Compare Our Series
Two ways into a bamboo rod. Both are real split cane, both are built on the same legendary tapers, and both carry the same lifetime warranty.
The difference is what comes in the tube.
On a Deluxe, the reel comes with the rod.
| Favorite Series | Deluxe Series | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | From $500 | From $600 |
| Best if | You want to find out what cane actually feels like. | You want the rod you will still be fishing in twenty years. |
| Tip sections | One | Two. Break a tip on the river and your season is not over. |
| The reel | Sold separately, from $275 | Half price with the rod. A Clark Fork Classic, matched to your line weight. |
| Components | Chrome stripping guide, quality hardware | Agate stripping guide, nickel-silver ferrules, hand-wrapped silk. Details you normally only see on a $1,500 rod. |
| The cane | Hex-planed Tonkin | Hex-planed Tonkin |
| In the tube | Rod, cotton sock, Cordura tube | Rod, second tip, reel, cotton sock, Cordura tube |
| Ready to fish | Add Line It at checkout for $50 | Add Line It at checkout for $50 |
| Warranty | Lifetime, 30-day trial | Lifetime, 30-day trial |
Favorite Series: the honest way in
The Favorite is the same cane and the same taper as the Deluxe. What you give up is the second tip and the heritage hardware.
That is the whole difference. Nobody has ever cast a Favorite and been able to tell you it was the cheaper rod. It loads from the handle, it slows your stroke down, and it does the thing you bought a bamboo rod to feel.
Start here if $500 is the number that lets you stop thinking about it and go fish.
Deluxe Series: the one you keep
Two tips is the practical reason. Tips are what break, and a spare in the tube means a snapped tip costs you ten minutes instead of your trip.
The rest is what you notice every time you pick it up. An agate stripping guide, the same stone Jim Payne and Everett Garrison used. Nickel-silver ferrules that seat with a soft pop. Silk wraps in red with black tipping.
And you can add the reel at half price. A Clark Fork Classic, matched to your line weight, for half what it sells for on its own. That price exists because you are buying a rod.
What both rods come with
A taper with a name. Payne, Dickerson, Granger, Paul Young. Built to their spec, not loosely inspired by it.
Thirty days on your water. Fish it. If it is not the rod you hoped for, send it back and we cover the return shipping.
A lifetime warranty for the original owner.
Direct from the workshop. No dealer, no markup. That is the entire reason a rod on a Payne taper costs $600 here and $2,500 somewhere else.
The Find Your Rod quiz takes about a minute and matches you to a length, a line weight, and a taper based on the water you actually fish.
Or email info@headwatersbamboo.com and a real person will answer within two business days.
Most models ship from stock within 1 to 3 business days. If a model is on backorder, we typically ship within 2 to 4 weeks. Shipping is free on US and Canada orders over $100.