Bamboo rods vs graphite rods
- This topic has 35 replies, 18 voices, and was last updated Sep 8, 2007 at 1:28 pm by
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I hear a lot of people making comments about bamboo rods lately & how they are too heavy compared to graphite.
I’m with you, Bret.
I had the same notion before I got to know ‘boo. I fish cane, graphite and glass. My first bamboo rod was a 9’ Granger Victory and I fell in love. Certainly, it wears my arm off after a whole day of fishing, but not after two or three hours like some folks think.
Like you, I have banty rods at 6′ and longer rods up to 9′, and all are vintage except an 8′ 7-wt by Harry Boyd of Louisiana, which is my redfish rod, a Dickerson 8016 guide special that will throw an Orvis redfish taper a country mile.
But I think there’s a place for all of them. My ‘boo rods are my favorite, but I love a little Tiger Eye blank 7 1/2’ 4pc I built for a 5-wt, and I have a ‘glass Heddon Black Beauty in the same size that’s awesome on streams and spotted bass.
To each their own, I say, but ‘boo gets a bad rap among the uninitiated, or those who have only toyed with hardware-store grade rods. Even then, I have a Monty Rapidan and an H-I Spinner that are great with a 6-wt line…neither is very straight, but handle largemouth nicely.
What about FIBERGLASS then? It has a lot of attributes of bamboo…is also quite durable…and there are a lot of glass rods out there that don’t break the bank (both vintage and new) but just have incredible life in them.
Poor man’s bamboo?!… although there are some expensive glass out there as well
Hi fellas,
I’ve been looking around for a nice new toy for a while now, something to spoil myself with a little.
I’ve also, recently been introduced to “smaller” streams, and really enjoy this type of fly fishing.My good mate let me fish his Scott on one of our streams last year, since then I’ve been eyeing it out.
What other brands manufacture fiber glass rods, besides Scott?
TIA!
D
Fiberglass is a completely different animal, since as you say it is very durable and more importantly it’s still manufactured (it’s also inexpensive).
The delicacy issue will always be there, Bret, because that’s how fiberglass and graphite were sold to the masses, and it’s become an urban myth, of sorts. And, like I said earlier, most people’s experience with ‘boo has been hardware-store rods that DID snap easily. The mid-grade and high-end rods are far, far outnumbered by the little, cheap Montys, H-Is and so forth.
I recall that Lee Wulff regularly caught 20+ lb. salmon with a 6′ one-piece bamboo rod.
Today’s rods are even more durable, and anybody that can afford a Z-Axis or a Zero Gravity can afford a quality modern bamboo rod.
Flyfishermen are created out of different molds. I’ve gotten more open minded about it over the past few years. Some believe that Nirvana is reached by catching lots of big fish, some never venture off the river to explore tributaries, some believe that fishing bamboo is the pinnacle. Etc. There is no wrong answer, just misinformed opinions and lots of self righteousness.
For me, I believe that fly fishing itself is an archiac sport and that modern advancements have taken flyfishing to one spool of monofilament away from being spin fishing. I make and fish bamboo rods because I think it is really effin cool. Whoever said that the ultimate satisfaction in fly fishing was catching a fish on a fly you tied yourself never made his own rod out of a big piece of grass. I also think that catching fish on as many different streams is better than catching big fish on the same water time after time.
But not everyone is like me, if they were, there wouldn’t be any need for them at all 😉
no question Boo is heavier. It just makes you feel lighter. It is not more delicate,however.That said,it’s still hard for me to put down my Scott G for small streams or my Winston IM6 for most everything else.
Steve‘Boo is okay but casting them make me feel I’m just along for the ride. There are so many different tapers and actions of plastic rods there is sure to be one out there to match most everyones needs.
That said, If I had the cash one ‘boo rod I would own in a heartbeat is one of the gems Wayne Macca builds. They’re about as light as plastic yet have that almost traditional look (if you overlook the hand build carbon fiber ferrules) They cast like the dickens too BUT… as someone else put it, ‘if you want a ‘boo that acts so much like plastic why spend all that money… just get plastic!’
Another I woul;d take in a heartbeat with the right cash in hand is a Midge Bob Sommers thrust in my hand several years ago before I left Michigan. That rod still haunts me!
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