Raine Hollowbuilt Bamboo Fly Rods » Blog

Another Friend Passes

Chris — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 15:37:22 +0000

My friend, Mark Latham, was a regular visitor to the shop and my home. Mark and I knew each other for 35 years. Last month he texted me from Texas. He said he was going to visit my older son in Del Rio, then head back to California for openers on the Upper Sac and McCloud Rivers.

He died unexpectedly on the first of this month.

I was asked by his widow, Pam, to speak at his service . She asked me if I would take Mark’s remains home with me for a service up here later in the year. I agreed. Pam wanted the service earlier in the month, but I was not available.

She asked if the 27th would work, and I agreed. Sandy and I went down to Monterey County, and attended the service. Afterwards, we visited Mark and Pam’s house and Mark’s son, Spencer, gave us Mark’s cremains. We drove back to Dunsmuir on Saturday. Late Saturday afternoon, we walked Mark down the back of the house to the river. We put him next to Ted Fay’s plaque, and took this picture.

He got to sit on one of his favorite places on this river. On opening day. For the last time.

Goodbye, Mark.

Bamboo Rod Building Class February 2012

Chris — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:51:09 +0000

Dan traveled to Dunsmuir to build his first bamboo fly rod. A Norcal Resident, Dan first learned to fly fish as a boy, and fished all the rivers of the lost coast for steelhead!

Dan chose my version of the Payne 100 as his build rod. The 100 is a 7 1/2 foot 2 piece rod ideal for small streams, and in Dan’s case, bluegill as well! Bamboo chosen is the oven tempered gold-toned bamboo that is the most popular look at Raine Hollowbuilt Bamboo Fly Rods.

There are some great shots of Dan splitting cane. Using the 3 legged widget for straightening the strips make the job go by fast! The strips came out great. At the end of the day, Monday, Dan had split and straightened enough strips for the butt and tip sections. Tuesday morning the plan is to continue straightening strips for a second tip.

Tuesday, Dan was able to straighten the remaining strips, including a set for a second tip. The planing form was set for the butt section of a Payne 100, slightly modified. One set of strips was prepped, with great attention paid to making sure the strips were dead flat through the nodes. The plane irons were sharpened, and away he went.

By late afternoon, Dan had finished planing out the strips for the butt section. The strips were dry-fit and inspected. All strips were deemed near-perfect, so he went on to prep the next set of strips for a tip section.

Wednesday had Dan finish up the planing on the bamboo rod tips and he glued up both sections on the Raine Better Binder prototype. The day finished up with Dan gluing up the rings for his handgrasp.

Thursday was just like Christmas, and the package to unwrap was a brand-new bamboo fly rod. Most of the day was spent cleaning up the two bamboo rod blanks, cutting them to length and fitting up the nickle silver ferrules. Dan chose to blacken the nickle silver and the contrast with the gold tone bamboo is striking!

This class “bled over” a little bit. Dan stayed through the weekend, did a little pruning on the wisteria out front, and got a good start on a second tip. After test casting his rod, Dan and I headed for the river to give the bamboo fly rod its baptism.

Parachute Team Wings of Blue United States Air Force Academy

Chris — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 15:43:49 +0000

This is not bamboo rod building related. It is a video of the Academy’s Parachute team. My younger son is the one at the beginning of the video with the full face shield. Just being the proud Papa.

Twin Simplicity Bamboo Fly Rods Shipping Out

Chris — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:38:00 +0000

Here are 2 bamboo fly rods leaving the shop this week. Built for husband and wife, they are “twins”! Both bamboo rods feature the new LDT option, giving the fly fisher a choice between line sizes. These bamboo fly rods are medium flamed, with uplocking threaded barrel reel seats, with complementary redwood burl wood inserts.

Bamboo Rod Building Class November 2011

Chris — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 13:55:33 +0000

Mark M. has started building his bamboo fly rod here at Raine Hollowbuilt Fly Rods. He chose the 8 foot, 5 weight “Upper Sac Special” for his first bamboo fly rod. Below is the slide show of his build, as it happens. As an aside, Mark brought his own Walton Powell Hexagraph rod, built for him by Walton himself. Mark took Walton fishing on the Bitterroot years ago, and the rod maker sent him a rod as a gift!

Notice that during the bamboo rod building process that we lost electricity! We were working by lantern light from 11 am to 5 pm on Wednesday. Just shows to go ya that you can build a bamboo fly rod without electricity! Mark signed his rod and plans to give it to his father for Christmas!

Underground Rodmaker’s Gathering 2011

Chris — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 14:55:23 +0000

Dunsmuir Rod Company Hosts 2011 Rodmaker's Gathering

Breakfast at McQuire’s Restaurant in Dunsmuir, Ca. More images to come!

Bamboo Fly Rod Building Class September 2011

Chris — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 04:32:14 +0000

East Meets West This Month! Two students met this Sunday for a Bamboo Rod Building Class at Raine Hollowbuilt Fly Rods. Will is from Maine, and Dan from SoCal. Sunday afternoon had both students casting bamboo fly rods, trying to decide which taper fit them and their fishing needs best!
After casting the DF90, the Upper Sac Special, and the Model 100, both students decided to build the DF 90, a fine 7′ 6″ two piece rod for a 5 weight.

The DF 90 is an E.C. Powell-based B taper, with a fairly steep slope. It is a great choice for the fly fisherman who fishes graphite, and wants to move into a quality bamboo fly rod. Dan and Will chose to use the Payne method of culm selection and utilization. The only difference so far has been that Will chose a 3×3 node stagger a la Leonard, and Dan opted for the 2x2x2 stagger in keeping with E.C. Powell. Stay tuned as these two advance through the rod making process!

Wednesday’s work day was done before 5!! Both Dan and Will ended up with some great rod sections. As usual, everybody had glue on their hands, so no pictures of the glue-up! The Raine Better Binder did a great job producing straight rod sections with no twists. The students did a great job planing out their strips, so the seams were, well, seemless!

Bamboo Rod Building Class May 2011

Chris — Sat, 14 May 2011 14:03:44 +0000

Gary showed up last Sunday from the Tahoe area. He had a gleam in his eye, and a set of strips planed out from some 15 years ago! He did a great job getting “back up to speed” with his building. Gary’s choice of rod was a Payne 98, a fine 7 footer for a 4 weight. A medium flame was put on the culm and I must say, the rod came out just gorgeous.

April 2011 Rod Building Class

Chris — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:39:00 +0000

The production-class Raine Better Binder got a good work out this week! Sam flew in from Virginia to take a class here, and has made great progress throughout the week. This is a photo essay of a few of the processes involved in building bamboo fly rods. A more complete slide show is now available. Notice the unique hand grasp that Sam selected for his first bamboo rod, the 8 foot “Upper Sac Special”!

Six of the Raine Better Binder have been completed. Straight rod sections, with no twists! A rod maker’s dream come true!

December Rod Making Class with a Man from Down Under!

Chris — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 15:12:17 +0000

This is a first for students taking my bamboo rod making class! My student for this week is from the other corner of the world, Australia! Tom, fresh into his retirement, has decided to try his hand at building bamboo fly rods. Monday he flamed his culm of bamboo, straightened, pressed and roughed out his strips. He is really taking like a duck to water with rod making. They have ducks in Australia? Gotta ask him!

This is a great video for those interested in taking a bamboo rod building class at Raine Hollowbuilt Fly Rods. The week is documented in detail, showing aspiring rod makers the intricacies involved in building the fine bamboo fly rod. You can see from the smile on Tom’s face while casting his new rod, that his week of rod building was well spent!

Chris,
I have returned to Melbourne, shown my rod to family and friends, and the waiting list is growing (though at no cost that is to be expected). We are all amazed at how well it turned out, including myself.

When I knew retirement was around the corner, I spent some time looking for the best rod building course for myself; so in choosing your course I had pretty high expectations. Well I have to say the week exceeded every expectation I had! Your clear, patient but direct teaching style coupled with the personal attention was just superb. And just when I think I have forgotten something important, I find it in your syllabus or in my notes. What is so obvious is that in every step of the way, you have thought through the best and most practical way to get it accomplished with the best result in mind. The system for node straightening and pressing all the way up to your brilliant glue binder really are worth the price of admission alone.

So Chris, thank you very much for the education, the most enjoyable experience, and for your openness along the way. I just can’t recommend your course any more highly to anyone interested in building bamboo fly rods.

And on a similar note, I would like to be placed on your waiting list for the 8’3″ Quad similar to the one I cast. A lovely, light and so accurate rod. If you need a deposit, please advise.

And finally, please also put me down for a glue binder when it is ready. I have a few months of gathering equipment to put my shop together, so no hurry on that one. Again, when you are ready please let me know and I will forward money and details for the shipping as well.

So thanks again Chris, and I look forward to hearing from you in due course.

And Merry Christmas,

Best Regards,

Tom