Fishing rod building is a wonderful and relaxing craft .

A master bamboo fishing rod maker Walton Powell (son of E.C. Powell) once said: "It's not something you will get rich from doing, but it's a labour of love".

I got this quotation from Mats and Stefan's website and I like it a lot.

I would also add that nothing can beat the experience of catching a fish with a self built tool. You don't believe me, uh? Try it!

I didn't give it too much of an importance in the beginning but when I experienced it....

I remember, after I finished my first bamboo rod I started flytying my own flies, too.
And one day I finally caught a fish with MY rod and MY fly. What a memorable moment and what a wonderful feeling! That the fish was not a big one meant nothing, it was really a happy moment! What else do you need when you feel happy for simple things?

Rodbuilding is all this. A feeling that is hard to explain and a desire to build more new rods and experiment with nature.

Furthermore, this craft is a kind of "melting pot" for many other crafts and sciences around: engineering, chemistry, wood working, metal working, fly tying, reel making, lures making, threading, scrimshaw , hand engraving, basketry making, etc...

And it is a useful craft: you can actually make a tool for...feeding yourself!

Although this website is mainly oriented towards bamboo fly fishing rods, I will also write about rodbuilding in general terms.

There are two main kinds of rods in fishing rod building:

1. Graphite rods
2. Bamboo rods

Graphite Rodbuilding

Ever wondered how graphite blanks are made? Let's start from here...

Most of fishing rod blanks are not produced by small independent artisans anymore, though. Many manufacturers have moved to China.

I just wonder how much detail has been lost in the process of moving to "lower-salaries-countries" to cut costs, tough.... However, some professional fishermen say that this is not always the case and that you can find excellent rods from overseas and bad rods in the USA or Europe, too.

The kit came with all necessary rod parts, wrapping threads, glue and, above all, assembling instructions.

The necessary rod parts included in the fishing rod building kit were:

• rod blanks
• reel seat
• cork (or synthetic) handle
• snake guides
• stripping guides
• tip-top

The exercise made me confident enough to start building a bamboo fly fishing rod.



..wanna see some DIRECT rod blank suppliers?

Bamboo Rodbuilding

Are you ready for bamboo rodmaking ?

Bamboo rod making is an art on its own. The fascinating use of a natural material such a bamboo (itself a wonderful grass - scientifically bamboo is a grass and NOT a plant), mixed with the magic of a past, noble tradition, set this craft as an unique one.

Basically, you need the same rod parts as above, but you need to make the bamboo blanks on your own, which is in itself enough stuff to write books.

(continues...)

From fishing rod building to the homepage

Here you can see an illustrated guide on building bamboo fly rods