Bamboo

[alan king]

Ok so this is not a bamboo fourm but I am considering purchse of a NEW bamboo rod and I trust that you guys have some info that will help.

[Roger Stouff]

There’s plenty. You could go on forever before making a decison!

But I’ll put in my vote for Harry Boyd of Louisiana. He’s building me an 8′ 7-wt right now. See his work at http://www.canerods.com. Harry makes a fabulous stick, and his work is nationally respected.

[mountainsallaround]

There are a zillion builders out there, most of them pretty good. Some of them are exceptional.

It would be a lot easier if you had a sense of the kind of rod taper/action/length you preferred. Any ideas? Some builders tend to specialize in a specific kind of taper, so if you wanted a classic Catskill dry fly taper (perhaps a Payne) then you might be happier with one builder than another.

Price is also a consideration since new rods can vary from $600 to $3000.

If you’re located in the south and want to “buy local” there are a couple builders with national reputations. Harry Boyd is good, and Jame Beasley (Crossville) is an absolute wiz with classic Paul Young tapers, and frankly a bargain at $900.

Meeting the builder and casting some of the rods before deciding on a taper would handy; bamboo rods vary a lot more in action than graphite, so you can pretty quickly end up with a rod that doesn’t suit you.

I’m partial to the work of the western craftsmen who are hollow building their tapers, resulting in lighter, livelier rods. (Big surprise; I live out here and fish 8′-8.5′ rods exclusively.)

I wrote an article for California Fly Fisher on Western hollow builders and it’s on my Web site at:
http://www.troutunderground.com/bamboo.htm

Let us know what kind of rod you’re looking for and I’m sure you’ll get some real concrete suggestions.

Take care,
Tom Chandler

[alan king]

I am primarily looking for a rod for small creeks and dry fly presentation.

[brian dunigan]

Price is also a consideration since new rods can vary from $600 to $3000.

Holy cow.

[mountainsallaround]

BD:

Now you know how I feel when I see mass-produced graphite rods selling for $700. I mean, Holy Cow, they make these things by the dozens…. 😎

Seriously, the high end cane rods are collectibles the second they come off the builder’s bench. The side-effect of this is that I can buy a Bob Summers rod for a couple grand, fish it a couple years, decide I don’t like it, and re-sell it for pretty much what I paid.

There are a lot of really nice bamboo rods out there for under $1500, but most of the rods I fish cost considerably less than that. In fact, most of my workhorse Phillipson 8′ and 8.5′ rods cast less than even mid-level graphite. (Being as I could sell all of them for more than I paid for them, I’m thinking I’m divorce proof on this one…)

TX
Casting a few rods would be a great idea. You didn’t say where you lived (Texas?). A lot of people who want to fish their longer graphite rods and use cane on smaller waters tend towards faster cane tapers, but it would be nice to know that for sure before buying one.

Many builders have designed tapers specifically for people who want to fish graphite and cane interchangeably. Chris Raine (http://www.dunsmuirrodcompany.com) and AJ Thramer (http://www.thramerrods.com) are good examples. AJ’s “Grouse Creek” series rods are probably the best deals going in new bamboo right now.

In terms of taper, almost any builder could make you something based on a Payne or Edwards taper, so it’s likely that you could work with a builder in your area (assuming there is one).

There are a lot of good builders out there, and don’t overlook the better used rod dealers like Jim Bresko (http://members.aol.com/canerodz/classics.html) where you can score a good deal on a lightly used rod, and enjoy a return policy if you don’t like it.

Good luck!
TC

[alan king]

From the looks of his website and phliosphy

[Zach Matthews]

Hey TX-

I will second the nomination for Harry Boyd.

[Author]

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