Tag Archives: bamboo rods

Bronze Finish on Snake Guides

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I’ve always used snake guides on my bamboo fly rods that have a bronze finish. I’m not fond of a chrome finish on guides, and the bronze finish blends very well with the color of bamboo. Unfortunately, bronzed guides are no longer available so I’ve been working for the past couple of weeks to do my own bronzing on my guides. The early results are looking very promising, but I still have a little more testing to do. So far, I’ve come up with a very slight bronze color, all the way to almost black, playing around with time and temperature in the bronzing solution. Here is an example of my test samples:

Bronzing test samples.
And the finished product wrapped on a new rod!

Kingwood for Reel Seats

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I recently discovered a great new wood for reel seats on my rods. Kingwood is a member of the Rosewood family. It’s one of the hardest of the rosewoods, and as such, can be a little challenging to work with. But, with very sharp tools, it turns well on my lathe. It has a little more of a purple color than most of the rosewoods along with many black streaks in it. Once it is finished with a nice oil finish, the purple turns into a deep red color, let’s call it a “Cabernet” color! Here is what it looks like once it is finished.

A beautiful Kingwood reel seat.

Fishing Bamboo on the Middle Deschutes River

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I got out on the Middle Deschutes River about 30 minutes from my house yesterday with my good friend, Jonathan Walter, from Denver. What a beautiful day on the river. I set Jonathan up with one of my medium fast action 7′ 6″ 5 wt bamboo rods and I took out my 9′ 0″ 4 wt bamboo EuroNymphing rods. We had a great time tempting the feisty browns and rainbows…Jonathan did well swinging wet flies through the riffles and I picked up quite a few fish on a yellow sally nymph in the faster water. Here are a couple photos of our afternoon.

A beautiful sunny afternoon on the river for Jonathan and me.
Here is Jonathan swing wet flies through a beautiful riffle.
A nice little brown that took my nymph.
A colorful rainbow.

Another Bamboo Trout Net…

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I just finished another Bamboo Trout Net this week. This one is headed to my good friend and fishing buddy, Dale, who lives in Idaho. Dale is one of the best lake anglers I know, and since he does a lot of float tubing, he choose one of my 32″ Float Tube Nets. I know he’ll be very happy with this net.

A very nice 32″ Bamboo Float Tube Trout Net.
Nice Bamboo Grain.
Beautiful View of the Bamboo Fibers.

Another Customer’s Comments…

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Our good friend, Carol Morris, is now the proud owner of one of my 10′ 6″ Bamboo Trout Spey Rods. And, She has already had it on the water, tempting some nice rainbows on the Crooked River this week. Not only do Carol and her husband, Skip, write some fantastic books on fly fishing and fly patterns, Carol is also a fantastic artist. You can check out her work on her ETSY page at: www.etsy.com/search?q=carol%20ann%20morris.

Here are a few of Carol’s comments about her new rod: I’m still reeling (lol), from an awesome day on the river yesterday casting my new rod. I got home a couple hours ago, and Skip and I have been pouring over this beauty, looking at all the amazing details and stunning craftsmanship. I’ve already had some unforgettable memories with it in hand…thanks very much, both of you, for your hospitality, and the time you guys spent in getting me educated on spey casting with bamboo! I had a great time. I’ve never held a rod I’ve felt so connected to before…it is an amazing feeling, and I’m over-the-moon happy to own this beautiful rod…🎣🎣🎣♥️😍

Here is Carol in my shop this week picking up her new rod:

A happy bamboo rod owner.