Post by standard on Apr 20, 2008 0:30:59 GMT -5
I received my rod from Mike a few days ago, but only got to cast it the first time this morning. I wasn't quite sure whether to post this under "Bamboo" or here, and, I was planning to first do a full review of the full line of bamboo rods made by Headwater Bamboo Rod Co., but I was really fired-up by this one so here goes....
I first located Mike's products through Ebay, when looking at various new and vintage split cane rods. What Mike (for the most part) does, is take sound, affordable, good casting vintage rods, mostly made by South Bend and Shakespeare, and shorten and restore them. This is something of an understatement, however.
What I ordered from Mike after an exchange of a couple of e-mails was a 6wt. 3/2 at an 8' length, super-fine cork grip in the western style, dark gun smoke finished Batson reel seat with amboyna burl insert, and blued guides, and an agate stripping guide. I also asked for a rod that could cast with some authority in the kind of winds we frequently get out west, which often exceed 30 mph at some point during the day. Something you could cast dries, nymphs and even weighted streamers with, if not huge deer-hair mice. Not something real noodle-like in any event.
What I received far exceeded my expectations. Mike started with a 9' South Bend model 59. The blank was sound but needed restoration to be fish-able. Mike stripped, shortened, and straightened and repaired the blank as needed, turned and machined the reel insert, mounted the reel seat hardware, gave the blank a nice, medium-dark caramel color, triple-dipped the blank in spar urethane, wrapped the guides with a beautiful burnt-orange/black jasper silk with rust and black accent wraps, added a custom rod bag with a leather hang-tag, and a powder-coated aluminum tube with brass end and cap. Icing the cake was an engraving of a mayfly dun on the rod butt and the tube's screw cap, as well as machined bamboo ferrule plugs for the two female ferrules. Additional icing on the cake in the form of a custom outer-tube cloth sock. (Mike's wife does the rod bags and outer socks to order in a variety of styles and colors.)
Fit and finish on this rod was exquisite. It was apparent that time and skill were invested in producing the rod. Everything was done with great attention to detail. Even the shipping was well executed, with a well-packed, priority-mail shipping job that I received two days after he sent it.
I was eager to cast it. So eager in fact, that I was willing to first try it at the local urban pond I refer to as "the Tidy Bowl" for it's artificial blue color. Winds were steady at 20 mph with gusts to 30 or maybe a bit more. Tried the rod with a Cortland WF F/S 6 and a typical two-nymph rig first. No problem casting between trees on the back cast, as I could feel the rod load up really well. Also I was able to roll cast with the rig into the wind a good 35-40'. Tried it next with a floating line and a larger kinda-bushy dry. About a size 10 Ugly Radimus just to see what it might be able to do. Again, it cast well, and I was almost immediately able to do various reach, steeple, and pile casts with no trouble. It cast with authority, but was capable of some delicacy as well. Hmmm. Yummy.
Mike builds rods frequently seen for sale on ebay ranging from 5-6wt 7-1/2', 4-5wt. 7' and 7-1/2', and 3-4 and 3wt. rods as small as 5' 1". About everything for the trout fisherman, unless you've really gotta go after steelhead or salmon. He does custom orders and rod repairs as well. As to the quality of the work -- his photographs are really good, but you won't really appreciate the work until you see it in your hands. It's really first-rate.
The really good news is that, as bamboo rods go, he's quite affordable. The rod I ordered was priced on par with those he sells regularly on ebay. At $430.00, it was, I think, a better price/value than what is available commercially elsewhere from other builders/makers. I'd have to rank it way above the "woolly bugger" ranking on fit-finish-aesthetics. Functionally it's at least that good, if not a good bit better. All in all, an excellent value and also has the added bonus of knowing that you're "recycling/re-using" a piece of vintage tackle. Hey, if it works and looks good, I'm certainly not above feeling good about that aspect of it, too.
Overall, I'd rate this an easy "Elk Hair Caddis+." I did write Mike back and thank him for everything. He was really a pleasure to do business with and his work is very easy on the eyes, hand, and pocketbook.
Thom
I first located Mike's products through Ebay, when looking at various new and vintage split cane rods. What Mike (for the most part) does, is take sound, affordable, good casting vintage rods, mostly made by South Bend and Shakespeare, and shorten and restore them. This is something of an understatement, however.
What I ordered from Mike after an exchange of a couple of e-mails was a 6wt. 3/2 at an 8' length, super-fine cork grip in the western style, dark gun smoke finished Batson reel seat with amboyna burl insert, and blued guides, and an agate stripping guide. I also asked for a rod that could cast with some authority in the kind of winds we frequently get out west, which often exceed 30 mph at some point during the day. Something you could cast dries, nymphs and even weighted streamers with, if not huge deer-hair mice. Not something real noodle-like in any event.
What I received far exceeded my expectations. Mike started with a 9' South Bend model 59. The blank was sound but needed restoration to be fish-able. Mike stripped, shortened, and straightened and repaired the blank as needed, turned and machined the reel insert, mounted the reel seat hardware, gave the blank a nice, medium-dark caramel color, triple-dipped the blank in spar urethane, wrapped the guides with a beautiful burnt-orange/black jasper silk with rust and black accent wraps, added a custom rod bag with a leather hang-tag, and a powder-coated aluminum tube with brass end and cap. Icing the cake was an engraving of a mayfly dun on the rod butt and the tube's screw cap, as well as machined bamboo ferrule plugs for the two female ferrules. Additional icing on the cake in the form of a custom outer-tube cloth sock. (Mike's wife does the rod bags and outer socks to order in a variety of styles and colors.)
Fit and finish on this rod was exquisite. It was apparent that time and skill were invested in producing the rod. Everything was done with great attention to detail. Even the shipping was well executed, with a well-packed, priority-mail shipping job that I received two days after he sent it.
I was eager to cast it. So eager in fact, that I was willing to first try it at the local urban pond I refer to as "the Tidy Bowl" for it's artificial blue color. Winds were steady at 20 mph with gusts to 30 or maybe a bit more. Tried the rod with a Cortland WF F/S 6 and a typical two-nymph rig first. No problem casting between trees on the back cast, as I could feel the rod load up really well. Also I was able to roll cast with the rig into the wind a good 35-40'. Tried it next with a floating line and a larger kinda-bushy dry. About a size 10 Ugly Radimus just to see what it might be able to do. Again, it cast well, and I was almost immediately able to do various reach, steeple, and pile casts with no trouble. It cast with authority, but was capable of some delicacy as well. Hmmm. Yummy.
Mike builds rods frequently seen for sale on ebay ranging from 5-6wt 7-1/2', 4-5wt. 7' and 7-1/2', and 3-4 and 3wt. rods as small as 5' 1". About everything for the trout fisherman, unless you've really gotta go after steelhead or salmon. He does custom orders and rod repairs as well. As to the quality of the work -- his photographs are really good, but you won't really appreciate the work until you see it in your hands. It's really first-rate.
The really good news is that, as bamboo rods go, he's quite affordable. The rod I ordered was priced on par with those he sells regularly on ebay. At $430.00, it was, I think, a better price/value than what is available commercially elsewhere from other builders/makers. I'd have to rank it way above the "woolly bugger" ranking on fit-finish-aesthetics. Functionally it's at least that good, if not a good bit better. All in all, an excellent value and also has the added bonus of knowing that you're "recycling/re-using" a piece of vintage tackle. Hey, if it works and looks good, I'm certainly not above feeling good about that aspect of it, too.
Overall, I'd rate this an easy "Elk Hair Caddis+." I did write Mike back and thank him for everything. He was really a pleasure to do business with and his work is very easy on the eyes, hand, and pocketbook.
Thom
