Yesterday I picked up my first bamboo fly rod. It’s J.S. Sharpe The Scottie 7’ 4-5 weight.
I’m looking forward to fishing some dries on smaller streams with it.
Is there anything special I need to make sure I do when fishing with/maintaining a bamboo rod?
Already a ton of good advice to which I'll add...
I am one of the folks who:
...will literally turn the rod over (with the reel up) when fighting a fish occasionally)...
Every fish, every time for a zillion years and all of my rods are perfectly straight. It comes so naturally to me I find myself doing it with all of my rods; glass & graphite. I also fish with bamboo spinning & casting rods and it is even MORE important to do it with these rods, especially when retrieving lures.
#1. Never ever store the rod damp or wet; wipe it down when you get to the truck before putting it in the tube to drive to the next spot.
I'll add that EVERY rod I own bamboo, graphite, glass, fly, spinning, casting, Tenkara gets the same treatment in regards to drying. Moisture can wreak havoc with the grips, windings, finish, reel seat spacers on any of them.
For that reason EVERY rod I fish is taken out of the tube and rod sack when I get back home or to a place of lodging and left out in a safe place to dry out completely overnight or longer. Only then do I put it back in the tube. FWIW - I do the same with my reels.
#2. Never ever twist the rod to dis-assemble the ferrules, grasp the rod just above and below the ferrule joint, and pull straight.
Or when assembling them. Never twist bamboo ferrules.
Keep the ferrules clean, use a q-tip to get any gunk out of them. They are made of nickel and require no lubrication or wax.
I'll add that I always wipe down the male ferrules when putting my rod away and again just before I string it up with a clean cloth/bandanna, etc. No nose oil, grease; nothing...
Occasionally I put a cotton swab soaked in a little isopropyl alcohol into the female ferrules to clean them. Wood stick cotton swabs sold for cleaning work WAY better than the paper stick Q-Tips sold for people.
Push ferrules straight in until FULLY seated. If they don't go in all the way, DON'T fish the rod until you get that sorted out (more on that later IF you have a problem).
When I string up my bamboo rods WITHOUT witness marks (little marks that help you align the sections) I seat the ferrules about halfway and the look down the rod to see if the guides are aligned. If they are, I seat the ferrules fully. If not, I pull them apart, adjust and check again.
Get yourself a couple of pieces of
shelf lining material and tuck them in your vest/bag/pack. They come in handy to help you get a good grip on your rod sections (ANY rod sections) when dissembling.
A couple of things I have been doing forever:
If your rod has two tips, most folks I know (and me) like to alternate the tips on each fishing trip so they wear the same.
Vince Marinaro who built bamboo fly rods told me that I should use the REEL to tire the fish, NOT the rod. He advocated playing the fish (IF possible) from the middle of the rod, not the tip.
This is accomplished by holding the rod more horizontal to the water versus high in the air. I've been doing that ever since and NEVER had a problem with a rod or landing a fish.
Congratulations!! Enjoy your new rod!!!
