Bamboo Fly Fishing Rods For Beginners

There is no doubt that the best fly fishing rod material is good bamboo properly selected, cured, split, glued, and correctly proportioned. It possesses strength combined with lightness, resiliency, pliancy, power and balance in greater degree than either steel or solid woods.

The majority of fly fishing rods that are constructed these days are made from Tonkin. Although back in the day there were a bunch that were made from Calcutta cane, which is harder to come by now in our present time.

Male Calcutta on the other hand, is supposed to be superior to either the female or Tonkin. The cheapest split cane is known as steel vine or African cane. It is light colored and makes up into good, inexpensive bamboo fly fishing rods.

The way that bamboo fly rods are made, is by splitting the piece of bamboo, then the sticks are glued together. There are two types of construction when it comes to bamboo fly rods, these are 6 and 8, 6 strip being the more common type used.

So which one should you go for, the 6 or the 8? Although there have been claims that the 8 strip section rods hold up better, there is no absolute proof, and it all boils down to the quality of the cane that is used to make the rod anyway.

Because there is more labor that is involved, this will make the eight strip rod more expensive than the six. This is another reason why I would stick with a six strip rod if possible, it is all about personal preference anyways.

A novelty in bamboo fly fishing rod making is what is known as the double built rods which are made of two layers of split and glued bamboo, one within the other. They are heavier and strong, and it is claimed, hold their shape better, than ordinary fly fishing rods.

Another type of bamboo rod is one that has steel as a center layer, and the outer layer would be made out of bamboo. These are thought to be the best constructed bamboo rods as it gives them excellent casting ability, which is a necessity when it comes to fly fishing.