By GEORGE LISET, WRITING ON THE FLY
I am not very artistic, but I can appreciate good art and craftsmanship. Growing up on the water south of Boston I fell in love with wooden boats. I have a fondness for lapstrake boats, having refinished a number of them for friends. When I moved to New Hampshire I became enamored with wood canvas canoes. I love the beauty of the refinished wood and caned seats. I have bought and sold many over the years. Then I discovered bamboo fly rods.
One of my hobbies is buying and selling fly fishing equipment. Before I started fly fishing I would come across bamboo fly rods and occasionally pick them up if the price was right. I quickly learned that in order to resell the rods they needed to meet a certain criteria. I first learned that condition was important. I didn’t realize that if all the pieces weren’t the same length the fly rod was damaged and could cost some serious money to restore. Then I learned that the name on the bamboo rod made a difference as to whether it was worth repairing.
If I saw an L.L. Bean fly rod I would buy it for the name. A Bean rod was popular in New England. Then as I did my homework on bamboo rods, I learned that some names are more collectible than others, and that a person’s name made the rod even more collectible. Needless to say I got stuck with a few bamboo fly rods until I learned my lessons. Therefore, some of the best lessons learned are the hard ones, but they did pay off.
I bought my first bamboo fly rod for my personal use at an auction. I bought an Orvis six weight Battenkill in mint condition for about twenty five percent of what the New Orvis bamboos were going for. Over the years I have learned to be patient and have money on hand because you never know when you are going to come across a bamboo fly rod that you need, and I needed this one.
When I retired I had saved up money in my fishing fund to buy a brand new Orvis bamboo rod. I went to the flagship store in Manchester, Vermont and a wonderful and knowledgeable young woman waited on me. I told her what I wanted and she let me try out the bamboo rod on the pond out back. I loved it. It was beautiful and cast superbly. The young woman could see I was having a hard time making a decision. She then asked me, “Are you going to use it?” I looked at her and replied “Maybe?”
The woman then said, “So you are going to spend all this money on a rod that “Maybe” you’ll use?” Needless to say I didn’t get the bamboo rod, but I did purchase a beautiful rod that I use all the time. My hesitation was that the bamboo rod might be too delicate and break too easily. This thought didn’t keep me from buying other bamboo fly rods. I did pick up another Orvis rod built by their premier bamboo fly rod maker Wes Jordan. Up to this point I had spent a third of what I would have had to pay on a brand new Orvis bamboo rod.
Then last spring I caught up with my friend Fred Kretchman (KretchmanFlyrods.com) who builds, restores and repairs antique rods. I told Fred about my recent purchase and he asked if I had fished it yet. I mentioned my concerns and he laughed. Fred said bamboo was like a fine violin, it was meant to be used so enjoy it. Besides, if you do damage it, you know where I am, he said.
With renewed excitement, I brought my new Orvis Wes Jordan up to Pittsburg, New Hampshire, to fish the trophy stretch. I put a new line on the Orvis reel it came with and on my first cast I caught a gorgeous Brook Trout. I fished the rod all day and had a ball. Bamboo has a different feel to it. It has a little more back bone than the composite rods, but it is a little heavier too.
Fishing a bamboo fly rod is like driving an antique car. You get a lot of thumbs up and it is a great conversation starter. I found that most fly anglers were like me, a little tentative when it came to buying and/ or using a bamboo rod on the water. Fred told me to start using the rod some place where I was less apt to fall. Fred said that you don’t want to be scrambling over rocks, but still, bamboo can take more of a beating than you realize.
So if you have a bamboo rod, break it out and enjoy it. If you have been thinking about buying a bamboo fly rod take the step. There are some nice inexpensive ones like Montague fly rods that fish well and you won’t need to worry about damaging. I have a few more I am going to fish, especially since I have Fred on speed dial.
Pic 1. My Orvis bamboo fly rod
Pic 2
