I made it out to my favorite local small creek this past week with my good friend, Joe. I fished my 6′ 8″ 3 wt bamboo and Joe took out his 7′ 0″ 4 wt bamboo that he built in my workshop. This creek runs right below my house and gets almost no fishing pressure, so we had the water to ourselves for the afternoon. This is some of my favorite kind of fly fishing…getting out on very small local waters with light bamboo fly rods. We found several willing native rainbows in the 6″ t 11″ range ready to take assorted nymphs and dry flies.
Olivia Elia – Guitar Builder Profile.
Our dear friend, Olivia Elia, is not only a fantastic bamboo fly rod builder, she is also an accomplished Luthier, working at Preston Thompson Guitars here in Sisters, Oregon. She was just profiled as an “up-and-coming” young guitar builder in Acoustic Guitar Magazine. They even chose to highlight her on the cover of the most recent issue. We’re so proud of what Olivia has accomplished, both in her bamboo rod building and her guitar building. Check her out in the November/December 2022 Issue of the magazine.
Fishing, Fishing, Fishing!!!
It’s been a while since I’ve posted on my Blog…been fishing a lot this summer. Mary Ann and I spent 6 weeks fishing in Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, and Colorado. In Oregon we fished the Owyhee River, in Idaho we fished the Salmon River, Marsh Creek, and Bear Valley Creek, In Wyoming we fished the New Fork River, Savery Creek, North Platte River, and Encampment River. In Colorado we fished the Frying Pan River, Yampa River, Service Creek, and the Poudre River. And, we used a variety of bamboo rods along the whole trip. Here are a few random photos from our “summer vacation”.
A new custom rod I just finished
I just finished a new rod for a customer who was looking for a fast action rod that he could travel with. We decided on a 7′ 3″ 3 piece 4 wt rod. I don’t normally build fast action rods, but I modeled one of my other rods to meet his interests. He chose an English walnut reel seat with engraved hardware, and Royal Hunt primary silk thread wraps on the guides. We were both extremely happy with how it came out…a great fast action rod for small streams. Here are a couple of photos.
Starting a new Bamboo Trout Net
I’m getting started on a new Bamboo Trout Net today to add to my inventory. It will be available for the Christmas Holidays…would make a fantastic Christmas Present for that special angler!
The 5 long strips will make up the hoop section of the net. They are 72″ x .75″ x .070″. The shorter pieces will make up the handle of the net. They are 13″ x .625″ x .200″.
The first step is to start gluing up the handle pieces.
Both handle sections have now been glued together and shaped.
Time to glue up the whole net!