Stonefly
Bamboo, Fiberglass & Graphite Fly Rods
Meticulously Hand-Crafted for Maximum Performance & Aesthetics
Bamboo Fly Rod Building
Bamboo rod blanks are made from a 12 ft x 2 in. section of the culm of Tonkin cane (Arundinaria amabilis), found only in southern China. Tonkin cane has characteristics that make it the best bamboo for fly rods, and is used by virtually every bamboo blank maker.
To make a blank takes 50 or more hours of labor, much of it manual. Since there are normally six “splits” in each rod section, and the variation throughout the taper should be no more than 0.003 inches it is very precise work. Additionally, each culm has nodes that must be staggered in each section to create an even response throughout the blank, the bamboo must be heat-treated, the splits must be glued together precisely under pressure, and the finished sections must be carefully straightened after heating to remove any curves and twists. It is definitely a time-consuming “labor of love” to make a blank properly.
Although I have done so in the past, I do not make my own blanks. Instead I rely on a small number of people in whom I have total confidence to supply me with the blanks that I need. My goal is to make a precise fishing instrument that maintains the traditional bamboo feel and beauty but is adapted to 21st century fishing.
I have several features in my bamboo rods that are not normally found in the rods of most other builders. The primary difference is that I do not use varnish as a blank finish unless the customer specifically requests it. Varnish was a necessity when the strips were joined together using hide glue, since the glue lost its strength when it became wet. Modern glues are not affected by water, so I create a hand-rubbed hard wax finish that has two advantages: the weight of the blank is significantly reduced by eliminating the varnish and the fish-scaring flash from the varnish is eliminated with the satin finish, which also brings out the grain of the bamboo beautifully.
A second feature of my bamboo rods is that I use guides that are larger than the traditional small guides (unless the customer requests otherwise). Modern fly lines have a larger diameter than silk lines, and the modern style of fishing demands a higher performance than was found fifty or more years ago. The stripper guide (nearest the handle) is larger than the old style, even though I still prefer the look of an insert such as agate over modern ceramic. The snake guides are slightly bigger than they used to be, and the entire guide set has a different profile than was used on older rods, one that has been found to be better than the traditional gradual reduction in size by recent scientific testing.