I am new o this forum and fly fishing. I am wanting to build a bamboo rod or two. Does anyone know of calsses offered close to me? I am in Odessa, Texas. Odessa is 250 miles from DFW and 700 miles from Houston.
Well, I don’t know of any classes in your area, but on the American Bamboo Rod Builders Assoc. website (www.goabra.org), there’s a listing of rod builders by state, and this might be a good place to start. Most rod builders are happy to share their knowledge and help “keep the craft alive”. You might also start by building a rod off a blank from another rodmaker, or picking up a “project” rod- an older bamboo rod that needs a bit of refurbishing (new guides/wraps+varnish, maybe new ferrules and a new grip). Or, if you’ve got some decent woodworking skills and a lot of patience, you could just buy some basic tools (planing forms, block/hand plane, a good sharpening system, etc.) and dive right in.
Joe Martin
Salem, OR
Harry Boyd in Louisana does give lessons.
You can reach him at his website: [url=http://www.canerods.com/:8f8e1]http://www.canerods.com/[/url:8f8e1] Bamboo Rods or
maker@canerods.com
LadyFisher, Publisher of
FAOL
While I’m not exactly close (I’m in Georgia), I do offer rodmaking classes and actually just finished teaching a guy from Dallas a couple weeks ago. If you’re interested I could put you in touch with him to see what he did in the class and get his take on things from someone who’s recently been where you’re at. More info. is on my website.
Good luck whatever you decide,
Bill Oyster
[url=http://www.oysterbamboo.com:93fdb]www.oysterbamboo.com[/url:93fdb]