Nice Flytyer. I think you should try bamboo. What I would suggest is that you either buy blanks or take an old rod all the way down and build from those blanks. the costs associated with getting into splitting bamboo, planing, heat treating etc...is pretty hefty. You can buy good blanks from a number of builders in prices ranging from $200 up and go from there. Boo will not get any cheaper, it will only go up as the good tonkin begins to disappear. There are a ton of older production rods and rods that need restoration or rebuilding that will give you hours of pleasure. To me, bamboo rod building is a real pleasure and when you are working on one of the oldies...you can almost feel the soul of the rod talking to you as you nurture it back to life.