What is it REALLY about bamboo for you?

[Ernest]

martin_b,

Short pm sent today.

Ernest

[matsoberg]

A friend said "bamboo is the meaning of life" but I won´t go that far. I´ll just stick to "Bamboo is the sh-it"..

My father fished split bamboo. My fist fishing pole was bamboo. My neighbor from my childhood days, who was my fishing hero and was considered one of the best trout fishermen in the county, fished split bamboo. My son´s first pole was bamboo and my first split bamboo rod I made I gave to him and he loves it. I have fished split bamboo for about 30 years by now and I still don´t think I can put my finger on it after all these years. I just like them. I can sit down on a rock by the river and just look at the rod. If it´s a rod I´ve made myself, I look at the node work and so on and maybe I remember a sequence in the shop from when I made it.
And I often find myself putting on a smile when casting a bamboo fly rod.

What is it REALLY about bamboo for me? Well, I gusss I just freaking love it for the natural and down to earth thing it is...

Mats

[Alpinefly]

Each Boo Rod has a special personality to it. One thing that was special to me when I fished pairs of Wet Flies and Nymphs was that you could feel every nuance; the lightest take or nibble. same with fishing dries !!! There are many fishermen who feel they need to use strike indicators !!! I can easily say that with a good Boo Rod, there is no need !!! Yoy feel everything !!!! I love the smoothness of presentation with a good silk line, and how the dry fly even smoothly lands. The cast on a good Boo and Silk line is a thing of beauty and art all in one !!!! Fighting a fish on one is even better; again you feel everything all the way up your arm and throught your body !!!

[Roy]

backbone and unrelenting power

that's all
Roy

[wb4tjh]

My first bamboo fly rod was an impregnated Scottie by Sharpes of England in the mid 1970s, since then, I've owned Leonards, Orvis bamboo and several others. Right now, my favorite bamboo is one made by Bob Lancaster of Maryland, based on a Paul Young Para 15 taper. Bamboo has a special feel that makes casting an extension of my arm, and to me, nothing defines what a flyrod should be better than bamboo. I still fish graphite and glass rods, but bamboo has a feel that only bamboo can have.

[MikeM]

At first, I just thought it would be great to own one because there are nice looking. I fell in lust with a three weight in Chris Raines' shop in Dunsmuir several years back. It was gone when I went back.

When I did finally get one (Matt Schliske's) I started to 'get it'. I slow everything down when I fish my bamboo rod, starting at the trunk of the car and stringing the silk through the guides. I'm more deliberate, careful, patient, and if I get a take, happier, as it seems I worked a little more for it. I cannot be in a hurry when I cast with it. If I'm nice and easy, she is nice and easy too. And, it doesn't hurt that she is beautiful. When I fish with it, I FEEL cool - which is pride talking - but its true even when nobody is around. When I am around others, it has proven to be an interesting conversation starter. Lots of people like bamboo rods - they love to look at them.

A side benefit that I had not anticipated, was that I became acquainted with the maker. I got his idea of what a good rod should do (personality) which is great, and I've gotten to fish with him since delivery, something I wouldn't have done had I not made the bamboo connection.

I use my beater of an Orvis 5wt. mostly, but when I go smallstream, my 3 wt. bamboo is my companion.

MikeM

[mikeytwoshoes]

I haven't answered this since I don't really know. from the first time i fished bamboo (also a schliske) there was no looking back. it feels right. and while we and others tend to dwell on the appearance of bamboo rods (gorgeous), we also tend to neglect how ell they perform their job. there is nothing like fishing bamboo. from the effortless cast to the rod coming alive in yer hand while fighting a fish. the whole damn thing is electric for lack of a better word. bamboo looks better, it casts better and it fishes better. I just love it. everything about it.

[pcg]

I wrote a book on EW Edwards. That was after fishing with graphite rods for over 20 years. One day I wandered into a fly shop in Vermont & ran into a guide I knew. For some reason he grabbed me and said, "I gotta show you a rod. Let's cast it!" and proceeded to drag me out to the casting pond. The rod was a mid-1920s Edwards, and casting it was a small revelation. I'd never cast anything like it. Power, smoothness, reach.

I was so blown away that I started a lengthy process of researching cane rods. Lo and behold, I found that almost all modern tapers are a variant of classic cane rod tapers--stuff that was fine-tuned 50-80 years ago. My opinion--although I still fish graphite (but only in Spey rods)--was that there was something magical in the finer cane rods that still hasn't been duplicated w/ modern plastic rods. As Will wrote earlier, there's an aesthetic issue, certainly. And a romance. But if you start doing some blindfolded casting using both cane and graphite, you'll walk away a believer. The graphite is adequate: The cane sings.

After becoming a believer for the last decade & a half, I can't imagine not going to cane first when I go out to my favorite stream.

[trout-nut]

I just started messing around with bamboo 2 year ago. I had strip an old shakespeare. I kept the original cork and reel seat. I put new guides on it and went fishing. It's a 7' and I used a 6wt. line on it. I caught fish on it for first time in probably 40 or 50 years. Been messing with bamboo ever since. I just got done building a 8' 5wt. garrison taper I've cast it in the parking lot. Can't wait to get it on water. Like the way it casts. I also have a 7' 6" hardy and my next project is going to be a 7' 4wt. granger. I don't know how to post pictures or I would take some and post them. I've been hook ever since. I still use my TMF and a 7'10" 3wt scott & 7' 4wt TL Johnson fiberglass that I have but it sure is nice fishing bamboo. :)

[Neil]

Hi Guys

We are having a similar discussion on a local forum here in South Africa. Seems I am in a minority when it comes to using a bamboo rod. The emphasis here seems to be on long graphite rods (for high sticking etc). Fast actions. You guys know the drill.

My fascination with bamboo developed in the early 1970's when I was at university. I went down to a local lake one day, with my only flyrod at the time, a 8' glassfibre, the name of which i cannot remember. As I walked over the crest of a hill, I came across a young boy of about 13 or 14 casting a bamboo rod. I had never seen beautiful casting before and the image of the him standing on a rock with the line looped into the sky will remain in my memory forever.

Fast forward. About 4 years ago I purchased a knockoff bamboo rod from an online shop in the USA. Also bought a JP Thebault silk line and knockoff Vom Hofe. I fish this outfit from time to time as a flirtation with the traditional side of flyfishing and I love it! Although I do not own a "name" rod, my setup casts perfectly and roll casts like no other graphite I own. The "live" feel of a fish on the line is difficult to describe but surpasses any feedback I get from my ZXL's etc.

I've read Carmichael's book and was totally absorbed. One day I will import a planing form or two and build my own.

Till then I will fish my bamboo rod on special occassions and continue enjoying the feedback on this forum.

Regards
Neil