I actually meant that I was nitpicking. I agree with you; I doubt that any 1F’s were made, but nevertheless, the statement that a 1F would be a trout taper isn’t wrong. It’s like saying that a 17 weight rod would be heavy duty. The fact that they don’t exist doesn’t make that any less true, and it’s possbile but unlikely, that someday, somebody will make one, just as it’s possbile but unlikely that Heddon made any 1Fs.
Sorry if anything I posted led anyone to believe that a Heddon rod built on a 15/64ths taper would not be a trout rod.
Of course it would be, as the vast, vast majority of all fly rods Heddon built were designed for trout fishing.
Thought I read an ad for a custom built #18 weight fly rod for the deep not too long ago…& wondered who made flylines that big because the Ratt-L-Trap fly prototypes from the vise are going to need one because the #8 weight fiberglass just flings it & it’ll need more weight in the belly to sink upright ! A late 1920’s Leonard Fairy Catskill weighs in at 2-1/8 oz for a #2 weight & at this moment can’t find all of the old bamboo rod weight list, but recall some were around 7 oz for a #6/7 weight. Orvis Battenkill weighs 4-3/8 oz for a #6/7. Just looked at a new high-tech rod catalog & most of their top end rods are all around 3 oz or less for up to a #7 - #8 weight fly rod. Add the line speed that can be generated with these super fast flex high-tech rods & it’s not too much to figure that bamboo just isn’t to some; yet still has it’s place for others waters.
I have a couple of bamboo rod that a good caster can generate enough line speed to cast into the backing without a lot of effort. Just like the super fast flex high-tech rods.
Oh Lord if only I was blessed with Frank’s knowledge of “Everything” I could find the answer to Life it’s self!!
It depends on which model of Montague one is discussing. Montague, H & I, South Bend and others made low end rods that most of us wouldn’t care for. They also all made some very good rods. The South Bend 323 comes immediately to mind, and the South Bend 290 I bought from bobbyg. The H & I Tonka Queen and Prince are pretty darn good rods.
A few years ago I took what I thought was a chance on a 7’, 2/1, 4 wt. from a little outfit called Pocket Water Rods, now out of business. For $200.00 I couldn’t resist it as it was such a pretty little rod. That is almost the best $200.00 I ever spent on a rod, it is simply put, delightful. So your thoughts on an “unknown” maker certainly have merit, especially if the maker started with a good blank.
I think I saw where someone mentioned a return policy on ordered rods, good advice. Unless one has great experience with cane sticks I don’t believe one can know whether he will like a rod until one has actually cast it. The advice about bamboo casting more slowly should also be taken. Personally, I much prefer bamboo to anything else but it is a matter of taste.
I would agree with bobbyg, spend some time at clarks. Here’s a link.
Jack…
What a pity you don’t use that knot on your shoulders for something besides a hat rack! As my paternal Grandfather would say: “Nichts kommt aus der Lachmanns Haus.” I will translate for your benefit: “Nothing comes from (out of) a laughing man’s (crazy person’s) house.”
FRANK!
The problem we have is that you think “Trout” rods. I don’t have a problem with that. However, you would most definitely be ‘underguuned’ if you fished saltwater or weed/snag infested waters for large mouth black bass that we have here in.the south along the Gulf coast. Woe be unto you if you tried casting a 2/0 deer hair bug with a 4wt. rod and line; especially with the winds we typically experience where I live. Nine wt. rods and lines are often the ‘rig’ of choice for just such fishing.
Mea culpa, yes, I did get the makers names wrong. It is a Wright McGill “Victory” as well as “Stream and Lake”. With respect to your comment about graphite rods in the 4 to 6 weight class coming in at around “…3oz or less…”,this is going to be a function of length as well as the generation of graphite they are mode of. All weights I have presented are for nine foot rods. My 9ft 6wt comes in at 4oz., again in excess of the 3 oz. you cite. With one exception, all of my graphite rods are 2 piece, and are made of second generation through IM6 graphite. As you are aware, I am sure, the modern graphites are less dense, and thus weigh less than the older generation graphites. I am beginning to suspect that we are comparing ‘apples to oranges’ relative to graphite rods.
If rod weight is so important, why is it then that graphite rod makers do not advertise, mark their rods, and otherwise promote them based on their actual weights; as was done for the older bamboo rods? Moreover, why is it that the modern bamboo gurus, Nunnley, Oyster, Boyd, Cattenach, to name a few, no longer stress ‘weight’, with respect to their rods? Just like the graphite builders, they emphasize line weight.
Actually, the issue of rod weight, as we have been discussing it, is meaningless unless we establish specific criteria, such as rod length, type of ferrule (slip over vs spigot), materials (i.e., graphite generation), etc., as each has it’s own bearing on the weight of the finished product.
Cheers!
Have you heard of this gentleman, R.W. Summers? His website is
http://www.rwsummers.com/aboutbob.htm
He will have a great deal of knowledge on used bamboo rods.
In today’s used rod market the Orvis Battenkill and Madison rods can be found for under $400.00 and are an excellent place to start for anyone looking to purchase a bamboo rod. I fish a 7’ 5 wt Battenkill Impregnated that weighs 3 3/8 oz and I paid under 300 for it. A quick check on eBay shows several rods that are in the price range I’ve mentioned.
Congradlations. You have managed to run another gentleman that has a vast knowledge of all things bamboo off of this thread and maybe off of this board forever! When gentlemen such as bobbyg and Fishbum take the time to post their years of experience and knowledge to these type of threads, it would really benefit you to shut your pie hole and listen. They have both forgot more about bamboo rods that you could ever hope to learn.
Brad
Brad…
You speak as if I have no experience, or knowledge of the subject. How short sighted. I have been at this sport for 50 years now, and have rubbed elbows with many very knowledgeable individuals in the sport over the years, and have read volumes on the subject and it’s various aspects. I will not bore you with a resume’.
If they are that thin skinned, to jump into something and then let themselves be “…run off…” by simple rebuttal, then so be it. Is it not extremely arrogant of you to step into this exchange and try to defend them, and to tell me to something about myself that you have absolutely no knowledge of? How naive’ can one be?
For your edification: Ignorance is excusable; stupidity is not.
I rest my case.
Most people would argue the opposite. Stupidity is unavoidable; ignorance is not.
I’m not sure at all where you’re coming from.
Right on Kaboom1! Pomposity (?) has no place on this board and I think that several of us are fed up with it!
Jack and kaboom…
As a budding teenager back in the '40’s, I made a promise to my father, that I do not intend to break here. I promised him that I would never duel with women, children, or unarmed men.
Frank
rdietz…
I fail to follow your logic. Ignorance is the lack of knowledge; which is something that one cannot always be held accountable for; for a multitude of reasons. Stupidity is a failure to use the knowledge one does have.
This thread makes me wish I could take the time to learn as much the posters about bamboo…for investment reasons. I am a hardcore garage saler, and have passed many a boo rod in my travels. I know enough to look for manufacturers a little bit, but that’s all.
This board really helped my out when I found a Tonka Prince at an estate sale for cheap. Then they threw in a Pflueger reel to boot. Wish I woulda had the experience and money to buy the other rods too. The Prince looks good on the wall with the Pflueger on it…maybe one day I will try it out, too.
Mike
It seems as if this thread got hyjacked. If you are looking for a good used bamboo rod you might want to look here; http://coldwatercollectibles.com/ Another one would be; http://www.rwsummers.com/.
By the way, I own one of the Pennington rods that are listed on coldwater.
Best of luck!
Dave
Going from an Orvis #7 weight rod to bamboo is opposite of what I did. Got an Orvis All Rounder 8’ 4 pc #7 back in the 80’s for maybe my 2nd or third graphite fly rod because they were stolen back in the 70’s. Took years before even looking at graphite so fished bamboo & fiberglass. Found part of the old weigh list: fiberglass WondeRod 8 1/2’ for a 7/8 was 5 oz. - Rainbow Special 7 1/2’ for a #7/8 was 5 1/2 oz -Argus bamboo 8’ for a #5/6 was 4 3/4 oz - JC Higgins bamboo ( H & I ) #3034 9’ for #5/6 was 6 oz. The All Rounder is 3 1/8 oz, or was like a wand compared to the heavier rods. Fly fishing for smallies & trout was very different from the heavier-slower rods. A recent Orvis Catalog lists all Helios rods from #6 weight down to the #2 weight except for the 10’ #6 rod as all under 2 5/8 oz. Outside of actually looking each rod over & casting it, where one could go thru about 30 + bamboo rod buying guidelines to determine the rods grade; while less than half could be determined without.
Stupidity is inborn. You can’t help being stupid. Nobody, no matter how strong their character, can will themselves to be more intelligent than they are.
Ignorance, OTOH, can be overcome though education. (I’m not talking about “ignorance” in the sense of “I didn’t know that meteor was about to fall on my house”, but “willful ignorance” where you could have acquired the knowledge but chose not to.)
I’m now thinking you’re using the word stupid to mean “lacking in wisdom” rather than “lacking in intelligence”, in which case we probably both mean something close to the same thing.