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Affordable Bamboo Rod

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Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby BrownBear » March 29th, 2014, 12:01 pm

I just picked up a Pennington Pine River bamboo rod from Coldwater Collectibles. Only one way to sum it up: HOLY COW!!!!! :bananadance:

It's an 8' 2-piece for a 5WT. But get this: It comes with an extra tip section, all in a fabric sock and aluminum case. For the lordly fee of $395 plus shipping!!!!! At that price I figured there had to be something wrong. Right? Wrong!!!! Can't find a single complaint. I've long owned a couple of older bamboos that are "worth" close to 10x that amount in today's market, but they don't feel or cast any better. And their finish is not noticeably better, either.

I just took this little wonder out on the lawn with 4WF, 5WF, 5DT and 6DT lines, and it cast all of them well! Different for sure, but well. I'll probably pick which line to use day by day, depending on the water and how I'm fishing.

Anyone curious about bamboo but chased off by the price should buy one of these or cast mine when they can catch me on the water with it. Bamboo casts nothing like graphite, but once you get the feel for it, you'll love it for dries at moderate distances. Just nothing more smoooooth and controllable for precise work. At that price, there's no reason not to own two for every Sage in your rack.
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Re: Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby atomicfly » March 29th, 2014, 6:20 pm

"Like"

Pennington bamboo rods is one of my saved bamboo bookmarks for the seemingly great deal. will you share some photos?

eric
fresno, ca.
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Re: Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby BrownBear » March 29th, 2014, 6:28 pm

I'm unlikely to get to any photos soon, that is until there are fish to go with it. ;)

There are good photos at the site I linked.
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Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby Rasputinj » March 29th, 2014, 9:09 pm

Steve makes some great rods, one of the best deals for the money
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Re: Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby BrownBear » March 30th, 2014, 10:16 am

No kidding! Blank construction is flawless without a visible seam anywhere, and the wrap and final finish are top notch. Hardware is pretty basic, but that's the one place I'm willing to compromise.

I was on the verge of pulling the trigger for a Sweetgrass Mantra at 3x the price and only one tip, but no more. Great rods I'd like to own one of these days, but this sweet Pine River rod put me on the water today.
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Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby Rasputinj » March 30th, 2014, 1:42 pm

Sometime I will have to meet up with you at Kern you can try out one of my Doug Daniel quads, Doug is on the board as Theophilus he is an incredible builder. Dray my neighbor who puts up with me just finished a Spey also he wants to test out on the Kern. I am finishing up a heddon taper with splices right now. Then I will work on my Spey with Dray. I also have a Powell B taper to tackle next
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Re: Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby BrownBear » March 30th, 2014, 4:03 pm

That would be fun! I only have the one grass rod down here, but will bring down more when I return in the fall.

Meanwhile I've put in a couple more hours on the lawn with this one. Gotta say it's the first one I've seen that actually likes a WF line. Still won't shoot a mile like we expect with graphites, but it throws a really tight, controllable loop with almost zero bounce using the Rio WF5 Trout line. Fun to see, and even more fun to fish I'm sure. Though it's rated a 5WT, at the moment I'm kinda hung up between a 5DT and 6DT. At shorter ranges it's sure a lot more responsive with the 6, but won't quite reach out where the 5 will once it loads the rod.
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Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby Rasputinj » March 30th, 2014, 7:21 pm

Enjoy the rod, Steve is a great guy and was very informative when I asked him questions about his rods.
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Re: Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby RiverRat » April 1st, 2014, 11:01 am

Rasputinj wrote:Sometime I will have to meet up with you at Kern you can try out one of my Doug Daniel quads, Doug is on the board as Theophilus he is an incredible builder. Dray my neighbor who puts up with me just finished a Spey also he wants to test out on the Kern. I am finishing up a heddon taper with splices right now. Then I will work on my Spey with Dray. I also have a Powell B taper to tackle next


Love to see one of Doug's build's and I could bring a couple of Pete's bamboo abd glass builds...please please please!

shane
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Re: Affordable Bamboo Rod

Postby SxS » May 16th, 2015, 10:18 am

put a properly greased silk line on that rod and the guys with plastic rods will be saying, this sage is nice but it still doesn't shoot line like a nice bamboo rod!!!
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