That's cool to know. I especially admire the builders that mill their own ferrules and reel seat hardware.
Oyster Bamboo rods
- Thread starter jerry
- Start date
Mike will be teaching me to create ferrules and the reel seat! Once we get to that point!
Loving this thread! Over the last 15 or so years I've been bit badly by the bamboo bug. Rods have come through my hands like water under a faucet, with so many that came in, then left, that I've literally lost count. My current collection has been severely pared back to only a half dozen, all of which I've kept due to their casting and fishing characteristics and covering the spectrum from small stream to large river. But looking back, I've sold quite a few I regret and could likely never replace. Although most of the regretted rods were awesome due to their rarity and collectibility, some are also regretted due to their beauty. The most beautiful of all IMO was my Heddon #60 with its perfect blend of medium toned cane ideally blended with its wrap colors capped by a stunning handle made of Circassian walnut checked in the manner of an old shotgun stock. The second most beautiful rod was probably my 8-1/2' R.L. Winston with a custom scrimshaw reel seat carved by Ginny Hall, a Canadian scrimshaw artist.
So if you ever get a chance to own a bamboo fly rod that doubles as a work of art, be darn sure that you are really willing to give it up even if you are offered top dollar for it. At least I have photos as souvenirs. Cheers!
So if you ever get a chance to own a bamboo fly rod that doubles as a work of art, be darn sure that you are really willing to give it up even if you are offered top dollar for it. At least I have photos as souvenirs. Cheers!
Stunners Ron!
I remember reading somewhere that the checkered walnut handles on the Heddon 60 were done for them by Remington. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but they sure are pretty!
I remember reading somewhere that the checkered walnut handles on the Heddon 60 were done for them by Remington. Don’t know if that’s true or not, but they sure are pretty!
@Para_Adams, whatever happened your 8'6" Winston? Still in your possession? I was casting my Winston bamboo 8'6", 6 weight, 4 and 5/8's today and realize why it costs 3 times more than most of my bamboo fly rods.
I picked up three more bamboo fly rods this week from Tom Fulk's widow. They were rods which he fished. A fast action 7 and 1/2" 5 weight he made in 1994 called the Pine River. An 8'6" 6 weight he made in 2008 called the Cascade Lake and a lovely slower action 9' 7 weight he made in 1999 called the Cook Lake. Tom had a habit of naming specific rods for specific places he fished. I want to fish his rods on the actual waters they were named for.
I picked up three more bamboo fly rods this week from Tom Fulk's widow. They were rods which he fished. A fast action 7 and 1/2" 5 weight he made in 1994 called the Pine River. An 8'6" 6 weight he made in 2008 called the Cascade Lake and a lovely slower action 9' 7 weight he made in 1999 called the Cook Lake. Tom had a habit of naming specific rods for specific places he fished. I want to fish his rods on the actual waters they were named for.
Last edited:
That's wonderful that you have rods that Tom Fulk actually fished. That's very special. When you eventually fish them at the same places he fished them you'll have a connection to him few people could ever have. I had a very close and very special fishing buddy for a couple decades back in the 80's and 90's. He was more than 40 years my senior, but we had glorious trips to Eastern WA lakes together and with some of his elderly fly club friends. He would sit in his pram on Dry Falls Lake and grin ear to ear as he caught those rainbows, whohooo-ing at each take. He could cast effortlessly, laying out a 60' perfect cast without even trying, the loop tight and slowly unrolling in mid air forever until the fly settled into its spot far, far away. He'd tell me stories from WW2 and growing up in Washington State in the 1930's. Eventually he slowed down too much to fish anymore, and ten years later he was gone. I wish I had one of his fly rods to fish, simply for that connection.
Looking back at the Winston, at the time I actually preferred the casting action of an 8642 taper Granger and my Heddon #60, both really nice casting 8-1/2' six weights, so I sold the RL Winston. But eventually all three rods were out done by the only rod I ever custom ordered from the maker, my 8-1/2' six weight Chris Carlin hollow built. I did enjoy a couple light and slow five weight 8-1/2' rods over the years, especially a Goodwin Granger 8642 Favorite and an extraordinary early 1930's FE Thomas built in the "Catskill" style which I brought to the bamboo gathering a couple times. But I lean towards the six weight in that length when I'm on the stream, so the Carlin is my only 8-1/2' rod now. It's the one I fished that time we visited the Yakima in the fall.
Last edited:
Greg, I think you are exactly right about that Remington source for those checkered walnut grips. I'd heard the same thing. Someone had a great idea at Heddon when they made those #60's.