carrys rods for alot of different builders, many dealers carry a nice selection on new rods from a number of contempary builders, you can get a rod without the wait for the same price too. The first thing I would do is call Ron at Ronsrods&reels, [url=http://ronsrods.freeyellow.com/index.html:4ae02]http://ronsrods.freeyellow.com/index.html[/url:4ae02]
he is a great guy with alot of contacts.

I have never seen an Elkhorn rod so I can not comment on quality. I know some of the early Chinese rods has significant quality problems and used poor quality hardware, but the Chinese can be tremendous craftsman once someone introduces the technology and I am sure they can make first class rods. I do have more that a few concerns about statements that suggest they are still working on some of their tapers, however. I was surprised to see the prices that they were asking. You can regularly find used rods in excellent conditions from top shelf American builders (folks that have already perfected their tapers) for less than these rods. The advantage of one of these rods is that there is a very strong secondary market for these rods - something that is likely not true for rods from China. You spend $500 to $600 for a excellent used two tip 7.5' Orvis Battenkill and you can sell it a year later for the same amount. I would suggest before you jump in that you spend a while reading the Classic Fly Rod Forum (http://p205.ezboard.com/bclarksclassicflyrodforum). You will get a lot of insights into bamboo rods and if you keep watching you might just see a great deal on a proven rod that will hold its value.

David

Decever, silk lines are traditionally rated by there diamiter not by wieght like modern plastic lines. When you see one advertized as a 4wt , most times they used one of the conversion tables to call it a 4wt. If you buy your line from Olaf Borg , the major silk line importer, he will set you up with a 4 wt silk that he has wieghed to come out to a plasic 4wt as they do vary a good bit. That said , it has been my experiance that a 4wt silk that wieghs the same as a 4wt plastic line will not load your rod as much as the plastic line. I think it may have something to do with the way a good ,properly dressed silk line floats higher on the water and so does not have as much drag lifting it of the water. I base this on the fact that the silk line feels right when lawn casting it, but get it on the water fishing and it does not load as well. Again, bare in mind that silk lines do vary a good bit but, most times for me i need one size bigger with a silk than with a plastic line.Sometimes the same size works ok but i have never seen were i would go down a size with the silk. However, a 6 wt silk line still falls on the water as delicate as a 4 or 5 wt plastic line, so if your bamboo likes a 4wt silk it will be more than delicate enough for your spring creek fishing, in fact it would not bother me at all to use a 5 wt silk line for those conditions with spooky fish. As you probobly know, its really all about your presentation anyway and if you are spooking fish with a 5wt you probobly will with a 3 wt too. But i too like to trim things down as best i can even if everything was already good. Matt

Castwell:

Wow - it is amazing how two people can read the same sentence and come to opposite meanings. My comments were that the Chinese have the craftsmen but to the best of my knowledge do not have much of a fly fishing tradition. I may be wrong but have never observed anyone there flyfishing. It may be that folks at Elkhorn have established this capacity - don't know I have never seen or fished their rods. I have traveled to China several times to visit with friends, former students and colleagues, and have never to my memory ever seen anyone fishing with rod and reel. You see people fishing with nets and occasionally fish traps.

The most interesting I have ever seen are fishermen using cormorants. The times I have observed it a fisherman in a small skiff "fishes" 8 to 10 of the large black birds. The birds dive near the boat into a river pool and catch small fish. Apparently the birds are unable to swallow the fish because of a ring that the fisherman has placed around their neck. When the birds surface, the fisherman removes the fish and rewards the bird with a small sliver of fish that it can swallow. I have no idea how widely the method is practices as I have only seen it over near the Yellow Mountains. It is supposed to be a very old technology.

David