Fixing The Set | An Average Film |Bamboo Fly Rod Building
I can't get enough of fly fishing with a bamboo fly rod.
Not the $$$$ boutique wall hangers that are for collectors, but the old blue collar bamboo fly rods made in the first half of the 20th century. In other words, your grandfather's fly rod.
There's nothing better to me than getting an old bamboo fly rod, looking it over, thinking about who made it, who fished it and how, and then refinishing it and taking it out for a ride.
The smell, the unknown stories.... Hell, even the problems.
One issue that you'll run into when refinishing a bamboo fly rod is a "set;" a bend in one or all of the rod sections caused by improper storage or just fighting a fish that's too large for the rod weight.
While unsightly, a set is usually just a cosmetic issue and won't affect the casting of the rod.
My blue collar brand of choice is the South Bend Bait And Tackle Company. cause GO IRISH!
I picked up this Model 177 bamboo fly rod (which was originally made between 1939-1942), in 2019 and it was the first I refinished. I had gotten the set out of the tip section using a heat gun but, over the last couple of years it's slowly returned. So, I decided to do what I should have done in the first place and turn the section over; take the guides off the bottom flat of the section and put them on the top.
Presto-chango, the set is "re-set."
I don't have any doubt that this is not a permanent solution (I fish this rod regularly, it's a blue gill slayer!) but here's hoping I can get some more time with it to add to it's history before somebody buys it from my estate and hangs it on a wall.
#bambooflyrod #bambooflyrodbuilding #bambooflyrodrepair
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/ averageguy_76
5 май 2022
