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Fishing Tackle Unlimited:
Robert Stroh Cane Rodmaker*
*I originally wrote this article for the IBRA Newsletter
February 2009
Robert Stroh is one of the best professional bamboo rod maker available on the market today and like Rolf Baginski, Hudo Hildebrandt and Christian Strixner he comes From Germany. Robert works and lives with his wife and his two children Lara (13) and Valentin (10) in Grünwald, a small Bavarian village near Münich, Germany. After a period of several years spent as a cabinet maker, he made his first bamboo fly rod in 2000 and since 2003 he has switched full time to rod making which he combines with his own manufacturing of fly fishing tools and rod repairs. “I was 8 years old when I started fishing. Then, about twenty years ago, I started fly fishing”, tells me Robert.
It’s a quiet and kind person whom I saw again and got to know a little better during the Sansepolcro gathering in May 2008. “ Since my beginning as a professional rod maker I attend 5 to 10 trade shows and specialized events each year. But the Sansepolcro’s one has been really a very special moment, , I must say. The beauty of the Tuscany landscape, the chance to meet and speak to so many rod makers from all over the world, to get a closer look at so many different cane rods and test them all, everything in that Italian setting and atmosphere, and in such a well organized way, to me it has been a very unique and memorable experience” he says. After all, we can certainly agree with him: the Sansepolcro gathering has been really a success and such a statement uttered by an expert in the field such as Robert Stroh sounds as music to our ears. As a matter of fact, Robert and his wife, along with partner Armin Pijawetz are the minds behind one of Europe best fly fishing events: “Erlebniswelt Fliegenfischen” (which translated means “Experience The World of Fly Fishing”) – www.erlebniswelt-fliegenfische.de – which this year will be organized for the fourth time and held near Münich, Germany in the wonderful former Cistercian monastery of Fürstenfeld – which has the magnificent German late-baroque Church of Santa Maria attached - at the beginning of the Spring season (28-29 March).
In Robert Stroh’s cane rods, the German pragmatism and precision go hand in hand with the beauty of his creations. A fact that his clients – mainly from Europe but now also from the USA and Canada, fully appreciate. “A fishing rod is above all a fishing tool, but I don’t underestimate the final look either. My rods are almost exclusively custom made, discussing details and design with the client first. But at the very end, when I see my clients so happy when I show them the final result, well it’s exciting for me , too. I would not be happy if I were to make a nice rod which then would not be beautiful to look at as well.” He tells me. “ I prefer semi-parabolic tapers because I am of the opinion that it’s the rod and not the man doing the casting”.
In Sansepolcro, I noticed that Robert uses very often bamboo ferrules. “Many years ago I met Bjarne Fries at a German trade show and got really impressed by his bamboo ferrules. So, I started experimenting and making many rods in this way. Today I am quite happy of my results and about 40% of my rods have this kind of ferrules. I make them in the way Alberto Poratelli and Gabriele Gori presented during their seminar in Sansepolcro. An excellent contribution!” I also ask him if he makes hollowed rods. “Yes, if the client requires it and especially for long rods and heavy lines. Then I prefer the Powell method”. Robert loves all steps of the rod making job, none bores or tires him. However, he enjoys mostly two particular stages: the beginning phase of straightening the nodes and the bamboo strips and then the actual manual work with the plane on the bamboo strips on the planing form. “They are very important, essential moments of bamboo rod making. I feel very close to the material I am working with when I use my hands. I love the sounds of a very sharp plane’s blade on the bamboo fibers!”
Robert is among those who think it’s better to leave to the specialists the manufacturing of metallic parts such as ferrules and snake guides, but as a craftsman by trade he doesn’t miss the opportunity to make his own reel seats and cork handles. “Today you can buy nickel-silver ferrules and snake guides of such a superior quality that is hard to get the same or even approach those tolerances. However, I make fly fishing tools as well and I have quite a good range of products in my portfolio: from the handle of a fly tying tool, to a fly rods cabinet, to fly fishing tools of different kinds. To end my interview, I ask a few details about his actual rod making process. “I don’t like to flame the culms” because in my opinion this is a risky operation and there are better ways to darken a bamboo rod. Concerning the tempering process , according to what I desire for color and the material I use, I opt to warm up the bamboo strips for 45 minutes at a temperature of 165-175 Celsius. Lastly, I immerge my rods for vanishing like most of rod makers do”.
In the same way as Bjarne Fries, Robert feels privileged to be a bamboo rod maker. “I create an object with my hands and my soul, I don’t simply sell a fishing tool but I offer to my clients the unique ( and boys, how rare is this today, isn’it? I would say) opportunity to own something tailor made just for them. Something that they are ready to be waiting for a long time and pay for it. But, as I said, when at the end I see them so happy and rewarded, what I feel is beyond words and priceless.”
Robert Stroh Flyfishing
Bau & Reparatur gespließter Fliegenruten
Lindenstraße 8
D-82031 Grünwald
It’s a quiet and kind person whom I saw again and got to know a little better during the Sansepolcro gathering in May 2008. “ Since my beginning as a professional rod maker I attend 5 to 10 trade shows and specialized events each year. But the Sansepolcro’s one has been really a very special moment, , I must say. The beauty of the Tuscany landscape, the chance to meet and speak to so many rod makers from all over the world, to get a closer look at so many different cane rods and test them all, everything in that Italian setting and atmosphere, and in such a well organized way, to me it has been a very unique and memorable experience” he says. After all, we can certainly agree with him: the Sansepolcro gathering has been really a success and such a statement uttered by an expert in the field such as Robert Stroh sounds as music to our ears. As a matter of fact, Robert and his wife, along with partner Armin Pijawetz are the minds behind one of Europe best fly fishing events: “Erlebniswelt Fliegenfischen” (which translated means “Experience The World of Fly Fishing”) – 
In Robert Stroh’s cane rods, the German pragmatism and precision go hand in hand with the beauty of his creations. A fact that his clients – mainly from Europe but now also from the USA and Canada, fully appreciate. “A fishing rod is above all a fishing tool, but I don’t underestimate the final look either. My rods are almost exclusively custom made, discussing details and design with the client first. But at the very end, when I see my clients so happy when I show them the final result, well it’s exciting for me , too. I would not be happy if I were to make a nice rod which then would not be beautiful to look at as well.” He tells me. “ I prefer semi-parabolic tapers because I am of the opinion that it’s the rod and not the man doing the casting”.
In Sansepolcro, I noticed that Robert uses very often bamboo ferrules. “Many years ago I met Bjarne Fries at a German trade show and got really impressed by his bamboo ferrules. So, I started experimenting and making many rods in this way. Today I am quite happy of my results and about 40% of my rods have this kind of ferrules. I make them in the way Alberto Poratelli and Gabriele Gori presented during their seminar in Sansepolcro. An excellent contribution!” I also ask him if he makes hollowed rods. “Yes, if the client requires it and especially for long rods and heavy lines. Then I prefer the Powell method”. Robert loves all steps of the rod making job, none bores or tires him. However, he enjoys mostly two particular stages: the beginning phase of straightening the nodes and the bamboo strips and then the actual manual work with the plane on the bamboo strips on the planing form. “They are very important, essential moments of bamboo rod making. I feel very close to the material I am working with when I use my hands. I love the sounds of a very sharp plane’s blade on the bamboo fibers!”
