I build beautiful, high-performance bamboo fly rods… for fishermen

I hollowbuild all my bamboo fly rods. This technique was first developed on the West Coast by E.C. Powell and Winston’s Lew Stoner. They wanted to build the bamboo rods capable of handling wind, big rivers, and big fish — yet still be light enough to fish all day.

Today — more than 70 years after hollowbuilt fly rods were developed, I am one of a small handful of builders who are refining and improving these techniques — and producing some of the best-casting, best-fishing bamboo fly rods ever made.

My techniques are descended directly from those developed by legendary builder James Reams, one of the best builders working in the craft today.

Internal Tapering for maximum performance…

Unlike some builders, who simply remove a set amount of interior “pith” from their bamboo blanks, I also alter the rod’s internal taper (as well as the easy-to-measure external taper) for maximum performance.

It means embarking on a time-consuming process of building, fishing, changing tapers when I’m developing a rod, but it also results in a rod that performs better.

Cast one. You’ll be surprised.

Each rod is painstakingly crafted by me from a hand-selected culm of bamboo to exacting tolerances.

Each represents more than 50 hours of labor, each is hand-wrapped, and each is varnished with Epiphanes Spar Varnish in a climate-controlled, negative-pressure “clean room” which results in a glass-like finish.

Imported from Holland, Epiphanes is a high-solids spar varnish with greater UV inhibitors that not only coats a blank beautifully, but it goes on wraps like glass.

All my rod sections are glued with traditional urea formaldehyde resin glues – adhesives that have withstood the worst fly fishermen have to offer. There are no short-cuts to quality.

Silk lines, plastic lines.

I am an authorized reseller of Phoenix silk lines.  Olaf Borge has allowed me to sell a silk line with one of my fly rods.  I usually have all line sizes in stock, and am happy to provide the buyers of my rods with the finest of silk lines.

Additionally, I stock traditional plastic lines that are suited to my rods.  As a free service, I will further tune the plastic line should you decide to purchase rod, reel and line from me.

Fly reels.

Hardy fly reels are always in stock.  From the Lightweight series to Hardy Brothers England, we have what you need in fly reels for bamboo fly rods.

My Smooth, Responsive Hollow-Built Hex Tapers

Six strip rods — “hexes” — are the most common bamboo fly rod design. Tested, classic tapers abound, and these rods hollow build quite nicely, though not as aggressively as the quad (four strip) design. Most of my hex rods have their roots in the best of the “classic” tapers, though I’ve modified them for hollow building.

Prices (Spring 2012) for new rods

2/2  Standard Hollowbuilt Bamboo Rods
$2,100.00

2/2 Deluxe Hollowbuilt Bamboo Rods
$2,300.00

3/2  Standard Hollowbuilt Bamboo Rods
$2,300.00

3/2 Deluxe Hollowbuilt Bamboo Rods
$2,500.00

Rods In Stock

Completed rods are available in some models.  Those available rods are listed below.

8’3″  3/2  Fin Deluxe  — $2500.00
Gold-toned triple-tempered bamboo.  Reams full wells grip.  Uplock slide band reel seat.  Circassian walnut  wood spacer.  Pale yellow wraps tipped in blood red silk.  All nickle silver components blackened.  Ferrule tabs nicely tapered and visible under wraps.

Raine Fin Deluxe 8' 3" 3/2 Hollowbuilt bamboo fly rod

Raine Bamboo Fly Rod, Fin Deluxe 3/2

This rod comes with two different tips.  Two different line weights may be used.  This will cast both a 4 and 5 weight line with ease.  This rod possesses the classic smooth bamboo casting stroke enhanced by hollow building.