Who Fishes Wood?

[Tom Smithwick]

spiral1.JPG (254.18 KiB) Viewed 7826 times

spiral2.JPG (284.72 KiB) Viewed 7826 times

I guess it's no surprise that I fish bamboo for trout. Here's something a bit different, however. Both of these rods are spiral twist rods I built about 25 years ago. Spiral rods were invented and marketed by Fred Divine in the early 1900's, and a few have been built over the years by others as well. Basically you twist the rod 1/6 of a turn between each guide position, so the guide sits on the next flat over from the previous one, you can see that in the lower picture. This is done while the glue is wet.
The rod on the left is a one piece 5 1/2 foot brook trout rod which was built with a sister rod that was not twisted so people could feel the difference in performance. The other rod is a 7 foot Garrison 202 taper, which has a spiral butt section, a spiral tip, and also a straight tip. The straight tip bends easier, and produces a tip oriented dry fly type action. The spiral tip is stiffer, it bends the whole rod more, producing a slower, but more powerful wet fly action. I always found the spiral rods to be interesting and worth the effort, but they are trickier to finish out and take more time, making them unattractive to professionals, who need to get paid for their time.

[letumgo]

Tom - This twisted design is altogether new to me. As an engineer, I find the design fascinating. Seems like an elegant way of distributing the stresses around the sections of the rod. Does the design make a difference in energy transfer to the line? A spiral design seems like it would naturally act as a “torsional spring” loading and unloading during the casting cycle. Have you noticed a difference in the casting behavior or feel of the rod?

[Tom Smithwick]

Hi Ray - I built 15 spiral rods, always from tapers I had built before, and in a few cases, as matched sets with straight rods from the same cane, same glue, heat treated side by side, etc. In every case, the spiral rod would outcast the straight rod, no matter who was casting them. That was much to my surprise at first. That really should not be, as a rod section made as a regular polygon should be equally stiff in all directions. Deflection tests gave the spiral rods a slight advantage usually, but not always. Prestressing should not be a factor for long, as wood like material gradually deforms if held in a stressed position, relieving the stress over time. I think the factor is a dynamic one when casting. The only thing that makes sense is that the rod recovers faster when bent, producing greater line speed. I never had the equipment to test that however. I suspect that might come from reduced slippage in the glue bonds to the bamboo fibers, both the glue we use, and the natural lignin that nature provides, Maybe the twisting inhibits some slippage? I am still baffled, but the results are there.
You are right about the twist distributing inequalities equally around the shaft, if the rod is glued up straight, you will not notice a detectable strong side, and I do believe that makes to rod inherently more accurate.
Not much help, I know, but interesting rods anyway. If we ever manage a get together, I will bring them.

[letumgo]

Tom,

The spiral geometry may also have a beneficial effect on the aerodynamics of the rod itself, as the rod moves thru the air. Cylindrical objects moving thru air create flow induced vibration due to turbulent buffeting (Karmen vortex). Car makers add a helical spiral rib (strake) to radio antennas to reduce vibration, and minimize noise from the occelations.



I would not be surprised that the helical shape of your spiral bamboo rod is inherently less prone to flow induced vibration, making them more more stable (less vibration) during the casting strokes.








The more I think about the spiral construction, the more interesting it becomes. If we ever manage to get together, I would love to cast one of the rods you've built.

[Tom Smithwick]

Thanks for posting that Ray, it is extremely interesting. Rod makers do concern themselves with getting the rod to track in a straight line, routinely testing for any tendency to kick in a particular direction. Some do oscillation tests, etc and mount the line guides accordingly. A few have played with asymmetrical cross sections and the like to try to get better tracking. This vortex phenomenon is really something to think about in that regard. It has to affect both tracking and line speed.

[joaniebo]

Well, except for an 8 wgt Orvis rod that my wife bought for me many years ago (one of my first rods) and a 4 wgt Sage that belonged the brother of a friend, I have given away all my graphite rods and can now only fish cane rods.

Having no graphite rods left really doesn't make much of a difference, since I've pretty much trout fished with cane rods for several years (on those few times I've been able to go fishing!).

Culling down my rods as I get REALLY older, even giving away about half of my cane rods......which have made a few of my friends very happy, eh?

Flies, now that's a different thing as I still keep tying!

Bob

[letumgo]

Bob - When did you you first start fly fishing? Did you start out on graphite, and transition to bamboo rods?

I started out on glass rod, then built some graphite rods, then back to fiberglass and eventually to bamboo (thanks to friend Ruard who built my bamboo rod). I didn’t think I’d ever get chance to own/fish with a bamboo rod. What a treat it was to finally experience this myself, and marvel at the natural beauty of a bamboo rod in action.

I’ve long admired your fly tying, and have a set of your flies framed over my desk.

[billems]

I had to sell off my bamboo rods during the Great Recession, 2008. Fished fiberglass until just a few years ago, and got back with bamboo through a stroke of good fortune. Somehow, I lucked into two rods by Robert Bolt, an 8ft 5-wt, and a 7'1/2 ft 4-wt. I also own an 8ft Granger Special that was restored by Granger master Mike Sinclair. I love bamboo. Yet, I did learn that I enjoyed fishing in that fiberglass interim, and could be happy just doing that. But, boy, is cane a luxury? But I'm still on the lookout for a good 8-ft Jenkins, my favorite rod of all.

[joaniebo]

Bob - When did you you first start fly fishing? Did you start out on graphite, and transition to bamboo rods?

I started out on glass rod, then built some graphite rods, then back to fiberglass and eventually to bamboo (thanks to friend Ruard who built my bamboo rod). I didn’t think I’d ever get chance to own/fish with a bamboo rod. What a treat it was to finally experience this myself, and marvel at the natural beauty of a bamboo rod in action.

I’ve long admired your fly tying, and have a set of your flies framed over my desk.

Ray

Thanks for the nice compliment about my fly tying. This OLD guy (77) appreciates it!

If I recall, I decided to take up fly fishing around thev 1998 / 1999 time frame. I started out with a couple Orvis graaphite rods / reels (and 3 or 4 more Orvis / Hardy graphite rods over the years) but then got interested in bamboo rods. I found a guy in France (Richard Jefferies) who had quite a few Partridge-of-Redditch bamboo blanks available and over the years, I probably bought (maybe 10 - 12) blanks from him and started assembling the rods.

Shortly before Partridge sold the company to Mustad, I bought another half dozen blanks from Partridge and then assembled them also. Over the years, I probably assembled and fished maybe 20 rods made with Partridge blanks. I think I only have 2 of those rods left, having given away the rest to several of my fly fishing buddies. Down now to 1 Orvis and 1 Sage graphite rod now.

In addition, a friend (and a great bamboo rod builder) made me 3 sets of impregnated blanks (in Granger, Payne and Dickerson tapers), which I then assembled. A couple years ago, I bought 4 impregnated blanks (2 - 7' - 4 wgts; 1 - 7 1/2' - 4 wgt; and an 8'- 5 wgt) from a fellow in Wisconsin who bought the remaining stock of blanks from a subsiderary of Mathews Archery (called Justin Charles)....again which I assembled.

Also have a couple "finished cane rod" that i've purchased - for the heck of it !

Concerning reels, I have tended to buy and fish only Orvis and Hardy reels and spools that were "Made-in-England", although I do have 1 Orvis and 1 Hardy reel that was not made in the UK.

Although I'm of Slavic descent, I've become very partial to Uk products ever since I purchased a MGB in 1968 (still have it) and have become hooked on Barbour waistcoats, jackets, etc. - AND the old North Country Spiders and Soft Hackles !

Guess that pretty much describes my fly fishing history. Hope I haven't bored you !

Cheers

Bob

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Ah, Bob, my love of UK products (Hardy rods and reels) began with a 1967 Austin-Healey 3000, electric overdrive, beautifully tuned exhaust. Came with the soft top, a hard top and (Gasp!) roll up windows. Loved that car.