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As a maker of bamboo rods I'm quite susceptible to fascinations with all
things bamboo, and must confess that Castwell's recent article on "The
Old Rod" tantalized me more than a little. JC seemed to be lured by the
siren song of days past, back to a simpler, more excitable era. Reading
his article reminded me of sitting on the well worn dirt path leading to
Bayou DeSiard, watching a bluegill inspect my cricket a few feet beneath
the dark water's surface. And it brought fond memories of my own
beginnings in fly fishing, learning to tempt those same bluegills with
big-eyed popping bugs and graduating to teasing the "educated" trout in
Missouri's Roaring River State Park with tiny artificial ants.
My first fly rod was a Cortland fiberglass rod. I have held on to that
rod for nearly 40 years. Today it occupies an honored place on the wall
above my fly tying bench. Like many of you I graduated to graphite rods
early on, but a nostalgic bent lured me towards bamboo more than a dozen
years ago. My wife gave me my first bamboo rod for my thirty-fourth
birthday. I loved that old rod. Somehow for $150, she managed to find an
unmarked Leonard 50DF in great condition through one of the dealer's lists.
While fishing the Little Red River in Arkansas one day, a friend and I
swapped rods for a few minutes. Billy wound up fishing with my bamboo
rod for the rest of the day, and I fished with his graphite rod. At the
end of the day Billy asked, "What do I owe you Harry? You aren't getting
this rod back." Foolishly, I saw it as a chance to make some money, and
sold the rod for twice what my wife had paid for it. I thought I'd get
another nice bamboo rod and have a few dollars left over. Little did I
know that rod may well have been worth 4 or 5 times what Billy paid for it.
For over a year I searched for another rod. In the process of the search
I became familiar with the prices classic bamboo rods demand. The more I
tried to get the Leonard back from Billy, the more he teased me. You
know how friends are.
About that time at our local Federation of Fly Fisher's Club
meeting a young man presented a brief program one night on how
he had made two of his own bamboo rods. He brought in a few
tools, and both the rods he had made, and talked for
half an hour about the processes involved. It was an epiphany moment for
me. If Doug could make a bamboo rod, so could I. Gathering the necessary
tools, supplies, and components took me eighteen months. My first bamboo
rod is too soft. (Shown below). The wraps look funky. The grip is uncomfortable. And
when I finished that rod I thought it was the prettiest thing I had ever
seen except for my wife and daughter.
I have rods 106-109 on the bench now, ready for ferrules. Hopefully I've
made some improvements along the way.
Just twenty or thirty years ago bamboo rods were almost completely
written off by the rod buying public. Today there is a real renaissance
of those who appreciate the lovely reed. I'll wager a guess that there
are nearly 200 folks in the US who make and sell bamboo rods, and three
times that many more who craft rods for themselves and friends. Last
year several of us, headed by Jeff Fultz of Colorado, decided to start a
promotional organization known as the American Bamboo Rodmakers
Association to preserve the legacy and craft of making bamboo fly rods.
One of ABRA's goals is to help keep the nostalgic fires and feelings of
folks like JC alive.
Are bamboo rods better than graphite? Well, are Fords better than
Chevys? No, bamboo rods are not better, nor are they worse. They're just
different. You might be surprised to find that modern bamboo rods are
quite enjoyable to fish and cast. One of ABRA's goals is to dispel some
of the myths about bamboo rods and show the fishing public that bamboo
rods are a viable alternative to some high-end graphite rods. "After
all, some of the biggest rod companies have been trying to mimic the
feel of bamboo for years. We want anglers to know that nothing can bring
that lively feel to a rod like bamboo," says Fultz.
Not all bamboo rods are alike. Back when your grand-dad fished bamboo
rods, wet-fly fishing was the name of the game. Fishing a brace of three
or four wet flies without tangling your leader into a bird's nest
requires a slow stroke and an open loop. Grampa's rods were made with
slow actions to fit the fishing methods of the day. Today's rods often
have quite modern actions. Most of the rods I make are quite
fast-actioned to fit the needs of modern fisher persons. Many quality
bamboo rod makers will work with you to create a rod that fits your
personal desires.
One hundred percent of American Bamboo Rodmaker Association dues are used
for national advertising campaigns and administrative expenses. Board
members volunteer their time and energy. The advertising helps educate
the rod buying public about the differences between quality handcrafted
rods and cheap, imitation cookie-cutter rods. If your initial impression
of bamboo rods is based on cheap labor and poorly fitting, ill-formed
components, you miss much of the joy of a quality rod. For more
information, please visit our website at https://www.goabra.org, or email
Jeff Fultz at info@goabra.com or me at maker@canerods.com ~ Harry Boyd
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