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Hey Charlie, cut me another willow, will yer? Ol' Scarface just took my hook, line, and the top three feet of my pole."
I won't say those days are all gone but they're gasping feebly. Today there are few fishermen who do not have the semblance of an outfit. Rods, reels, lines and terminal tackle are more or less standardized even though the range between good and indifferent equipment is on the increase.
There are many die-hards who cling to tradition and refuse to acknowledge progress. I have no doubt but that old Izaak Walton would have cast a fishy eye on an upstart who might have tried to convince him that this new bamboo stuff makes a mighty fine stick.
And today there still are a number of followers of Izaak who cast a gloomy eye on the upstarts shouting about the superiority of the graphite rods over glassfiber. It was ever thus!
Sure we love, our split bamboo rods. They are a delight to look at and feel and they are a pleasure to use. It actually hurt me when I found that a new glass rod, which I was testing, was lighter, stronger, had an apparent superior dry fly action, was definitely more accurate, was able to deliver longer casts when required and all this with much less effort on my part when I finally discovered the casting tempo of the glass which was speedier than the bamboo. I tried vainly to match these abilities with my favorite custom-built bamboo rod but the bamboo just didn't have it in as marked a degree.
So now this beautiful bamboo rod, which in my personal opinion is the finest rod this unexcelled rod builder ever turned out, has been retired. In spite of its having to take second place I love it and wouldn't consider selling it for all the Andalusian capes in existence.
In the top quality rods the features are close to a toss-up, but in the ordinary market productions the graphite, ounce for ounce and dollar for dollar, is much superior. For myself I am using custom-built graphite rods which I have found to be much better than any mass-produced rod now offered for sale and the custom-built rods are less expensive than some of the others. Don't take my word completely, try both. There is a marked difference in the way each type of rod is manipulated to bring out its finest action.
The quality graphite, dry fly rods have a much speedier action, and less effort on the part of the caster is necessary. The rod does much for you that you are required to do yourself with the bamboo rod. A confirmed bamboo rod user applying the same casting stroke with a comparable graphite rod will perform like a rank amateur and give up in disgust. Timing is an important attribute to good casting but the timing is different between bamboo rod casting and graphite rod casting.
A few years ago there were dozens of rod builders who could turn out a top quality bamboo rod. Those dozens have dwindled down, at this time, to two or three, in fact I know of but two that I could, without reservation, recommend.
The size of the rod or rods in length and power depends upon the types of fishing you do. Many fishermen have "compromise" rods with which they do bait fishing, fly fishing, spinner fishing and bug casting. If they enjoy their fishing, more power to them, but to fish a certain way with a rod designed to do that particular job best, is the ultimate in enjoyment. One certainly would not expect to fish for steelhead with a dainty dry fly rod. The reverse is almost as quaint an idea.
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