Fishing Rod Building Guides

By: Erwan Go

The actual modern bamboo was born in UK in the second half of the 19th century. Fiber glass rods started to appear followed by graphite rods which more resistant and less expensive and more modern than bamboo rods in the ‘70s. Bamboo rods begun to decline as a consequence and for many years virtually disappeared from the market.

But in the latest years more and more fly anglers not only go back to bamboo but also make their own cane rods. The First European Rod Maker Gathering held in Sansepolcro, Tuscany – Italy in May 2008 and more than 100 rod makers from all over European met to share their rods, views and methods. In Fall in the USA, an even longer tradition is annually carried out at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, New York.

DIY kits are used to build a graphite fishing rod and this kit commonly comes with all necessary rod parts (rod blanks, cork handle, reel seat, stripping guides, snake guides, tin top), glue, wrapping threads and assembling instructions.

The fishing rod building on your own will not only made your fishing experience much more enjoyable but also created self confidence to start building a bamboo fly fishing rod.

It is not too difficult to learn the craft itself. You only need the same rod parts as above and today you can find all information about fishing rod building or how to make your own bamboo rod on the internet.

At the beginning, you need a bamboo culm of the right type, Tonkin cane from China is the best then you need to make bamboo strips of finer and finer sizes and glue them together to from a blank. The bamboo strips naturally are shaped in the form of a triangle so that by joining six strips together you will make a hexagonal rod. Penta and quad bamboo fly fishing rod are rare as variant exists.

Exposing at high temperature for set of time, the bamboo strips in a simple, often self build oven and modifying the inner properties of the wood is what makes a bamboo rod what it is, eventually: a wonderful and unique tool which both enthralls the angler and the collector alike.

Dozens of great books explained fishing rod building today which give you step by step instruction like “a master guide to building a bamboo fly rod” by Everett Garrison, and Hoagy Carmichael with his book “starting from the legendary (1976)”

I wrote a guide you may be interested in reading: montana fly fishing and okuma fishing reels

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