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Marutake "Whole Cane" Fly Rod
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Very nice Adam. Loving the Midge, too.
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Made with multiple types of bamboo. Bamboo ferrule, sweet, lively action. I use a plastic line on it now but with a premium silk line?
Super sweet fly rod for small streams.
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Very cool. Until now, I didn't know such an animal existed. I'm curious if blanks are available and how do they do the ferrules.
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Blanks?
Probably not but I will ask.
If you want one of the rods, you can get it from me or Sakura.
Light (hollow) and with a sweet action. It's cane, but has attributes of a hollow rod, nice flex profile, transmits beautifully.
It's just another level and the rod is a choice for those who know bamboo.
As a maker myself, this rod has been carefully constructed and is an example of choosing the best pieces of cane for each section of the rod. The ferrule is bamboo with butt over tip (the tip section fits snugly down and inside of the butt section) and the ferrule is petite yet strong. The butt section is one piece of bamboo out past the stripper guide and one snake for the butt section. The ferrule and one third of the tip section is another piece of different type of bamboo and the fit and finish damn remind me of a graphite rod in it's lightness and roundness.
Remember, I make split cane rods so my perspective is from hexagonal flats or sides, this rod is ROUND.
After the first third of the ferule side of the tip section, there is another section of bamboo that again is very like a graphite blank in it's roundness and straight. The joint of that length of bamboo is not apparent. It is very smooth. The whole butt section to tip section seems to be one nice taper, petite. The nodes of the bamboo are nearly painted on in their petiteness but real no less. The "leaf" sections of the nodes are painted black and again small and exquisitely tended to. When taking the ferule of the tip section in your left hand and the tip of the tip section in your right and rotating the rod around it's length, the rod rotates within the diameter of itself so it is very straight.
I would imagine that the whole rod is this way as well.
With the tip section next to the butt section, the tip is a few inches shorter than the butt section. I do not see this as a fault but as a design feature to enhance the attributes of the chosen bamboo to give the rod it's action. In short, they have chosen the action of the rod by taking certain type of bamboo in definite lengths that enhance the bending qualities of taper, i.e. the rod was made by someone that understands casting dynamics as well as how to join bamboo.
The rod is balanced out by a Loop "Midge" one of the lightest fly reels made.
This is a very light rod.
A brook trout rod, not a head hunting rod but I imagine it would handle those duties once in a while...
The cork is of a good grade with little or no filler and a small cigar shape on the medium side of length. The handle diameter is not too small to give your hand a cramp on a cold morning...
I'm just tickled about it.
Freakin bamboo rod, with all the neat node and color cool character of...
(wait for it)
Bamboo.
Wow.
A sweet #3.
From this link.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakura
Every fly fisherman dreams of using hand-made hexagonal split bamboo rods... But, one may ask, “Hold on, What is whole cane rod???” Yes! This rod is totally different being rooted and remodeled from original Japanese traditional whole cane bamboo rods. Whole cane or “hollow” inside, are much lighter in weight than hexagonal rods. We must be the only one manufacturer in the world, who can make this rod. We carefully pick from four kinds of full grown bamboo and cane materials cut from the cultivated fields, which must be kept for 5 to 10 years in our stock room before use. They are delicately fire finished in Japanese “Binchou” charcoal fire to be lightened, strengthened and straightened. Then, they are finished with Japanese lacquer paint called Urushi. These rods are all on a custom order basis with 6 months to a year of delivery time after the order confirmation. It cannot be cancelled once ordered (Deposit maybe required). Please ask us for the detailed specification.
So it's special if you want one, they make it for you.
Not unlike a bamboo rod being made for you.
You tell them the length and line weight.
You order it, it's made for you in the above process.
Mine took about seven months to make and the construction, the handle, reel seat, the colors are subtle and aesthetically pleasing.
Nice, sweet, love mine.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sakura
About Cane Rod Fire Finish Technique... This Japanese fire finish technique is originated from arrow craftsmen. Cane arrow materials must absolutely be light, hard and straight for “Samurai” battles since Kamakura era about 1000 years ago. The theory is quite simple. By fire finish, the surface of cane material gets carbonized. Every craftsman only knows how his own delicate carbonation level must be by sense. Japanese cane rod craftsmen started to utilize this technique about 220 years ago. Currently, though there existed countless cane rod craftsmen in Japan, it is quite easy to count the number of professional Japanese cane rod builders. The reality of traditional “art work” is severe along with the rapid development of graphite rod.
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Pretty neat rod adam. Has a home made look to it. http://users.dakotacom.net/~jeepster/tipshades.gif
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You know, I could see where you would say that. Mark Steffen's rods have that look to them and his fiberglass rods are in demand. Sakura is gearing up with these craftsmen, they want to forward the traditional ways. Sakura is realized by the Country of Japan to have traditional goods and techniques. This is a very high degree of certificate and it shows their dedication to traditional fishing and keeping the way of the angler alive.
If we fish together, I'll hand it to you for a while.
I'm happy to answer as many questions about the rod that people have and then I'm moving on...
There is a lot more interest at other big sites from a collector perspective.
