Beav_rods

Rods

230 cm ( 7'6") Very fast action #4, #5, #6

A powerhouse of a rod for the strong, heavy handed, hard caster. Capable of delivering big wind resistant bugs under adverse conditions. Basically a point and shoot rod when curve casts and fast water mends are the norm. A float fishers dream since it was designed for canoe fishing on the Big Hole and Beaverhead. With a paddle handle tucked under one armpit while sliding down a riffle this rod allows you to fish backward to a rapidly disappearing eddy with a one handed "hit it fast and quickly cover it " technique. This is a rod for the angler who truly "hunts fish" no matter what the cover or conditions require. A good repetoire of casts is a prerequisite with this rod, a healthy dose of serious "fish hunting attitude" doesn't hurt either!

240 cm ( 7'10.5" ) Fast action #4 #5 #6

Generally the most "popular" rod I make. The 240cm length of this model makes it a more user friendly, yet powerful rod, capable of putting out 70 ft.+ of line to "wow" your buddies, and all the while retain the accuracy at normal fishing distances to deliver a #22 midge to a fishes' nose. I realize there is a lot of ego involved with the owning and fishing of bamboo, it's just better in my opinion to show it on the river versus the casting pond by weilding a simply "better tool" for the job at hand. At the end of the day of course, go back to "wowing" them while casting a nice wind resistant "hopper".

250 cm ( 8'2.5" ) Fast action #4 #5 #6

When it comes to persnickety fish and lots of patience a rod that can deliver the right cast is of vital importance. This is the one. It's still powerful when compared to any conventional bamboo rod, and all the while possesses a gentle yet authoritative casting feel. Being slightly over 8' adds just the right inertial load to make this a sight fishermans dream. In slower waters with less manhandling of line needed this rod "rocks". Throwing a hard upstream mend is still no problem but it's usually unnecessary, because of the prescise "lining out" and control this rod provides.

260 cm ( 8'6" ) Fast-medium action #5 #6 #7

When it comes to me building a traditional feel into a bamboo rod this is about as close as I can get, ( or would like to come, ) with my current building techniques. It's still powerful and accurate, but for my tastes is more of a rod that a lover of "traditional bamboo rods" would enjoy. Because of the inertial "swing weight" it is an overall slower casting ( more parabolic ) rod. Still able to cast extreme distances, dance a line above streamside willows, and cast short and sweet to a slowly sipping riser. The kind of rod one hands to a friend who has fished bamboo for years, and says, what do you think, while waiting for the widening of their eyes.

Specialty Rods

Medium action #3 #4 #5

Every once in a while an oddball occurs, usually diagnosed by the sound testing. The cane is simply better suited for a slower less powerful rod, if it slips beyond this point it finds its' way to the wood stove. It's not junk at all, it simply possesses a lower than optimum modulus of elasticity which many rodmakers don't notice. Legitimatly however, because they can't (unless they are infringing on the now in process patenting of the rod).This blank is turned into a more full flexing, slower casting more traditional feeling flyrod, for those who are really into the" older feel of bamboo ". This is the rod for the "purist" who thinks I can't build a slower rod. I may not like to, but that just says I generally like to push the quality of the bamboo into its' upper realms. When it simply wants to work best as a "slower rod" what can I do? The material itself governs what it becomes.

The "Primo" Project

These rods do not even exist yet because the cane to build them shows up so rarely! At this point in time I have 2 culms of the most perfect bamboo I have ever seen, in terms of fiber to pith ratio, cell count/size, and density. From what I've tested this bamboo is almost unimaginable, the acoustic and visual tests put it solidly into the realm of graphite-like response. The culms quite honestly blow the others out of the water. This is the "Pure Gold" of natural materials in bamboo rodbuilding. I'm almost afraid to touch them. They will require an entirely different thinking process and lots of hours of design to bring to total fruition. I can also guarantee you will "pay through the nose" for me to design and finally cut into these culms. It will be an enormous amount of re-design work, which should produce a true 9' 5wt. rod which is truly as fast as lower modulus graphite. This will definitely be among the outer parameters of pushing at the "cutting edge, envelope" of bamboo rod design. If you are up for a challenge in rodmaking history call and we'll talk. However, "Talk is cheap,... These rods won't be".

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