Bamboo rods for flymphs

[Tom Smithwick]

I love to fool around with tapers for bamboo rods. I have done a lot of variations on 8 foot 3 and 4 weights based on an F.E. Thomas rod I restored about 15 years ago. This rod is the final variation, actually a minor variation on the original in which I mostly just revised the tip to a more convex configuration. The overall action is still a slightly slow medium, but I get a crisp, accelerating feel from the tip as it turns over. Here is what it looks like, nothing fancy, but the best cane work I can do.


I will post the gauge chart and numbers for those who might be interested.

[Tom Smithwick]

[Smuggler]

That's beautiful work Tom! I'd be interested in seeing the chart. I'm slowly collecting some tools and literature to read up on.

Edit: Never mind! You're on it!

[Tom Smithwick]

The green line is the actual taper.

[Smuggler]

Thank you Tom.

[William Anderson]

Tom, is this a cousin of the 8' one piece 4wt of yours I cast last year? I may have slow progress toward getting to build one myself, but it's still in my future.

[Tom Smithwick]

Hi William - The rods are very close in taper. Basically, I removed a localized dip in the butt section that was probably an accident in the original Thomas taper to begin with, and I revised the top 15" of the tip into the convex dip you can see on the chart. I used a lightweight truncated ferrule to help preserve the full flexing feel of the rod. The small weight saving matters on a light taper like this. On a fast taper, not so much.
Rod design is a tricky business. There are various methods of going about it, some intuitive, and some highly scientific. All will get you "on the paper" as the shooters say, but getting exactly what you want often comes down to some trial and error. The reason that there is only one tip is that I wanted to try out the new scheme before I built the second. The cane is all split and ready to go, in this case, I am making no changes. That does not mean everyone will like it. One of the guys I learned from once told me "It is impossible to make a fly rod so good that everyone will like it, but also impossible to make one so bad that nobody will like it". As an amateur, I only have to please myself, but this one is getting very good reviews.

[swellcat]

. . . full-flexing feel . . . overall action is still a slightly slow medium, but I get a crisp, accelerating feel from the tip as it turns over.

Boy, that rod sure sounds good to me, and it looks good, too.