It all starts with a 12 foot culm of bamboo (Continued)

Bamboo Rod Build, Part IXX, Rod Sack & the Finished Rod

The last task is to create a suitable rod bag for our treasure because a cheap massed-produced bag would not do it justice. BTW, why do some rod bags come with foldover tops and tie wraps? Does anybody really like these things?

I prefer a Garrison-style sack made from heavy duck cloth of a color that will compliment my rod. In this case, that mean burgundy. Since I have no skills with a sewing machine, I rely on my rod bag lady, Jaynie. Of course she also serves as my PR director, personal photographer, fishing partner, and, most importantly, my best friend and sweetheart.


Our rod is now complete and ready for the first cast. Flawless? Hardly. More than nine mistakes? I'll never tell.

It can't be over emphasized that all of this effort would fall under the heading of "Joel's Incredibly Big Waste of Time" if the resulting fly rod was not such a fine fishing tool. It is. Like most people, I was initially attracted to bamboo fly rods because of their beauty. I think what surprised me the most (and every other fly fisherman who casts a cane rod designed with a thougtful taper for the first time) is that they are just so darn much fun to use. The feel of a well-made bamboo rod loading and the ease at which it casts are things that can't be described; you just have to experience it for yourself. IMO, graphite doesn't come close to that feeling. Do yourself a favor and make a trip to Superboo to see for yourself.

No words have better described a finely made cane fly rod than those of Hiram Hawes, who was both son-in-law and nephew (hey, it was a different time) to the genius Hiram Leonard: "...a useful thing, beautifully made."

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the threads of the build process. I can't possibly expressed how much your kind words of encouragement meant to me.

So now I will take the lessons learned from this rod and move on to the next. Because the answer to the question asked by our own Kathy Scott on the last page of her wonderful book, Changing Planes, “How many cane rods do you need?” is always, “One more."

The finished rod (unfortunately the grain of the bamboo doesn't show well):