Bamboo rods for flymphs

[hankaye]

Howdy All;

Just some older stuff to reinforce their capabilities;

Part 1; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q6-6A3vCpo

Part 2; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMZYYAl0a3I

a bit grainy but what the hey ...

hank

[raven4ns]

Thank you again everyone for sharing your experiences.

Tim

[letumgo]

Tim - We are determined to get you in trouble with your wife. You need a new rod. What are friends for?

[raven4ns]

Lol, letumgo I sure hope my medical plan can take it with all this help...ahahaha.


Tim

Tim - We are determined to get you in trouble with your wife. You need a new rod. What are friends for?

[Eric Peper]

In Jeff's longish, well thought out post on the previous page he alludes to the need to play a fish a bit differently with bamboo ("using the whole rod") than with plastic. I smiled when I read that (very accurate) segment because a couple weeks ago I was looking at a video a friend shot of me playing a large fish (on a 9' 4-weight graphite rod) on the Henry's Fork. I sent him a note saying that video could have been a good deal shorter had I applied all the things bamboo had taught me about using the whole rod effectively to play a strong fish.

My favorite bamboo rods all have quite fine tips and relatively strong mid sections. If the rod is held at a low angle when playing a big fish and both rod and reel are used effectively, the fish really doesn't stand much of a chance (barring obstacles or occasional acts of idiocy ). I am always quite amazed to find I can "lift" a large, sulky fish, even on a 6X tippet, if the whole rod rather than just the tip section is used. These same rules apply to graphite rods, of course, assuming they are well designed as fishing rods and not just as casting instruments.

Here's my favorite setup, shown on my favorite river.



A month after this picture was taken this rod (an 8'3", 3-piece, 4-weight quadrate made by Doug Daniel) took a 24"+ rainbow for me from a spot just to the right of the reel in the picture.

Eric

[William Anderson]

I haven't ventured into bamboo rods yet, there's time, but I'm very interested to hear a bit more about the timing or pursue or use of your arms, etc, when playing a large fish with the whole rod. Sadly, the occasion for me isn't frequent enough to worry much, but I have plans to make it a more frequent part of my time in the water. Thanks everyone for such a cool thread.

Eric, what a wonderful shot of the rod/reel/water. Just beautiful. And 24"....Holy...

[Eric Peper]

I haven't ventured into bamboo rods yet, there's time, but I'm very interested to hear a bit more about the timing or pursue or use of your arms, etc, when playing a large fish with the whole rod. Sadly, the occasion for me isn't frequent enough to worry much, but I have plans to make it a more frequent part of my time in the water. Thanks everyone for such a cool thread.

Eric, what a wonderful shot of the rod/reel/water. Just beautiful. And 24"....Holy...

To me, William, it simply means keeping the rod at a lower angle through most of the fight. Once the hook is set, I lower the tip (Think of a 25-30 degree angle above horizontal.) , and let the strong mid-section of the rod absorb the bulk of the weight and the runs. I will raise the tip to protect against sudden surges when the fish is close in, but then immediately return the whole rod to a lower angle. Doing this while applying side pressure, for example, enables me to guide or lift a recalcitrant fish out of, say, a fast current into slower water with relatively minimal pressure. If the rod were at a high angle (read "relying on the tip section for pressure"), and I tried to do the same thing I'd likely have to apply twice as much pressure to achieve the same result. That is what I could see in my friend's video referred to above. It is especially effective when you're trying to get a fish back under control after a long run, and you have a fair amount of line to recover and the fish still wants to go a different direction.

I basically taught myself to do this when using some very sweet casting, older rods that I initially felt were unable to do the job with large fish. When I changed over to a lower rod position, I found their mid-sections were tough as nails. Not surprising as there is a good reason some of these rods have been around for 60 or 70 years. I also watched a guy who is about ten years my senior (there are a few still on the stream ) who always seemed to have his fish under control, regardless of size. He was very effective at getting them to the net, and this was a technique he employed effectively.

Hope this helps.

Eric

[Mataura mayfly]

Yep, what Eric said!
Was kind of what I meant, but Eric puts it into words so much more eloquently. If I could type as fast as I think, well my posts would possibly be not as long winded and easier to understand.

Eric, that is a beautiful looking quad. Quadrate cane is often overlooked in favour of hex, I personally thing the quad a "sexier" looking format.

[letumgo]

Eric - is that the same rod you showed me and Hank, while we were at Jim's place, or do you have more than one quad? That was a real treat.

[Eric Peper]

Eric - is that the same rod you showed me and Hank, while we were at Jim's place, or do you have more than one quad? That was a real treat.

Same one, Ray -- wish I had a few more, but . . . can only fish one at a time, and I fished this one a lot this past season. Definitely my "go to." It provides very emphatic testimony to what a well designed and built 4-weight rod can do.

Yes, our get together at Jim's was a treat for me as well. Loved seeing Jim's Hidy rod too.

Eric