History And Manufacture Of Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods

Bamboo fly fishing rods have traditionally been the finest fly fishing rods for anglers. Bamboo rods possess greater flexibility than graphite rods. They tend to be more expensive than other rods, on account of their quality and ideal candidates for fishing in leisure.

Why Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods?

The immense popularity of bamboo fly fishing rods does evoke the question why use bamboo rods. In fact, more than one reason account for this popularity like cellular composition of bamboo, physical attributes of bamboo, properties of material, and tradition. The main reason, however, is the unique cellular composition of bamboo. On microscopic level, a cross section of a bamboo rod shows very dense fiber. This makes these rods ideal means for angling as they have great flexibility, durability, and ease of handling. The lightweight of bamboo is a special advantage in carrying and using these rods with ease.

Manufacture Of Bamboo Rods

The bamboo fly rod is manufactured from split sections of bamboo. These sections are first turned into tapered sections. Gluing of the tapered sections leads to the forming of a tapered rod, hollow from inside. Most bamboo fly rods used in fly fishing today are made from for a bamboo variety called Tonkin Cane (botanically named Pseudosasa amabilis). This bamboo has very straight canes with high quality wood.

History Of Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods

From ancient times wood rods were used for fishing almost exclusively. Heavy fly rods made of wood and almost ten feet in length were commonly used by anglers until the 1830's. While they were easy to make, problems like warping and breaking, besides their heavy weight, rendered them uncomfortable tools for gaming. Then came the experimental making of bamboo rods from the Indian Calcutta Cane and it proved a real improvement. Initially only a few laminated bamboo strips were used in making the fly rod. By 1870, the entire rod was built with laminated bamboo. In the early twentieth century, America started to import the Tonkin Cane. This cane proved far superior to Calcutta Cane and at once occupied the primary position as the material for making bamboo fly fishing rods. Invention of machines allowed the mass production of tapered strips and thus bamboo rods entered the new revolution of mass production.

In the beginning of bamboo fly rod business, the manufacturers kept their knowledge to themselves and no detailed information of the art was widely available. Now the scene is quite different and a wide range of information about every aspect of bamboo fly rod making is available to general public.