Tag Archives: bamboo rods

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.

Fishing the Middle Provo River

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Mary Ann and I were in Utah last week attending the Wasatch Fly Fishing Expo for a few days with our good friend, John, from Colorado. We extended our stay so we could fish the Middle Provo River in Heber City. Although it was in the low 40’s and raining, fishing was a blast with browns rising to midges and BWOs all day. It made for some great dry fishing. Our friend John was new to fly fishing so we put him on 9′ 0″ 5 wt Winston graphite rod. I fished my 8′ 0″ 5 wt bamboo and Mary Ann fished her 7′ 9″ 4 wt bamboo. Here are a couple of photos of our time on the Middle Provo.

Mary Ann fighting a nice brown with her bamboo fly rod, bamboo trout net, and bamboo wading staff.

A nice brown for Mary Ann that took a #20 BWO.
A nice little brown that I brought to the net.
John with his first brown from the Middle Provo River.

Traveling Bamboo Rod Show

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Mary Ann and I were in Denver this past weekend for The Fly Fishing Show and we had the opportunity to spend some time with Jeff Hatton (also known as The Gnome) and his Traveling Bamboo Fly Rod Show. What a fantastic historical display of classic bamboo fly rods from the past. Here are a few photos:

Mary Ann and I checking out some great classic bamboo fly rods.
Having fun with Jeff Hatton
Lots and Lots of old classic rods.
Jeff explaining the details of an old rod.

Hand-Crafted Bamboo Trout Nets

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I’m pleased to announce that I am now offering Hand-Crafted Bamboo Trout Nets for purchase.  My wife challenged me 2 years ago to build her a bamboo net from the same raw culms of bamboo I use for my bamboo fly rods.  It was quite a effort to figure out how to accomplish this with a piece of raw bamboo that is 12 ft. long and about 2 1/2″ in diameter….no straight surfaces or edges anywhere.  But, after several starts-and-stops with my design efforts, I finally figured things out and am now building and selling these great nets that are a fantastic compliment to your bamboo fly rod.  I build all my nets one-at-a-time on an order basis.  The nets have a hand rubbed oil finish, a clear rubber net, and a custom lanyard that I make myself.  I’m offering nets in two lengths, 27″ and 32″ long.  The prices for all nets are $400.  Here are a few photos:

Handles and hoop strips ready to glue up.

Inscription on nets.

Finished nets.

Fall Fishing on the Metolius River

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I’ve been getting out on the beautiful Metolius River over the past couple of weeks before the closure at the end of October.  The Kokanee have come up from Lake Billy Chinook to spawn in the river and are very numerous in the shallower areas of the river.  While the Kokanee will occasionally take nymphs, we don’t target these fish and let them do their “spawning thing”.  Here is a quick video of the Kokanee doing their thing:

With all the fishy activity in the river, the rainbows also get active.  Earlier this week, I got out on the upper portion of the river with my good friend and local Sisters resident, John, for a few hours of afternoon fishing.

Dave and John on the Metolius River

The river is pretty small in these upper stretches, and the fish tend to be a little smaller than in the lower sections of the river.  But, I took out my 7′  0″  4 wt bamboo rod, which worked great to high-stick some nymphs through the shallow riffles.  The resident native rainbows were very happy to take my #10 October Caddis Pupa and my #20 Rainbow Warrior.  Here is a nice little fish from our day.

Rianbow from the Metolius River