My new bamboo rod - The good, the bad, the ugly

[DSFlyman]

Alright, so I just picked up this 2 piece, 7ft bamboo rod off Craigslist. I know very little about bamboo rods so I thought I'd fish (lol) for some perspective
from my peers. First off, the rod was only $40 with a nice cordura hard case. The previous owner said it was an Ebay find for himself that he never got around to fishing. It seems custom built and there are no markings on the rod at all, but when he took it to Bob Mariotts, they told him it was a 2/3 weight rod (which is why I was interested in the first place. It is heavier than my 7'6" graphite 4 weight, but the action is much slower as expected.


From the pictures you can see that some of the wraps are not pretty, but the varnish is in good condition. Some of the guides have varnish on them. The reel seat has no real locking mechanism and is a little banged up on the bottom. The tip top has an agate center that is very narrow, I had to struggle to get the nail knot from my 4 weight line through it.

So... Whatcha think? Is it fishable? Need much work?

Can anyone ID this rod? Pure junk or total steal? I want a dirt cheap reel for it... any suggestions? my Battenkill 2 bar stock actually seems big for it, but the rod may not be balanced right. I was hoping to make this small stream special.

[Pete]

Metal sliding band reel seat is typical for older rods. The tip top may be be off a bait caster from yester year and not intended for a fly rod. Looks good and straight. Judging by the hardware I would venture it is an older rod. That being said, I would doubt it is a 2/3 weight rod. Try tossing a 4 or 5 weight line on it to see how she loads. Its Bamboo, it will be heavier and slower than graphite. With Bamboo you have to let the rod do the work. They each have their own personality and will load and shoot line like crazy if you let them do the work.

The agate tip top may work if you use the old system of using a needle and sewing the leader straight to the fly line. No nail knot = no hang up.

If I had her I would either wall mount her or bring it back to fishing condition by:
1) New guides
2) Silk wraps. Finished with Spar Varnish. Personally Flex Coat is just evil on Bamboo.
3) New tip top for a fly rod

Before you do any type of refirb, check the ferrules to verify they are in good condition. Not cracked or too loose a fit.

I have a three piece I am refirbishing for a client that has most of the same issues yours has. It will be a great rod when it is complete. Unless it has markings saying it is a Garrison, Leonard, or Payne, fix it and fish it.

JMHO,
Pete

[stanbery]

What Pete said.

If you really like the way it cast and feel then maybe you should do the new guides and tip top and fish the heck out of it as long as you like the feel of boo.

Jon

[DSFlyman]

I'm going to try it over the weekend. If I have fun with it I may just try and refinish the whole thing, although I have no idea what I'm doing at this point.

[stanbery]

I'm going to try it over the weekend. If I have fun with it I may just try and refinish the whole thing, although I have no idea what I'm doing at this point.

Paul

If you have any feel free to ask.

Jon

[DSFlyman]

Had a blast, I fished this rod on the EW for a bit with WF6F and It did better than I thought. The next day I put on the WF4F and it did even better. Nymphing was a challenge either way, but it was tons of fun with dries.

At one point, I looked up as I was fighting a fish to check out the bend in the rod and I could see how poorly the guides were spaced. The distribution of force along the rod was way off and I could see how much pressure was being put on the ferrules. I decided to make my way back to swap out my graphite rod, but... just one more fish I thought. Well, the next fish I played snapped my new rod. It broke right at the upper ferrule connection.

Oh well.



ps: Thanks for all your input Jon.

[stanbery]

Had a blast, I fished this rod on the EW for a bit with WF6F and It did better than I thought. The next day I put on the WF4F and it did even better. Nymphing was a challenge either way, but it was tons of fun with dries.

At one point, I looked up as I was fighting a fish to check out the bend in the rod and I could see how poorly the guides were spaced. The distribution of force along the rod was way off and I could see how much pressure was being put on the ferrules. I decided to make my way back to swap out my graphite rod, but... just one more fish I thought. Well, the next fish I played snapped my new rod. It broke right at the upper ferrule connection.

Oh well.



ps: Thanks for all your input Jon.

Paul

That just sucks.

Jon

[Pete]

Might see if you can refit the ferrule. May be ok if you don't have to remove too many power fibers. If you are going to toss it, toss it my way. I am always looking for old boos to salvage for components. Have a boo I am redoing for a guy and I need some old guides

Pete