Bamboo fly rods seem to be much on the minds of fly fishers this winter.

My Winston rods/Sweet Grass rods post drew several comments, and then I woke up this morning to discover that Hawgdaddy at the TVA blog is now jonesing for a bamboo fly rod.

Bamboo fly rods are gorgeous things

I’d love to warn him to turn his back on the damned things and save himself, but in truth, they’re a pleasure to fish.

The darker truth is they’re only slightly less addictive than crack, and only marginally more socially acceptable.

The Underground’s advice? Get a nice 8′ 5wt, and fish it everywhere. You’ll be surprised. From the TVA:

Then there’s that suspicion that taking up bamboo rods is all part of that natural progression of the fly fisher. As you continue to delve more and more deeply into the sport, you begin to develop a fondness for the “traditional” things like natural fly tying materials, casting dries to rising trout, a love for Catskill patterns even though others might be more effective, and yes, bamboo rods. It feels like something you must do, assuming you want to continue along the path to becoming a “real” fly fisherman. You may not even really have a choice about it. You just wake up one day short $700 with a bamboo rod propped beside your bed. And you feel pretty darn good about it, too!

Read more at: The Tennessee Valley Angler – Bamboo Outsider: An Essay

Also, some had questions about the price of the new Sweet Grass rods.

The idea was those who paid $3200 for a Winston only to find they could purchase the same rod from Sweet Grass at half the price would have some cause to mutter under their breath.

It’s not quite as bad as that; I ran through the Sweet Grass Web site and discovered:

Our two-piece two tip rods are $2000. Our three-piece two-tip rods are $2500. Custom orders will be done on a quote basis

Personally? For that kind of money I’d get a Jimmy Reams. He’s obsessive, and his hollowbuilt tapers are to die for.

For a chunk less there are a lot of other good builders, and I suppose I’m going to have to write a “Beginner’s Guide to Bamboo” article, if only to make sure the Undergrounders spend their money foolishly and end up in the poorhouse like your friendly neighborhood writer.

See you at the poorhouse (bamboo rod in hand), Tom Chandler.

[tags]bamboo, bamboo fly rod, sweet grass, sweet grass fly rod, jim reams, tva, winston, winston fly rods[/tags]

Posted in bamboo fly rods.