Fly Fishing Rod Foundation

Bamboo has many uses. The most common probably is making it into a fly fishing rod.

There is a science that explains why bamboo fishing rods are better. The combinations of these elements give incredible strength, durability and allow the natural smooth movement of the bamboo rod.

- The weight is helpful in the propelling of the bamboo line similar to a rod upon casting making it an advantage to the fly fisher.

- The pithy soft substance found at bamboo center dampens vibration causing slower motion and delayed transmission of useless motions.

- The hard outside core gives strength to the bamboo.

The innovations made in the first fly fishing rod leads to the creation of the bamboo fly fishing rods.

History

1. The 1830 fly fishing rods are made of wood with a length of eleven feet. A person needs more strength to endure the process of catching the fly done in repetitions. It has the following disadvantages:

- difficult manipulation
- breakable tips
- tendency to successive warping

2. Cane fly fishing rods are made for a better improvement. The material is stronger, lighter and has more elasticity than woods. The rod makers use the laminated strips of the cane imported from India. The cane has pithy internal make up having thin exterior layer of fibers. It is susceptible to insects like the fly fish and easy to burn giving protection for insect attacks. The designs include:

- Two-strips cane-section of the fly rod
- Three strips cane-section of the fly rod
- Four strips cane-section of the fly rod
- Hexagonal or Six strips cane-section of the fly rod – it became popular in 1880, adopted by Charles Murphy and became the standard design in the 1870.

3. Various bamboo species became available later in 1880 for the fly fishing rod makers. Tonkin Bamboo fly fishing rod was introduced to the market by Charles Dermarest Company. The Tonkin or Tea Stick bamboo characteristics are straight, clean and smooth and have thick walls without prominent nodes. Arundinaria Amabilis is the scientific name of the Tonkin Bamboo found in the some small areas of Southeast china.

4. Twentieth century is the golden era of the bamboo fly fishing rods. It is because a machine was developed to decrease production times while increasing the fly rods production. Hiram Leonard first invented the machine designed specifically for manufacturing the six tapered cane pieces needed for the fly rod making and opens the breakthrough on inventing other machinery.

5. There was a trade embargo in 1950 on the Chinese goods including the Tonkin bamboo and only few bamboo fly rod manufacturers survived. The scarcity of bamboo supply gave way to the synthetic fly fishing rods. The trade embargo lasted until 1971.

6. Craftsman and fishermen developed a renewed enthusiasm for making bamboo fly fishing rods later in 1970. More enhancements of the earlier fishing rod designs were done. The classical design of the bamboo fly fishing rods are coupled with latest technology making the fittings and measurements more precise.

In recent year, various designs of bamboo fly fishing rods either hand-made or machine-made are available thus it is more accessible for those who are enjoying fly fishing however good bamboo fly fishing rods are priced.