Tag Archives: fly fishing

Northwest Fly Tyers Expo

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I’ve been busy getting ready for the Northwest Fly Tyer and Fly Fishing Expo (www.nwexpo.com) in Albany, Oregon this coming Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I’ll be there in Booth #3 with my bamboo fly rods.  This is one of the largest fly tying/fishing shows on the west coast with great opportunities to learn about fly tying, take classes in fly fishing and casting, and visit with many equipment vendors and lodge/resort owners as well.  If you make it to the show, please stop by my booth.

Show Update:  It was a good show this year, although attendance was down a little.  I always enjoy this show because it’s in my home territory and I know so many folks here.  A lot of my good friends stopped by the booth and chatted.  Here I am at the show:

2014 NW Fly Tyers and Fly Fishing Expo.

2014 NW Fly Tyers and Fly Fishing Expo.

 

Fishing Bamboo on the Williamson River.

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With all the cold weather and snow we have right now, we’ve been catching up on some old “to-do” items.  We spent a few days last May at Yamsi Ranch in Southern Oregon fishing the headwaters of the Williamson River.  It’s amazing fishing for highly educated rainbows and brook trout on spring creek water…requiring long, light tippets and plenty of stealth…perfect for bamboo fly rods.  Here is a little video of Mary Ann stalking and catching a nice rainbow one sunny morning.

Building a Hollow-Built Bamboo Switch Rod – Chapter 1

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I recently started on another Hollow-Built Bamboo Switch Rod.  I though it would be fun to document my process along the way, so here are some early photos.  First, the bamboo is selected and split.  For this Switch Rod, four pieces of matching bamboo were used.

Each piece of bamboo is split into 18 to 20 pieces.

Each piece of bamboo is split into 18 to 20 pieces.

Splitting into small strips.

Splitting into narrow strips.

The strips for the Butt Section and Mid Section are done. The Tip sections still need to be split.

The strips for the Butt Section and Mid Section are done. The Tip sections still need to be split.

After heat treating, the bamboo strips are roughed out into a triangular shape on a Bellinger Beveler.

After heat treating, the bamboo strips are roughed out into a triangular shape on a Bellinger Beveler.

Hand Planing gets the strips down to the final tapered dimensions.

Hand Planing gets the strips down to the final tapered dimensions.

Each strip on the Butt and Mid Sections get hollowed with scalloped cuts on the inside edge.

Each strip on the Butt and Mid Sections get hollowed with scalloped cuts on the inside edge.

- The planed and hollowed bamboo strips are then glued together using Unibond 800 adhesive and a Bellinger Binder. The thread holds the strips together under a constant tension until the glue cures.

– The planed and hollowed bamboo strips are then glued together using Unibond 800 adhesive and a Bellinger Binder.
The thread holds the strips together under a constant tension until the glue cures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More Bamboo Switch Rod Casting

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Mary Ann and I took one of my Bamboo Switch Rods out recently on the Metolius River and the Deschutes River, swinging for larger trout or steelhead.  We experimented with several different leader set-ups and flies on a Snowbee 4/5 Switch Line.  This 10′  6″  5 wt rod worked extremely well with AirFlo Intermediate and Super Fast Sinking (4.9 inches/sec) Polyleaders with unweighted or moderately weighted streamers and intruder-style flies.  Though we didn’t hook up on any larger fish, we still have a great time.  Here are a couple of photos:

Casting on the Metolius River

Casting on the Metolius River

Swinging for Deschutes River Steelhead

Swinging for Deschutes River Steelhead

 

Bamboo Rods on Bear Valley Creek in Idaho

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Our summer season in Stanley, Idaho is nearing an end but we’ve still had a little time to get out and fish.  Mary Ann and I hit a local spring creek, Bear Valley Creek, a few days ago.  While you don’t normally get huge numbers of fish at Bear Valley, the ones you do get are often very nice.  We picked up a few nice fish on hoppers, with small nymph droppers.  Here is a shot of Bear Valley Creek, and two of the fish we caught.

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

Bear Valley Creek, Idaho

A nice cutthroat taken on a #8 Dave's Hopper.

A nice cutthroat taken on a #8 Dave’s Hopper.

A beautiful 18" cutthroat that took a #14 lightening bug.

A beautiful 18″ cutthroat that took a #14 lightening bug.