Thoughts on bamboo?

Pc. Heavy. No! Are u familiar with hollow building? Things have come a long ways!

Are they graphite weights? No!

Are they the heavy southbends of yesteryear? Not on your life!


I put to hand a carlin 3wt that weighed no more than my current sage or tfo 3wt! So i know first hand it can be done! I have a room full of bou ready to roll i need to get after it!

Theres a world class builder in the cumberland valley btw! I spent an afternoon with him last year. Awese dude and sweet rods! I regret not getting time in his shop last month when i was visiting!
 
E.C. Powell utilized hollow building techniques in the 1930's. Winston, Howells, Reams, Brandin, Carlin are just a few builders that have incorporated various methods of hollow-building.
 
I got my first bamboo early last year. A Payne 100 taper in 4 wt and love it. I now fish it 70% of the time and have landed some really nice fish on it though I was a bit nervous. Found a nice older Hardy reel and enjoy the heck out of it.
 
Boo? Cast one or two of them. Handed them back to the owner after 2-3 casts. With a lit up face, the owner says "well, what do ya think?". Reluctantly, I replied with *wow, that thing sucks". Lol. Not my cup of tea.

I can only assume that you'll be going with silk line, cat gut leaders and wading in heavy wool pants to get the full experience. Make sure you have dry clothing in your horse drawn cart to change into. It can get quite chilly wet wading during the Hendrickson hatch.

 
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but can you cast 40-50' accurately? Even if you can, your drift would be incredibly short due to various currents. I only bring this point up because few actually cast to, and catch trout at that distance. Trying to toss out a stimulator 40' with a bamboo rod in real world condirions isn't my idea of a good time.

Most guys gravitate to bamboo because of how well they fish up close, protect light tippet, or they just enjoy the action.

Regardless, as with any rod decisions, I'd recommend casting as many as you can, just like you would be in a fishing situation.
 
Ak, I am guessing your Cumberland valley guy might be the ones who made my rod. Wyatt and Rob Dietrich. Based out of Chambersburg. Mine is under their "Dreamcatcher" line. That line is now defunct as Wyatt (and Rob too?) took over rod building under the name "Sweetwater" upon the death of their friend and mentor George Maurer. Sweetwater was George's line, and they use his tapers.

This discussion reminds me. Lost a guide from one of the tips. Need to have them fix it up....
 
I'm not trying to be a jerk, but can you cast 40-50' accurately? Even if you can, your drift would be incredibly short due to various currents.
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Yes, I can when needed. Yes, longer casts make controlling drag more difficult, though there are a ton of variables that determine how feasible those distances are. No, that's not a "typical" distance, not because I couldn't, but because I don't usually have to.

40' isn't that far. Fly rods are rated for 30' of fly line off the tip. Add a 10' leader and you are fishing at 40'. I'll always fish as short as possible but that's not outside my comfort range at all. 50' is doable but starting to get non ideal for me. I'm no champion caster.

Fly lines are 90' long and there are some that can cast a whole line, though that's with graphite, and I don't know that they can fish a whole line effectively in most situations.

With my favorite graphite 9 ft 5 wt my yard casts top out around 70' and as I said, 50' is about the limit in comfortable fishing at. My boo is not greatly outclassed by that rod. Granted I'd pick the graphite stick if distance is my goal, but it's not night and day. I think my accuracy at medium distances is superior with the boo. My boo is medium fast by graphite standards.

I do have one rod I can cast a line with when standing in a field. 11 ft 7 wt when I put a 6 wt line on it. But that's cheating.
 
I'm well aware that some can lay out a whole line. But, maybe streamers being the exception, that has absolutely nothing to do with trout fishing.
 
When the grannom hatch is going well on the J and I've caught enough fish to be sated I like to pick out a few risers that seem to be out of my range. I've surprised myself with how far out I've hooked and landed fish with an E-glass 8' 5wt, which is quite a slow full flexing rod. The most difficult part of the process for me with that much line out is the hook set. The makeshift mantra I adhere to is slow down, don't overpower the rod, allow the rod unload and transfer power to the line. I'd imagine it'd work with bamboo just as well.
 
Pc. No thats not him. Hes not in buiz, he's retired. He still builds and is well known in the boo community.

I believe he did a seminar last summer at allenberry.

I swear i miss all the good stuff lol!
 
AKDan, you've got a good mentor there, I won't drop the name since you haven't...but he knows his stuff for sure, and builds some very nice rods.

Regarding practicality of fishing, a cane rod can be built to fish any situation that a graphite rod can. Do ya'll really think that nobody was throwing big flies into the wind or fishing out beyond 40' until graphite rods came along?
 
Steve, agree wholeheartedly. However, 40-50 ft is under half a fly line, considering that includes a 7 to 11 ft leader. Would I rather fish shorter distances? Yes. Do I normally fish shorter distances? Also yes. But is 40 to 50 ft unreasonable to fish at? No.

Again, fly rods, including boo, are rated for line weight based on 30 ft of fly line off the tip. That's supposed to be average. It's not average for PA, but hardly unreasonable. That's about a 40 ft cast.

I own 6 graphite sticks and one boo. The boo is the third fastest. It's medium fast by graphite standards. I have cast a few that are legitimately fast. They aren't all wet noodles. That was my point. The range of actions is much higher than graphite. From crazy slow to broomstick fast.
 

Like any rod, before you pay a good sum of money, you should try to cast it first. I realize this is not always easy, or even possible, especially when buying a used rod.

I've picked up and cast quite a few boos....apples, oranges, grapes, berries, watermelons, etc.

Boo is beautiful...some may even be considered a work of art.

Boo is often expensive. Some of the rods mentioned can run a thousand or thousands of dollars.

Boo is very durable (from breakage) for the most part. But cannot really be "fixed" at all. A new matching tip, if that's the issue, must be remade by the builder. It's best to buy a rod with multiple tips.

Boo rods sometimes take a set in the tip section. You must be careful and take care of your rod, but it happens through no fault of your own.

Boo rods overall are heavier than graphite ones, thus most boo rods built are in shorter lengths. If you nymph a lot, or even fish dries and need to mend, a shorter rod is a disadvantage.

Again, owning a boo can be a real joy if you can afford it, and if you find one that really fits your casting and fishing.

Good luck.
 
Pcray, out of curiosity, what graphite do you have? I much prefer older graphite like Winston im6/WTs and Scott Gs.
 
Tomi,

yes, Chris Carlins helping me out...unfortunately he's 400 miles away. I've spent a bunch of time with him..and have more in the near future. I also picked up his handmill and a host of other goodies!

I need to spend more time with TS while im in pa next time!
 
Pcray, out of curiosity, what graphite do you have?
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The two I'd classify as faster than my boo are a St. Croix Imperial and a G Loomis GL3. And not by a whole lot, at least at medium distances. Slower examples in my quiver would be a Cortland GRX and an Orvis TLS Power Matrix.

As you can probably tell from that list, all of my offerings fall in what is typically described as "medium fast". And at medium distances the boo fits in that lineup well.

As you get up in the high distance range (60+ ft), the boo cast does start breaking down before the graphite sticks, though. I'm not sure that it's speed that's changing, per se, but mainly the swing weight of an 8 ft boo becomes an issue. When you put that much power behind it, your stops aren't so quick and sudden, just on account of momentum of the rod.
 
If u hsavent noticed like graphite boo is particular to tapers and more importantly lines.

My gl4 7 collapses if u try to false cast a pikre taper too far!

You might find a simple line change fixes your distance problems. Or change how you're casting. I don't keep 60'of line airborne with graphite!
 
I think you'll be disappointed if you buy a cheap bamboo rod on eBay. It will probably be heavy and not cast very well.

I recently purchased my first cane rod after several years of searching. While graphite rods tend to adhere to a series and style, bamboo rods do not. Makers tend to make specific rods for specific casters and situations and can vary widely across a range.

Living in PA, you've got a lot of makers and dealers within a few hours drive. I'd make it a point to cast A LOT of rods so you get a feel for rods that you like and don't like.
 
Dave, As you were'nt specific as to whether you preferred a used or new rod or just the best deal possible, keep in mind if buying used off the auction sites you definitely run the risk of getting burned with a rod that may need some expensive refurbs. Ferrule repair or replacement, sets, delamination etc. are all issues that will haunt you and drain funds quickly. There are still some deals out there but have become damn scarce. "Caveat Emptor"
 
you can find good deals on ebay, if you know what you looking at just becareful , I got a wright & McGill granger aristocrat, that's 8ft. 5 wt., I paid less than 200.00, I consider it the best casting rod I ever owned & I have some very expensive winstons,scotts & sage,
 
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