Fishing Frenzy

There is no doubt that the best fly fishing rod material is good bamboo properly selected, cured, split, glued, and correctly proportioned. It possesses strength combined with lightness, resiliency, pliancy, power and balance in greater degree than either steel or solid woods.

The majority of fly fishing rods that are constructed these days are made from Tonkin. Although back in the day there were a bunch that were made from Calcutta cane, which is harder to come by now in our present time.

Out of all the types of bamboo that are used to make a fly rod, it is said that the male Calcutta cane is the best. If you can not afford the best, then you could get a fly rod that is made from African cane. These kinds of bamboo fly rods are great and you will not go broke trying to buy one.

When a bamboo rod is being put together, the bamboo is split into sections and then it is glued together. The sections of bamboo will be split into either 6 or 8 sections. You will see that the 6 split section is more common than the 8 split section though.

A lot of the rod makers say that the 8 strip rods are more durable than the 6 strip. This has never really been tested or proven though, more expensive though as they take more time to make than the 6 strip section bamboo fly rods.

Because there is more labor that is involved, this will make the eight strip rod more expensive than the six. This is another reason why I would stick with a six strip rod if possible, it is all about personal preference anyways.

When a bamboo fly rod is made, it is made in two layers. One is in the middle and of course there is an outer layer also. This is also known as a double built rod, making them much more stronger than your tradition fly fishing rod.

Another type of bamboo rod is one that has steel as a center layer, and the outer layer would be made out of bamboo. These are thought to be the best constructed bamboo rods as it gives them excellent casting ability, which is a necessity when it comes to fly fishing.