Bamboo

I have been fishing for most of my life and it all started with a bamboo rod on a little trickle in Washington. I don't remember much about the fishing except the fact that the rod was bamboo. Although I was only 4 or 5 years old I somehow know that there was a connection between that rod and my hand that was just cool. Fishing in the salt of the Gulf of Mexico, Texas lakes, Colorado streams, Washington lakes and rivers, blue ribbon Idaho rivers and Utah water has been fun and there have been many many rods that have been to those places. While you can catch fish with just about any rod, some seem to be more compliant to your hands and mind.

A few years ago I became obsessed with bamboo rods. I checked out books from the library, read anything I could find and talked to anyone who would listen about bamboo rods. It wasn't a matter of acquiring rods from makers but actually building a rod.

After accumulating tools and materials I finally got started building my first rod. It was a long process but a fun one. I have only been able to cast that rod on the lawn because soon after it was completed it was given to my grandfather as a gift to show my appreciation for the things that he had taught me about fishing and life so many years ago. I have not seen my grandfather get emotional in the time that I have known him until I presented him with that rod. Not only did making the rod teach me about how to build a rod but it taught me that people appreciate bamboo rods because they are different and there is a lot of work and craftsmanship that goes into them. There is a big difference between getting a rod from the store and having a rod custom made to you and the water you fish!

I seem to look at most rods as long pieces of carbon fiber dipped in plastic and a few guides thrown on. Bamboo is a grass, a very tall and strong grass, that bends and sways in the wind while still a living plant.  When you take that living thing and work it over many hours it still posses the same qualities as it did when it was living. Put that finished rod in a living persons hands and the flow just keeps going. I think that is what I realized a long time ago even though I really didn't know what it was.

I still have a handful of plastic rods and I even won one at a film festival a few months back but only fished it one time. I seem to pick up the bamboo rods every time. Now that I have spent more time on Utah lake with the potential of catching bigger fish I find myself trying to find the perfect taper for an 8 weight so that I do not have to take my Browning anymore. Hopefully once we move I will be able to find some time to start this rod.

 Although I have fallen in love with bamboo it doesn't mean that everyone will love it. I recently completed a trihex shaped rod that I have shown to a number of fisherman and allowed them to even cast it in some cases. The consensus is pretty neutral and most don't see a value or even really care about the time and care put into a rod of this design. I think I have come to the understanding that this will continue to happen and I am OK with them spending six or seven hundred dollars for that new XXX brand rod. You continue to fish your plasticized carbon, I will continue to build rods that inspire people to love every second of the time they spend fishing because they love the rod as much as they love the fishing.