Tag Archives: bamboo rod shows

Fishing Bamboo on Whychus Creek

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I hiked down to Whychus Creek recently at the bottom of the canyon just below our house for some morning fly fishing.  Whychus is a beautiful small local creek that gets almost no fishing pressure.  Most of the trout are on the small side (5″ to 9″) but it’s not uncommon to get into a few larger fish also.  Because the creek is heavily treed in along the banks, I like to fish the creek with a 7′  0″  4 wt bamboo fly rod. Longer 8 or 9 ft. rods are just too long for this little creek.  Nymphs tend to work well on the resident fish, but they’ll come up for dries occasionally also.  For the morning, I picked up about 15 fish on #18 black zebra midges, #16 black AP nymphs, #10 black stonefly nymphs, #16 copper johns, and #14 Royal Wulffs.  Here is a fun little video that I pulled together of my morning.

https://youtu.be/YBC53hjUlwI

Fly Fishing the Gallatin River with Bob Jacklin

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While attending the Fly Fishers International Fair in Livingston, Montana last week I had the great privilege of spending the day on the Gallatin River fishing with Bob Jacklin.  Jim, a fantastically talented fly caster, also joined us…boy, those two guys can cast!  The three of us had a wonderful time on the water and everyone caught several nice rainbows up to 15″ on dry flies.  Bob gave us some of his personally tied spruce moth patterns that worked very great.  I fished one of my 8′  3″  FreeStone Series Bamboo Fly Rods during the day, which performed well and handled some tricky casts and mending in fast water conditions.  Here are a few photos of the day.

Bob, Jim, and I getting ready to hit the water.

Bob, making a nice cast.

A nice rainbow that I picked up.

Last Week In California at The Fly Fishing Show

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We had a great time at The Fly Fishing Show in Pleasanton, California last weekend.  Great attendance and lots of folks stopped by my booth to chat about bamboo fly rods.  Mary Ann taught two fly casting classes and gave a casting demonstration on Adjusting your casting stroke for varying distances of casts.

The Fly Fishing Show, Pleasanton, CA

After the show was over, I got the chance to drive over to Golden Gate Park in San Francisco to the Casting Ponds and Anglers Lodge supported by The Golden Gate Casting Club.  What a great and inspiring facility, with many, many years of fly fishing tradition.  Here are a few photos:

The Fly Casting Ponds

Lots of old rods and flies on display.

An Old Classic Rod

 

Two new bamboo fly rods completed.

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I just completed two new bamboo fly rods this week, just in time for the upcoming Fly Fishing Show next week in Pleasanton, Ca.  I’ll be there with a booth, and Mary Ann will be teaching classes and giving casting demonstrations.  I’ll have both of these two rods, a 7′  6″  2 piece/2 tip 5 wt Signature Series rod and a 7′  9″  2 piece/1 tip 4 wt Spring Creek Series rods at the show and available to cast.  If you are in the Bay Area, I encourage you to stop by the show….tons of fly fishing stuff, and 5 of us who build bamboo fly rods will be there.

A new 7′ 6″ 2 piece/2 tip 5 wt Signature Series Rod with black wraps and a new 7′ 9″ 2 piece/1 tip 4 wt Spring Creek Series rod with green wraps.

What’s on my bench this week!

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I’m busy getting ready for The Fly Fishing Show http://flyfishingshow.com/pleasanton-ca/ in Pleasanton, California in 3 weeks.  I’ll have a booth at the show and Mary Ann will be teaching a few Fly Casting Classes.  I’ve been working at getting a couple of new rods done for the show.  First, I’ve just completed the wraps on a 7′  6″  5 wt Signature Series Rod and it will go into my varnish dipping process in the next day or two.  And, I’m also working on two new 7′  9″  4 wt Spring Creek Rods.  One will be completed for the show, and the second will get completed once I get back.  These are slow action rods, perfect for delicate presentations on spring creeks.  Here is a look:

7′ 6″ 5 wt Signature Series rod just ready for varnish dipping.

Two new 7′ 9″ 4 wt. Spring Creek Rods. On the right, a 2 piece/2 tip rod that just came out of the string after gluing. Next up, file off the glue and start cork and ferrules. The strips on the left are a second rod that is ready for hand planing.