The good folks at Fox 61 CT profiled my bamboo fly rod building. Thanks Jim and Sean! Click HERE for the article. The video is below. I think it is fair to say that fly fishing with bamboo and building bamboo fly rods are paths less traveled. For those of us who gravitate toward such paths, we often find meaning in places others ignore, especially in a world where immediacy and excess are rewarded. My December was defined by the “path less traveled.” Fly fishing both a first-rate tailwater and abundant small streams, I’m fortunate to have options. High flows plagued my tailwater, and as such, I found myself finishing off the year fly fishing some great small streams. One of my favorite aspects of small stream fishing is never knowing where you will end up. December was marked with exploration, as I ventured up named small streams to unnamed first- and second-order tributaries. A fun time being embedded deep in nature. On the building side of things, I commenced work on a less common rod type: a five-sided or “penta” rod. I really like pentas. They are unique and often misunderstood. They require less glue, flex in the cane as opposed to in a glue line, and can bring about some additional power. I also very much like the look of spiral node staggering on an aggressively flamed rod. It can be hypnotic. Of course, it really comes down to the taper, not the number of strips. This particular rod is being designed as a “tailwater” rod, capable of delicate presentations to selective wild trout, but with sufficient backbone to handle a multitude of conditions. A possible resolution for the new year: Consider taking the long way home. It may be filled with wonderful surprises.
A wonderful book discussing the life and bamboo rod building of Gary Howells. Beelart provides an incredible amount of detail concerning Howells’ life, his correspondence with others and his secretive and fastidious building techniques. Howells was so guarded that only a handful of people were allowed a small glimpse into his building world. Undoubtedly, Howells made incredible rods for the discerning bamboo fly angler, and his work influenced many. After Howells passed, Robert K. Bolt purchased his rod shop and uses some of his equipment to this day. As such, Howells lives on. While gregarious in some ways, many of his building techniques went with him when he passed. Some historical bamboo rod makers were great builders and others were great leaders by promoting the craft. (A small minority bridged both camps.) I’d argue that Howells fell more into the former category. There is no denying, however, that Howells focus and commitment to the craft of bamboo rod building was unparalleled. He never wavered. He remained steadfast in his determination, and in this respect, he provided one of his most important secrets of building: focus. On November 20, I had the honor and opportunity to speak to the Connecticut Fly Fisherman’s Association. I’m a proud member. It’s a fabulous organization, and this is the direct result of both its wonderful leadership and membership. My talk was titled: Bamboo Fly Rods: Connecticut History & Current Construction. The talk was divided into two parts. First, I covered local history. Among other things, I discussed the Hiram Leonard descendants who eventually set up shop in Connecticut and tracked the lineage through to modern day builders. Second, I discussed the way in which I build bamboo fly rods completely from raw stock. I believe it was well received. Here are some photos…
God’s beautiful creations brought to hand with a finely crafted organic product, admired and gently released back to clear, cold water…
Date: 11/2/23
Time: 11:30am-3:00pm Weather: sunny, some clouds Air: 37° Water: 47° pH: 7.32 Making up for a lack of fishing over the summer, I headed out again in early November. This particular location is comprised of one main stream, along with a number of named tributaries that branch off of it. The last time I was here, it was on a very similar day with air and water temperatures within degrees of my recordi ngs this day. With a downstream presentation, I caught this beautiful wild native brook trout. Interestingly, after gently releasing him, we hung out together for a bit. Date: 10/24/23
Time: 9:00am-5:00pm Weather: sunny, cloudy Air: 48° Water: 56° A good day, filled with hatches, variable water types, and delicate presentations to selective feeders. Channeling the spirit of the great E.H. “Polly” Rosborough, I used one of his famous flies, a Casual Dress variant. I, too, was casually dressed beneath my waders, which was good because I took an unexpected plunge up to my neck after catching the above pictured salmon. Here is a recently completed rod. It was shipped to Colorado in October 2023. It has a medium, smooth progressive action, well suited for delicate presentations. It’s an all-round great trout rod, especially for delicate, tactical work. The ENTIRE rod was handmade in my shop, including ALL components, from raw materials. - Tip top, snake guides, agate stripping guide, winding check, cork check, sliding band, butt cap, cork handle, wood reel seat insert, ferrules and cane strips. This rod took over 150 hours to complete. This 8’ 4wt rod (Serial #: 230943H-2) comes with two matching tips. It is accompanied by an aluminum rod tube with brass hardware, a protective rod sock, complimentary ferrule wax, and a ferrule plug. The butt and tips are hollow fluted. There is a slight swell under the grip. The wood insert on the reel seat is Bolivian Ironwood, and the stripping guide is green agate with a silver bezel and nickel silver wire. The remainder of metal on the rod is nickel silver. The grip is Flor grade cork and the ferrule plug is Pyinma and Flor grade cork. Wraps are Kimono silk in Garden Green and Tuscan Sun. Date: 10/17/23 Time: 9:00am-5:00pm Weather: sunny, cloudy, light drizzle Air: 58° Water: 59° With tiny flies and good hatches, the fall season presents wonderful opportunities for fly fishing. This recent day on the water was filled with technical presentations to selective browns. One of my medium action cane rods with a 3 weight double taper line allowed tiny BWO flies to be delivered with almost no surface disturbance. Skills are subject to continual development. When I commenced building bamboo rods, I relied on power-tools to bring stock into a “manageable” condition. I aggressively removed stock to the desired workable size. I dictated to the power tools exactly what I wanted to achieve - the harder you push stock into a sander, the more stock is removed. Aside from machining metal components, the more rods I built, the more I gravitated toward hand-tools. Hand-tools provide a quiet environment where one can gently sculpt, shave, cut, bend, and otherwise manipulate stock. More importantly, hand tools force one to become part of the process, rather than dictating the process. Dismayed by the lack of quality, I eventually entered the wonderful world of Japanese hand tools. Japanese Dovetail Pull Saw - I’ve come to rely heavily on my Japanese hand saw. Rod builders are continually adjusting strip length base on where they are in the building process. Rather than having a power tool rip through a strip of bamboo and cause it to fracture at an undesired location, my Japanese handsaw provides perfect, slow, crisp cuts at my target locations. Japanese Iwasaki File - Like many builders, bamboo nodes are a source of frustration and problems. We do everything to eliminate their troubling presence. We grind them down, press then, sand them, and even yell at them. A Japanese file will properly put the builder in his place. By allowing the file to cut, the builder is merely guiding the file in the desired direction. Soon, a small repetitive action of guiding the file will reduce the node to powder. Japanese Froe - I started splitting culms with a froe. I had no idea what I was doing and the resulting bamboo strips proved this point. I then tried a bandsaw jig, a table saw jig, and star cutters. I then came full circle, only to start back at my froe. I tried again and settled on the use of a froe, vice and my two hands. My results have been the best, resulting in plentiful, workable strips. There is a larger lesson to learn. Japanese hand-tools cannot be forced. Forcing such tools will induce error. However, when we accept our position in the process as maker and allow the tool to do the work for which it was designed, we create a wonderful team. The maker becomes part of the process, rather than a dictating force. Instead of prying back the pedals of a spring flower, we allow it to open when it is ready. Accepting our position in the larger process sometimes means slowing down, backing off, and witnessing the beauty unfold…when it is ready. |
AuthorMichael D. Day, Maker Categories
All
Archives
April 2024
|