Bamboo fly rods
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bamboo fly rods or a split cane rod is a fly fishing rod that is made from bamboo also referred to as cane. With more than 1,000 different bamboo species and nearly a hundred different kinds, Tonkin Cane (Arundinaria amabilis or Pseudosasa amabilis) is most often used for fishing rods; Calcutta cane has also been used extensively.
This bamboo species originally grew on only approximately 48,000 acres up the Sui River in the Tonkin region of Guangdong Province in China. It is said to be one of the strongest bamboo species because of its high density of fibers. This high density is what the bamboo fly rod maker is after because this gives the rod its strength and flexibility. This, however, is not the only reason that bamboo rod builders use this species. It also is selected because of its straightness, and well-spaced nodes.
In order to make this type of fishing rod, the bamboo culms are split and then split again into smaller and smaller strips, which are then planed and glued together to form a blank. This process, together with the wrapping of the guides with very fine silk thread, varnishing and making of the cork grip and wooden reel seat, can easily take up to more than 100 hours. It is for this reason that some of the contemporary artisans charge more than $2,500 for their rods today. Collectors of bamboo rods are known to pay more than $15,000 for mint condition antiques.
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[edit] History
From references it seems likely that fishing with a fly rod the way we know it today started between 1790 and 1845. Many bamboo and wood species were used as a building material before and during that period but bamboo soon became the popular and preferred material to use. It is believed that in 1846 Samuel Phillipe, a gunsmith from Easton, Pennsylvania made the first 6 strips designed tip from Calcutta Cane and that his son, Solon, built the first complete hexagonal rod from Calcutta cane in 1859.[citation needed]
As bamboo popularity increased, the H.L. Leonard rod company[1] -- still in existance^ -- started making machinery to produce cane/ bamboo fly rods. The first fly fishing rods wer made from Ash and Lancewood, but H.L. Leonard started to make complete bamboo rods exclusively in 1874.
Square or Quadrate rods were the first rods Leonard made because his belief was that these performed much better but he eventually started making 6 strip or hexagonal rods because of commercial reasons. At that time good quality cane was hard to find. What was available was often full of scorch marks and insect damage. For this reason it was easier to acquire six strips of good quality cane than 4 wider strips for the Quadrate rod. The hexagonal version was easier to produce and soon became the standard. Bill Edwards, Sam Carlson and Ebenezer Green produced Quadrate rods and others even made bamboo rods which had pentagonal and octagonal cross-sections.
Bamboo soon became the preferred material for all fishing rods with Tonkin cane being prized above other species. This continued to 1950 when a trade embargo was imposed on Chinese goods. Due to the resultant shortage of quality bamboo and the concurrent development of synthetic fibers the fabrication of bamboo rods nearly stopped. By the time the embargo ended in the early seventies only a handful of craftsmen were still making bamboo rods. The main reason for bamboo rods regaining their popularity was a result of Everett Garrison together with Hoagy Carmichael publishing bamboo rod building ‘secrets’ in their book “a Masters guide to building a bamboo fly rod”.
[edit] Today
Today the bamboo fly rod industry is continuously booming. Hundreds of people still make bamboo rods every year and there are a handful of young professional bamboo fly rod builders like Danny Heus from Keone Rodsmiths[2] who builds Quadrate/rectangular rods and William Oyster from Oyster Rods[3] who has devoted himself to making hexagonal rods. Most professional bamboo rod builders today are small family businesses. Besides providing beautiful handmade fishing rods artisans like these, together with the hundreds of hobby craftsmen, keep the craft alive and available for people who appreciate the exquisite craftsmanship of a bamboo fly fishing rod.
[edit] See Also
[edit] Citation
^ The current HL Leonard Company carries on the name only as the beveler machine and stocks of cane were sold at auction in the early 1980s to Marc Aroner of Greenfield, Massachusetts, who worked as a Leonard rodmaker and has developed a reputation in his own right. He continues to make rods on the Leonard equipment and to the Leonard specifications (patterns and tapers).)
[edit] References
- Garrison, Everett (1977). A master's Guide to Building a bamboo fly rod. Nick Lyons Books.
- Phillips, Don (2000). The Technology of fly rods. Frank Amato Publications, Inc.
- Homel, Daniel (1997). Antique and Collectible fishing rods. Forrest Park Publishers.
