Bamboo Rods For Fly Fishing
from web site
Good bamboo is the best material for fly fishing. It should be carefully selected, dried, split, glued and proportioned. It's stronger than steel or solid hardwoods in strength and lightness.
It was once possible for rod makers and anglers to distinguish male and female Calcutta from Tonkin "canes." However, Calcutta is rare today and is just a trade name. Good bamboo of any kind is more difficult to find, and a good piece Tonkin is better that an indifferent Calcutta. But male Calcuttas are supposed to be more valuable than the Tonkin or the women. The African cane or steel vine is the most affordable split cane. It is light-colored and can be used to make inexpensive bamboo fly fishing rods.
FBamboo Fly Fishing Rods - Six Strip and Eight Strip
We assume you know the basics of how bamboo is cut and glued together. This helps to maximize the hard enamel and reduce the overall size. Although some rods are made out of bamboo, which is split into six (hexagonal), and eight (octagonal), more people prefer the six-strip design. The eight-strip, which is closer to a true cylinder than the six, has better action. But this may be more theoretical than it is practical. An eight-strip rod's tiny tips are likely "soft" because of the large amount of glue that is required to hold them all together. Eight strips rods are more costly than the six, and round bamboo fly fishing sticks are better than the six. A six-strip rod that is well-made leaves little to be desired.
Special Features Bamboo Fly-Fishing Rods
One of the most innovative bamboo fly fishing rods is the "double built", which is made up of two layers each of split and glued Bamboo. They are strong and heavier than ordinary rods. They can be used for sea or salmon fishing. But they are unnecessary in single-hand flyrods. A steel center rod, an English invention, is made up of a fine piece well-tempered steel that runs through sections regular split bamboo. This construction claims to give a rod with superior casting power and a mere ounce more weight. This rod is loved by friends who own it for heavy fishing.
American manufacturer provides a rod of "twisted bamboo", which he claims equalizes strains and produces more action. I have never used this rod so cannot comment on its merits. Perry Frazer, author of "Amateur Rodmaking," has good things to say about it.
