FLYMPH FORUM

Wondering how many flymphers fish bamboo rods?

Bob

I fish bamboo (thanks to Ruard), fiberglass (love the feel when casting), graphite, single-hand, two-hand Spey, switch rods, and Tenkara. Yeah, I’m a lost cause.

I've got a couple of grass rods. A sweet little 7'6" hex rod made by the late John Channer of Durango. It's paired with a Baby Ballan reel loaded with a Cadno 4 1/2 weight double taper silk line. My wife has the exact same rod, also made by John Channer. I also have an 8'6" quadrate made by Bill Taylor of PA. It gets the Hardy Cascapedia with a RIO Gold 6 weight floating line.

My wife has our only glass rod that she won't let me cast.

Most of our other rods are Hardy Zeniths, two five weights and a four, all 9 footers, with Hardy Ultralite reels and RIO Gold floating lines. We also have the OOPST Skagit heads for the two five weights, with floating and sink tips on some old Orvis Battenkill reels.

My newest toy is a 10'6" Echo switch rod in 3 weight, with the other Hardy Cascapedia and an OPST Skagit head.

I fish bamboo most of the time. I think I have more cane rods than I can fish in a year if I fish one a week.

After several years of me badgering him to do so, Per Brandin is working on some 10' hollow built rods specifically for fishing Spiders. I've cast the first couple prototypes, one a 4 and the other a 5 and both will do the job with aplomb. However, Per called me last week saying that the second round of protos has him really excited and he can't wait for me to try them. Bob Colson is also working on a 10 footer with the same goal in mind so we should see some pretty sophisticated purpose built cane Spider rods very soon.

I've gone back to fishing bamboo much of the time again, a full circle from my earlier days when all my rods were cane. However, most of my fishing now is with dries and the occasional PT nymph so the rods aren't subjected to the stress of constant lifts and casts inherent with fishing the water. Stalking and fishing to rising or visible trout involves far fewer casts and less wear on the tackle so I'm much more inclined to use my Leonards, Hansons, etc when I fish that way. Not that I haven't or don't fish a Spider with them on occasion, but when my focus is on wets I break out a 10' 3 weight graphite.

I like the advantage of length for almost every trout fishing situation because line control is, in my opinion, more important than fly pattern. To my thinking, 7 1/2 feet is about the shortest cane rod that will give decent control for fishing dries. 8 feet is much better and a near perfect length for all round surface/near surface techniques. But with modern hollow building, light weight cane rods of 8 1/2 feet and longer are not only possible but practical. I have Leon Hanson rods that weigh as little as 2.82 oz for an 8 1/2 footer. The rod I use most of the time now is a Hanson 3 piece 4 weight that measures 8' 7" and tips the scale at just over 3 oz. My Chris Vance 8' 4" 4 weight comes in at 3.02 oz but is a bit stronger in action; a perfect "dry fly" rod without being too stiff, it will load with just a few feet of line past the tip-top or reach out as far as one would ever need. Per Brandin's signature 8' 3" 4 weight, perhaps his most celebrated taper, is smooth and nuanced and can cast just the leader or punch tight loops on 60' casts. What all these rods have in common is modern hollow built construction and sophisticated tapers, combined with radical final tip-drops that transfer casting energy efficiently and yet still cushion a 6X tippet.

But some of the older rods can amaze as well, especially Maxwell era Leonards and some even earlier rods from the same shop; many bearing the classic "Catskill" designation. The Model 40, an 8' 3 piece 4 weight is a real favorite of mine but a bit rare today. Some 40's will weigh under 3 oz and have sweet, flowing actions that are as modern as anything being produced today. The old timers knew what they were doing.

Yup... several Boo’s get an airing every year. Not necessarily just for wets / flymphs. One of them is around 70 years old. It’s got a slight set so doesn’t get out too much

I have been using bamboo for about 30 years now. Like John I also favour Leonard Rods and dry fly and wingless wet fishing. I am particlary fond of the Model 50 DF 4wt pre fire which suits the Catskillwaters I fish very well.Recently I acquired an F.E. Thomas Special 8 1/2 3 piece. This rod has a crisp and smooth dry fly action with a 4 wt Wulff bamboo taper line and was built in 1914 making it 106 years old. Perfect for small fly presentations here in the Catskills.

I fish the bamboo rods I've made. Most of them are based on Paul Young's tapers & they are wonderful fishing tools for Wisconsin's Driftless Spring Creeks. I still use the first rod I made, a 7.5' 4-5 wt. Perfectionist, with some regularity.

Paul Julius

I fish bamboo only for trout. Sort of got the itch for cane from some fishing buddies that built cane rods. Have built a few myself and enjoy others too. Just another part of the foolishness I think. After all, we wear lots of costly stuff, carry many dollars worth of flies and use rods that cost more than a little bit of money, then we put the fish back into the stream to live longer. So how much did our fish dinner cost us? It’s all good.

I have a custom wrapped Partridge 5 weight cane rod that I purchased about 30 years ago. It looks like a Leonard but fishes like a Partridge wet fly rod. I have used it only 3 times and rely on graphite for the rest of my rods since I can be tough on equipment, especially on the many small brook trout streams I frequent.