Bamboo Fishing Rods
Sarnen, Switzerland, 2nd European Bamboo Rodmakers Gathering , 25-27 September 2009

Bamboo fishing rods were again at the centre of our attention at the second continental gathering. Here a report.

The Second European Bamboo Rodmaking Gathering was  held in the middle of Switzerland in the lovely village of Sarnen on the week-end of 25 through 27 September 2009.

Our Swiss friends organized it perfectly in the rowing sport center by lake Sarnen a few kilometres from Lucern.
Just over 100 people from all over Europe met again in a beautiful Autumn weather to exchange knowledge, experiences and cheers, thus confirming this event as the highlight of the bamboo rod making arena in Europe.

For the first time we had one guest from the UK, while a few new visitors approached us during the event .

Christian Diacon and wife came from France. The majority of people, were old friends  from the first informal gathering with the Swiss, Italian and German rodmakers – also  held at the same place in Sarnen -  back in 2006 and the following gatherings in Waischenfeld, Germany (2007) and Sansepolcro, Italy, (2008).

We can certainly say that, well a century and a half into the making of the modern fishing tackle era, the “Renaissance” of bamboo fishing rods and bamboo rod making is alive and striving. Our friend Christian confirmed us that also in France  there is a recent renewed interest in  this tradition once very rooted in his country.

The beauty of these gathering, and in Sarnen it was respected again,  is that all information is shared and that part-time  rodmakers can meet in a friendly, intimate atmosphere with real trade artisans such as Rolf Baginski (Germany), Robert Stroh (Germany), Christian Strixner (Germany), Bjarne Vries (Danemark), Larry Tusoni (USA), Jerry  Kustich (USA), Nick Hughes (South Africa,  based in Switzerland). Andy Royer (USA), our bamboo broker, also attended the event with his daughter...leaving us all at first disconcerted because of his new beardless look and a pony tale: too much time spent with bamboo rodmakers, he explained.
People started arriving and register in the middle of the afternoon on Friday. Philippe Sicher, one of the 6 organizers (which included H.R.Hebeisen) , officially welcomed us in the evening before dinner. From non smoking requirements to a shuttle bus service to the nearby hotel , all was gently organized, including a dedicated Swiss pocket-knife kindly given to all participants as a present. An elegant and friendly team of helpers and the cooks Beno Gisler und Christian Schmid rounded off the excellent organization of the event. Typical Swiss food like rösti and bratwurst, delicious salads and local ravioli, delighted us through the event. Bamboo fishing rods are not ALWAYS at the centre of attention in the end......

This second gathering  was structured almost exclusively around workshops. However, these were not mere how-to stations, but real work places where  a complete sequencing of bamboo fishing rods building was in place. As a result,  a three pieces rod, “ C.C. de France of Hardy”  was created and given as price in the final raffle which concluded the week-end.
The workshops began on Saturday morning with the splitting of bamboo culms, and continued with the straightening of the nodes,  binding and tempering the strips, and down till the very end stage of  varnishing and signing which happened on the following Sunday morning.  The rod was made  in a record time of just one and half day by an international group of 33 rodmakers.  Understandably, 33 people working on the same rod and applying all possible different techniques and tools for  each building phase as an educational exercise (Note at bottom of paragraph))     could not end up in the very essence of a precision cane rod (we, for instance, randomly measured over 10 hundreds of an cm of differences in the mid section of the rod), but the exercise could perfectly illustrate the simple yet manifold world of building bamboo fishing rods.

For instance, 3 different techniques were used in the straightening of the nodes: 1. Heating and applying pressure in a vice for a short time, e.g. Rolf Baginski. 2. Heating and then applying pressure in a vice but with a rounded “nut”, Gerd Peter Wieditz. 3. Heating and then applying pressure on a specially designed lever tool, Gabriele Gori

Opposite to the splitting area and at same moment, another large group of people surrounded Mr Ferdi Wenziger working at the lathe and making nickel-silver ferrules.  Mind: by drilling and not turning the original silver-steel piece. A high precision work perhaps to be attempted by the most experienced craftsmen. As always, it might look easy but it’s not a trouble-free task.

Self-taught Luciano Oltolini and Claudio Testa, IBRA members and makers of exquisite bamboo fishing rods, showed us on the other hand the painstaking art of making agate stripping guides. The result of their individual work was stunning. The process involves drilling agate stones  with an hollow diamond tool and then polishing them. The agate plates are purchased in mineral  shops. Claudio and Luciano said that many rings get broken in the making, since natural stones are unpredictable and have anisotropic properties. Once the ring is ready, it’s  then soldered in an equally handmade framework. The whole process can take two hours or more for just one agate stripping guide. The job is frustrating, says Luciano, “because perhaps you are a good half an hour into drilling, that the agate ring falls apart and you have to start all over again”. Other times “ I lost one or two finished agate rings which fell  on the floor and so I realized I had to have a soft rubber mat on the bench to prevent occasional bouncing and loosing!” Sounds familiar, isn’t it? You learn at your expenses all little details of your craft. Claudio was the first IBRA member to go along this path, alone, and out of his home workshop.  “Buy the more expensive but best quality tools, you will never regret it” he gave us as an advice.  A remarkable achievement, by both Luciano and Claudio whose work was very well received by many fellow bamboo fishing rods makers.  By the way, Luciano Oltolini’s agate stripping guides can be seen and purchased through Alberto Poratelli’s website (www.aprods.it)  ...just  for those who asked to buy some.

Another innovative workshop was carried out by Kurt Zumbrunn: how to make handmade grips of birch tree bark for bamboo fishing rods. The craft of using birch tree bark to make basketry and other objects  has a long tradition but it was the first time that it was presented in our rodmaking circle in a step-by-step way. The first stage is to staple little squares of birch tree bark around a long bolt ,  then gluing them together and finally work them down on the lathe. The grip has a smooth, very pleasant touch. The weight is slightly heavier than natural cork, but aesthetically, the distinct colouring of each ring and the unique natural pattern which result  have a tremendous impact on the viewer. We, on the other side,  immediately thought  of other materials or uses which could be invented to sake of bamboo fishing rods....

Gerd Peter Wieditz delighted us with his simple yet very effective way  of making steel snake guides out of metal  wire. He just used two simple handmade tools: one to make the wanted spiral shape and size – he uses small pins of different sizes as pivot around which the wire is properly twisted - and the other one is a flat metal bar with holes and a straight path for flattening and correcting the alignment of the snake guides’ feet. The snake guides were then used for the rod in preparation.

Jaroslav Vecko wanted to become an engraver in his native Czechoslovakia  when , like many of his countrymen,  fled to Switzerland in the aftermath of the Prague Spring of 1968. Engraving is the art of manually drawing and chiseling in metal to make either prints or stand-alone masterpieces like those “carvings” or “drawings” you can see on knife handles, guns,  rifles...and, yes, even ferrules and reel holders The task is daunting since no mistake is allowed. Many years of practice are necessary to master this magnificent fine craft. Today, the best schools are in Belgium and Italy. Jaroslav demonstrated us how to engrave a ferrule by using a special turning vise and a hand graver. The picture on the left is made by a professional Belgian handgraver, reportedly, and it sits on a Philippe Sicher's bamboo fishing rod. Jaroslav is also an avid bamboo fishing rods maker and has been showing up in all our gathering asd well.

Perhaps the most useful and clever workshop was the “15 degree power measure” by Mr Theodor Matschewski and Ludwig Reim, from Germany. These two gentlemen have spent the last 20 years in developing this very simple but stunning test which provides a measured account of how your bamboo fishing rod (actually ANY kind of fishing rod) performs. The characteristics and performance are simply derived by  the basic physical  law of Newton. In practical terms you set the rod at a “zero” level, horizontally, the tip touching the line marked as “zero”, then you add a weight M1 at the tip until a “static” level just below is reached and then again another weight  M2 till the tip of the rod is bent so to touch a 15 degree line with line “zero”. The two masses M1 and M2 give you the kind of rod action you have (e.g. medium-fast) and the equivalent line number. We tried with an Alberto Poratelli’s IRP, 7.2’, #3 rod and the result confirmed that it was a medium-fast, #3 rod as Alberto and IBRA stated.
By means of this test, one can compare rods (and bamboo fishing rods) independently from line, length and material. Beginners and interested anglers could then use it before buying a new rod knowing what they are looking for. Mr Reim also developed a test to measure the speed of a rod but we do not enter into it in detail in this article.
The declared  target is to have this system adopted as THE worldwide standard by rod manufacturers. Besides, more and more people are recognizing its importance. “The test is as simple as effective, so what could be against it?”, say the two entrepreneurs? More about their test at www.solitip.de and soon also in English (www.solitip.com ).

Terenzio Zandri and Gianluca Nocentini have become a fixed presence of our gatherings. Again their beautiful flies made out of a special loom, the hook vertically placed, created a sensation. But Terenzio is also known for his famous silk line. To learn more about Terenzio, check his website www.terenziosilklines.com .
I already spoke about Terenzio in another part of my website two years ago. Here is the link.

Larry Tusony, whom we met in Sansepolcro a year ago, gave a speech on Sunday morning explaining the new features of his popular software - and taper data base- “RodDna” which has now reached version 1.4. Larry was also busy in the workshops, on the planning form, on the excellent professional TORMEK Water Cooled Sharpening System and giving a demonstration on how to sharpen blades and was a very active all trough the gathering. I remember his delightful 4 pieces bamboo fishing rods, very nice to carry around. He had one again with him while in Sarnen.

Fly Reels were again presented by aficionados of this craft like Waldemar Nowak (www.flyfishingdesign.de) who makes beautiful “S-shaped” reels (at wish also engraved or scrimshawed), Wolfhard Schulz, the both from Germany and Markus Rohrbach (Switzerland).

 We met Wolfhard for  the first time in Waischenfeld in 2007. With a direct mentoring of Joe Janciuras who lives in the USA, Wolfhard has been gradually trying to reproduce Edward vom Hofe reels, the only person in Europe!

Markus Rohrbach of Swiss Tackle, a mechanical engineer,  exhibited his beautiful fly reel and the new tippet dispenser. He said “All started in 1999 when I first build the prototype of the dispenser for myself. After using it for a while friends were asking for it and I decide to produce a small series for them in 2000. After that I started the reel project  and sold the first reel at the end of the year 2003 to the USA and another 15 piece to Japan” His reels and tippet dispensers are available to try at next gathering and of course on his website
( www.swisstackle.ch ).

Cheerful Daniel Hoda (http://hoda-bamboo-rods.ch) , always present since the beginning of our gatherings, showed a spinning bamboo fishing rod along with his beautiful fly fishing rods.

Daniel and Tim Anderson also suggested the use of a USA –made glue to varnish bamboo fishing rods. Tim, who from scrimshaw artist in Waischenfeld back in 2007, has since become a convinced bamboo rodmaker, showed us the way of using  this special glue, named Gorilla Glue for varnishing the rod.

The variety of the workshops and presentations did not finish here. Along with bamboo fishing rods and reels, the Swiss entomologist Heinz Suter, provided  a magnificent display of aquatic insects. A masterful work which could be easily placed  in a Natural Museum without doubt!

As we said, the gathering finished with a raffle. Many prices were on the table including the bamboo fishing rod which had just being finished and provided with a document with all 33 names of people involved in the making. We left Sarnen after lunch together in a nice, autumn sunshine.

...and what is next?

The third European gathering will be held in Witten, Germany, not far from Dortmund, North Rhine Westphalia,  in the middle of September 2010 and it will be organized by Gerd Peter Wieditz – Gerd is an important figure in Germany with nearly 30 years of bamboo fishing rods making experiences- like our Walter Rumi -. Gerd was also the first person  to organize rodsmithing courses in Germany in cooperation with the firm Dick. He also contributed to fly fishing articles and books and is often seen in the most important fly fishing events.

Here a slideshow of the Sarnen bamboo fishing rods gathering (external link, about 9,6 MB)

...and here some more pictures...

Updated November 2009

There is a nice report on the Sarnen gathering with many of my pictures on the Der Fliegenfischer Online Magazine.

From Bamboo Fishing Rods Sarnen back to the Artisan Portfolios (Gatherings of Bamboo Rodmakers) webpage

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