# Built Our Own Flyrods



## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

I waited to make a post about them until I got to break them in. My wife and I went to Blue Ridge, GA to Bill Oyster's Bamboo Flyrod class. We started with a huge chunk of Tonkin cane.









We did hundreds of steps including flaming it to color and temper it, splitting the cane, straitening the split pieces.









Beveling them, planing, sanding, tempering in an oven, tapering, glueing...


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## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

I crowned the ferrules on mines...









More sanding and polishing, wrapping on the guides...


















Glueing on and forming the cork grip.









Varnishing and finally fishing!


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## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

I put a Peerless 1A reel on mine with Wulf Triangle taper line. I got jennifer a hot pink Abel reel to match her pink thread wraps and all the other pink stuff she owns. I only got to fish for a couple hours a couple weeks ago in MO because it was in the 30s, raining and I ha a hole in my waders. We are heading back up there tomorow for the opening of catch and release season. I bought a new pair a waders and plan on catching a monster or two.

Here are some older pics from Roaring River.









Here's our cabin on Roaring River.


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

I have made most of my fly rods out of graphite but I would some day like to make one out of cane. How much is the class and materials? What I really need is a bamboo blank and I can do the rest at home. Nothing beats catching a fish on a rod you have made. Good job.


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## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

Building the blank is the best part about it. They have a website... OysterBamboo.com It's the ONLY class I would recommend. Alot of classes only teach you to build a blank. Bill Oyster will show you the very best way to do it (whether you want to do it that way or not on your next try is up to you but atleast you know).


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## ellisredfish (Jul 5, 2005)

Thanks for the info.


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## Malbec (Jul 12, 2009)

That's impressive! It's one thing to assemble a rod with preformed handles, reel seats and graphite blanks, but building a cane flyrod from scratch is something altogether different. Nice job.
How does it cast? I would guess you can plane/bevel down your cane pieces to target a particular line weight(?)


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## davidb (May 10, 2006)

Nice work and I like the field testing results.

That would take me about a 100 prototypes before I got a good one. Then it would probably fall victum to a boot, car door, or a rambuctous dog.


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## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

The rod casts AWESOME! I have an expensive sage rod and this one blows it away. It's actualy lighter than the sage. The tapers are unlimited you can make them in any length or taper you can dream up. And you would be VERY suprised at the strength of them. Bill Oyster gave us an example by throwing one of his personal bamboo rods on the ground and jumping up and down on it and he accidently stuck 3 of them in a cieling fan going wide open. Didn't even but a scratch on them.


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## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

Another thing, with bamboo you can go lighter and shorther because of the nature of the bamboo. I have a 6' 3 wt bamboo rod that casts the same as my 8' 4wt Sage. I was planning on making my rod a 7 1/2' 5 wt. and acciently broke the tip off 2 of the strips before I put them together (they're about the size of a piece of pine straw before they go together.) I could have fixed it but I decided to go light and make the 6' 3wt. It was the best decision i made. I could cast it all day and never get tired. I caught around 30 trout in about 2 1/2 hours with it the first time I tried it out and it was raining, in the 30s and wind was blowing wide open.


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## Charlie2 (Aug 21, 2004)

*Building The Bambo Flyrod*

Thanks for the memories!

I started rodbuilding some 70 years ago at my Daddy's knee. We hand made everything including the guides which we twisted from wire.

I progressed through fiberglass, graphite and composites but nothing compares with making everything from 'scratch' unless it's catching some fish with one.

BTW; a woman can often build a better rod. My sisters all can make a rod. They've gone on to other pursuits, but could probably make one today.

Again; thanks for the memories. A labor of love.C2


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## Charlie2 (Aug 21, 2004)

*Bamboo Fly Rods*



NechesBobcat said:


> Bill Oyster gave us an example by throwing one of his personal bamboo rods on the ground and jumping up and down on it and he accidently stuck 3 of them in a cieling fan going wide open. Didn't even but a scratch on them.


They impregnate bamboo with some kind of plastic that makes them practically indestructible.

I'd bet you a quarter that Bill uses something on that line. C2


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## NechesBobcat (Feb 2, 2007)

Charlie2 said:


> They impregnate bamboo with some kind of plastic that makes them practically indestructible.
> 
> I'd bet you a quarter that Bill uses something on that line. C2


Nope, no impregnation in his rods. I think he said he had tried it but he doesn't do it.


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