Stradivarius or Yamaha; Tool or Treasure
by: Ralph W. Moon

          Arnold Gingrich made the assertion that on the day that Jascha Heifitz played a plastic violin in the New York Philharmonic he would consider using a rod made of synthetic materials.  From the advent of the first fiberglass fly rod to the present day, the controversy between users of bamboo fly rods and rods made of synthetic materials continues.  A number of years ago, Eric Pettine asked me to do a seminar on bamboo rods at the Federation of Flyfishers Conclave.  He assigned me a theme, “The Mystique of the Bamboo Rod.  I was a bit upset at being thus constrained until I looked up the definition of  mystique in my dictionary:  a body of attitudes, opinions or ideas that become associated with a person, thing, institution etc. and give it a  superhuman or mythical status.  It seemed then and does now that the definition of the word was particularly meaningful in terms of bamboo fly rods.  Somehow there has been developed around bamboo rods a body of attitudes that do give it a mythical status. 

            When one looks at this idea objectively though an apparent dichotomy leaps out.  How and why can a utilitarian object, a tool if you will, instill in its users the powerful emotional appeal that bamboo seems to evoke?  I use a lot of tools in my making of bamboo rods, yet none of them are more to me than just tools.  I do not venerate them, they inspire no awe, there is not the least semblance of a mythical status.  Indeed there are those who make very pointed objections to the mystique of bamboo.  Paul Schullery, a former director of the Museum of American Fly Fishing denigrates the whole idea with the pungent commentary “Sticks.”  “… (a flyrod)  no matter how much attention and ornamentation we may lavish upon it , is after all just a stick.”  He says further that as a wood (grass, if you must) bamboo is singularly lacking in visual appeal.  “It was boring.”,  and he categorizes the first bamboo rod he saw with the comment “why it is almost ugly.”

            My  first reaction to Paul’s comments was almost violent.  Blasphemy!! Of the first order!  Then I remembered a few other friends who in kinder terms had said much the same.  I began to realize that each of us entitled to his own opinion (no matter how misguided he may be).

            Even today with the myriad of new technologies for making fly rods, we hear the oft repeated refrain that some graphite rod has the feel of bamboo.  So what is it that distinguishes bamboo flyrods from all other types of fly rods?  I can’t presume to speak for others, but there are a number of factors that I think might be considered.

            The first of these is aesthetics.  Despite Schullery’s comment that bamboo rods are almost ugly,  I must maintain that they can be beautiful works of art solely in and of themselves.  One of the real thrills I get in building a bamboo rod comes when I scrape the enamel from the rod section and watch the lovely grain and vibrant color emerge.  While the grain may be uniform, its very straightness is a thing of beauty.  The color may range from pale lemon yellow hues through wheat, tan, and rich browns.  Each has its own appeal which is intensified by the mirror perfect coating the craftsman applies to the rod.  The jewel like colors of silk winding thread, the luster of subdued silvery nickel silver ferrules or the rich blued or blackened  oxidized ferrules, the richness of exotic woods in the reel seat and the velvety smoothness of the cork all combine and blend  into an elegance of true artistry. 

            The second factor must inevitably be tied in to the nature of the material itself.  As Gingrich  rather pungently pointed out, plastic just does not cut it.  A dear friend of mine, Walton Powell, expressed his feeling about impregnated rods to me once, By stating “Hell, if I wanted a plastic rod, I’d have gotten a plastic rod.  There is something about natural materials that attracts the true enthusiast.  Would you rather go hunting with a plastic stocked J. C. Higgins shotgun or a Purdy?  Would you rather use a beautifully finished rosewood and brass T-square or one stamped from sheet metal?, and would you rather fish with a Jim Payne rod or a Sage?  If you answer by selecting the first choice in these examples read on.

            Vincent Marinaro is perhaps better known for his theories on presentation than as a rod builder, but the fact remains that his stature would forever stand secure on his expertise as a rod builder.  His theories on rod building are based on the proper application of the principles of length, materials, and taper.  On material he says without reservation “It was apparent to me that the only suitable material was bamboo.”  He goes further and makes the comment that bamboo is still the great standard against which all other materials are measured.

            The major difference between bamboo rods and modern composite rods, be they fiberglass, graphite or boron lies in the structural differences.  On the one hand you have a solid structure composed of fibers of various densities,  on the other hand a hollow tube of homogeneous material.  The difference manifests itself in a couple of different ways.  Most anglers (although not all) will agree that vibrations are more readily discerned through a solid structure than through a hollow one.  The increased sensitivity  of the rod in detecting the action of the terminal tackle, including the take of fish, is a decided advantage that might in and of itself be sufficient cause for advancing the merits of the bamboo rod over the synthetics.  There is however, an even more important reason the bamboo rod is superior to the tubular rod.  Most anglers are aware that present day bamboo rod construction is marked primarily by six strips of bamboo laminated together.  Each strip is a tapering equilateral triangular solid that is characterized by long, hard fibers on the surface of the strip and a softer underlayer of pith in the center.  The assembled section then has a very dense hard layer of power fibers covering a softer pithy interior. Many who are aware of this construction understand that the stretching and compression of the outer surfaces when the rod is flexed are cushioned and strengthened by the softer interior.  This is true, and again if for no other reason this might be construed as further evidence that the bamboo rod has superior characteristics.  The flattening and deformation of a tube under stress may lead as many have found to their consternation catastrophic failure of the structure.

            There is another factor that is governed by the composite structure of the bamboo rod and that is a dampening and cushioning action.  As the rod flexes and bends the dampening effect of the pithy center serves to slow down and delay the transmission of unwanted vibrations.  While extreme sine waves may sometimes be seen in bamboo rods, either because of poor design or of improper casting, they are far less prevalent than in graphite and fiberglass rods.  Marinaro states that his dampening effect is the closest thing he has seen to a repeal of Newton’s second law of motion.  The subjective aspect of this effect is to be found in comments that bamboo is smoother, closer to natural action, less tiring.

            I’d conclude by saying that this is in no way an indictment of modern synthetic rods.  They have many advantages  and even superiority in some aspects.  They are lighter (for the most part),  they present a smaller profile in the casting stroke allowing for some increase in speed, and today they are still cheaper to purchase.  Still, I think that bamboo richly deserves the nickname “the lovely reed.”