Paddle-Fishing.com

It all started when I won a bamboo blank in and internet contest. I had been wanting to try a bamboo rod, so this was the opportunity. The blank was an Anglers Roost - Hardy Marvel taper 7'6" 4wt. Unlike graphite blanks, the bamboo does not come with ferrulles, so I had to buy two sets since it was a three piece with two tips. Fortunately the sets come with two male parts, but the ferrules alone cost about $70.00

The grip is a Fenwick style grip turned from cork and burl rings. On this rod, I used snake guides with a red agate stripping guide. Wraps were candy apple red with black trim. The finish on the wraps and the rod is spar varnish rather the the typical epoxy wrap finish I use on Graphite rods. Once I got the rod finished and was about to put on the reel seat I found the rod was a little tip heavy. I decided to switch the reel seat around to make it downlocking. This presented a problem with the butt cap, which required a little innovation. An overcoat button, thread wrap and epoxy finish solve the problem.

That is beautiful! How does it feel on the cast?

I'll preface this by saying that, having learned to fly fish in saltwater, I prefer fast action, tip flex rods.

The Hardy Marvel taper is a full flex taper. Add to that the fact that bamboo has a slower recovery rate than graphite and you end up with a rod that is the opposite of what I usually cast. It cast very smoothly and loads easily, but it is slooooow. I feel like I can start the backcast and have cup of coffee before it finally loads. Once you start the forward cast, you still have time to eat a donut before the fly hits the water.

Yep, that's bamboo. I've had the pleasure of fishing a bunch of it in trout water in the Northeast. Interested to know what line you put on it.

A thing of beauty.

I think the most valuable part of my bamboo 8wt are the ferrules... Nice looking rod.