Quote Originally Posted by Marco View Post
OK, I gotta ask. I've been fly fishing for about 40 years and really never cared about the "technics" . But I'm curious as to juts what is "taper" ( Powell taper etc.)?. Are we talking the progressively diminishing value of the crosscut circumference/diameter of a rod blank from butt to tip?. Can that/those values be manually adjusted to vary SOOOO much as to require being named as the personal design of whomever? Is there not a finite variation (oxymoron) in the taper of an 8' stick designed to be a 5 wt. fishing pole?. Just how much can a taper vary in THAT length? Please DO NOT look for sarcasm in my query . I would really like to know.


Mark
That is a great question, usually people new to bamboo ask a whole different set of questions. I think that you are sort of on the right track.
Split cane rod tapers, for the most part, were defined years ago by the early makers to determine action and use of the rod. While most of the old UK rods were either a stick or pretty noodle, the N. American makers with a whole different range of waters to fish started to specialize in rod tapers to fit anglers casting style and the waters they fished. Rods can be thicker in the butt, carry through to the middle section, be lighter through the entire length, progressively taper throughout the length etc. etc. etc. It is actually quite technical and there are improvements and refinements to tapers being worked on every day. That being said, there are only so many variations, quite a few really, and the idea of a 'new' taper is a real stretch.
And yes, there are many tapers that are named as the personal design of the original maker, Paul H. Young is probably the most recent of the rod makers with quite a number of proprietary tapers that are copied by most current rod makers and some are favourites of mine.
So, if you want a 5 wt. slow, medium slow, medium, medium fast or fast action rod in a length to suit the water you are fishing whether it be lake, stream or large fast flowing river, there is a taper that is probably ideal for you.