Bamboo fly rods

In Trail of the Jaguar I refer several times to Jedediah Carson’s hobby-cum-business making bespoke split-bamboo fly rods.

The technique of making rods using several (usually six) tapered, glued-together strips of Tonkin cane (the strongest known variety of bamboo) began in the early 1800s, reached its zenith in the first part of the twentieth century, then very nearly died out as, first, fiberglass and, later, graphite and boron proved both lighter and stronger.

But a few—call them what you will, traditionalists, Luddites, curmudgeons—kept the art alive, and in the last couple of decades interest in and construction of bamboo fly rods has enjoyed an astounding resurgence, among both those who prefer a handmade, organic tool to one manufactured of space-age materials, and those who prefer the gentler, more gradual loading of a bamboo rod compared to the snap of a graphite equivalent.

There are bamboo rods made from Chinese blanks available for less than $500, but if you’re interested in best-quality examples, prices start at around $2,000 and go up—way up—from there. The finest of these rods represent up to a hundred hours of meticulous labor.

You might wonder, reading the description of the rods Jed builds, where the imagery came from. I didn’t have to imagine it; there’s a company called Oyster Rods that already makes such works of art. You can find them here; below is just a taste of the jaw-dropping artistry that goes into these rods.