The Split Cane Fly Rod
(Excert from Part III: Research and Technique)
A Fly Fisher's Life (1959)
By Charles Ritz
Our sincere thanks to Crown Publishing Company
September 14th, 1998
Publishers note: Since this
publisher is older than dirt, it occured to me that some may never have
seen many of the older books. From time to time, we hope to
excerpt interesting segments from our personal library to enlighten,
entertain and perhaps amaze our rod building friends. Some things
are older than you might think. Most of these books are long out
of print, and if we spark an interest in you, check out the used
book stores, or one of the mail-order book sellers. Armchair Angler
in Hillburn, NY is one we particularly like. We previously
ran a series on bamboo from Ring of the Rise, (check the archives)
which I understand is now available in reprint. Your suggestions
and comments are always welcome.~DB
The Split Cane Fly Rod, Part Four
(Excerpt from Part III: Research and Technique)
"How I Began Working With Split Bamboo"
"I began working with split bamboo at the
Ritz-Carlton in New York in 1917. I was on duty every night
in the Manager's department and spent most of my time in a
little office in the entresol. I visited daily the great
sports shop of Abercrombie and Fitch, some fifty yards
from the hotel. The salesmen always seemed to be busy when
I appeared, but nothing could discourage me and, in a very
short while, I knew better than they did what the departments
contained.
My salary of a hundred dollars a
month prevented my being an important client of theirs and obligated
me to slum by frequenting the pawnshops on Fourth Avenue where,
for two dollars, ten at most, I was able to gratify my passion
for fishing rods! For a few cents, I could proudly buy from
Abercrombie and Fitch rod varnish, silk for whippings and
cement for ferrules. Then, in my little office, which I had
transformed into a workshop to the considerable disapprobation
of the manager of the hotel, who only put up with my impudence
because I was my father's son, I devoted myself to renovating
my finds. I scraped them, I took the ferrules to pieces,
I shortened the weak joints and strengthened my 'new' rods
throughout with extra fine white silk that became invisible when
varnished. I then showed my masterpieces to the salesmen in the
big shop, who were astonished but interested! My rods had
taken on a new life.
One evening, the manager invited me to fish
with him on the following Sunday. The result was that one of
my rods was approved and accepted by him! From that day, I
became supplier of rods of all kinds to the hotel clients!
Finally, my stock at Abercrombie's rose for I was no longer
satisfied with bargins from the pawnshops. The salesmen got
me in the end and sold me unfinished sections as well as all
the fittings. The lathe in the locksmith's shop, in the
basement of the Ritz-Carlton, supplied my cork handles.
Finally, I acquired a stock of dollars which permitted me
to realise my great ambition: my first fishing journey to
Canada. Unhappily, this virus was the cause of my abandoning
a career which should have been solely concentrated on the
hotel business, for I had to maintain the independence that
is so indispensable to a self-respecting fisherman!
In 1927, after living for ten years in
America, I returned to Europe, where I continued to work
with split bamboo. Roger Pujo, of the Bord de I'Eau
magazine, suggested that I should go and see Pezon and
Michel in Amboise, near Tours, and visit their split
bamboo workshops. A month later, I became their Technical
Adviser." ~Charles Ritz
Next time,"The perfecting of prototypes:
essential conditions and methods of work."
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