Fishing Presidents

“The political potency of fish is known to Presidents as well as candidates. In modern times all Presidents quickly begin to fish soon after election . . . President Theodore Roosevelt, President Cleveland and myself–with slight egotism!–I think, are the only Presidents who had been lifelong fly fishermen before they went to the White House.”
-Herbert […]

Just a Stick

“No matter how much attention and ornamentation we may lavish on it, a fly rod after all is just a stick.”
-Paul Schullery, Royal Coachman
Oh well, it each his own.

Spinoza the Rod Maker

“I’m talking about Spinoza the rod maker. He’s been dead seven years. Of course, the business is in charge. As a matter of fact, they still put out the best rods on the market, but the rods made by the old man himself have something–well, it’s hard to explain. They’re just different. You simply know, […]

It All Started with Carpets

Sometime around the turn of the 20th century, dry fly fishing became popular and the need for a rod with backbone presented itself. The bamboo of the day, known as Calcutta from India, just didn’t have the necessary stiffness.
Enter Charles H. Demerest, an importer of bamboo, rattans, ginger, and other exotic products from the east. […]

Of Bamboo

Tree-grass–unique in the plant kingdom
Symbol of uprightness, chivalry and devotion
Inspiration of poets, artists and philosophers
Writing material of the ancients;
the stylus of contemporaries
Food, shelter and clothing of the people
Industrial substance of a thousand uses
Redeemer of waste places–protector of the soil
-Floyd Alonzo McClure in “The Bamboos: A Fresh Perspective” published in 1977
It was in 1925 that Floyd […]

The 1950s Heddon Model 1000

In the mid-1950s, the Heddon Model 1000 was a gem of a production rod. With gold plated guides and beautiful walnut reelseat spacer, the 1000 could be had for $100. According to John Gierach, about a month’s pay for the average fly fisherman of the day.

Waitsap muk, Kwongning chuk…

Might sound Greek to most of us, but you’d have to be either an expert in early 20th century Cantonese or a bamboo fly rod nut to know that this is Cantonese for “for wood, Waisap, for bamboo, Kwongning.” This little jingle lead a young botanist from the US Department of Agriculture, Floyd McClure, to […]

A Tribute to Bamboo

Tree-grass–unique in the plant kingdom
Symbol of uprightness, chivalry and devotion
Inspiration of poets, artists and philosophers
Writing material of the ancients;
the stylus of comtemporaries
Food, shelter and clothing of the people
Industrial substance of a thousand uses
Redeemer of waste places–protector of the soil.
-Floyd Alonzo McClure
Note: Dr. Floyd McClure set out on a journey of discovery in 1925 to find […]

Everyman’s Bamboo Rod: A Thing of the Past or the Present?

        The golden age of twentieth-century bamboo rod making included a sweet spot of good quality manufactured rods by companies such as the Goodwin Granger Co. or James Heddon and Sons that applied mass-production techniques to yield literally hundreds of thousands of bamboo rods for fly anglers of average means. Sadly, a Chinese trade […]

Not Knowing

"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." 
~by Henry David Thoreau~
 

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