John Day Bamboo Fly Rod 8'6" 7-wt Medium Fast | Dickerson 8615 Taper

The John Day | 8'6" · 7-weight · Medium Fast · 3-piece

The rod that belongs on steelhead water.

There is a kind of fishing that asks everything of you. Long days wading big water. Casts into the wind. The particular patience of swinging a fly through a run that may or may not hold a fish, doing it again and again until the line goes tight and the world stops for a moment.

Steelhead fishing. The kind that gets into your blood and stays there.

The John Day was built for that fishing.

The Dickerson 8615 Taper

The John Day is built on the Dickerson 8615, a taper designed for authority. Where the 8014 in our Deschutes balances power with trout fishing versatility, the 8615 commits more fully to backbone and recovery. Medium fast action, firm through the butt and mid-section, with the tip sensitivity to detect a subtle take on a swung wet fly and the muscle to turn a fresh steelhead in fast water.

At 8'6" for a 7-weight it reaches water that shorter rods cannot cover and delivers large flies, weighted presentations, and sink tip rigs with a control that lighter bamboo rods cannot sustain. It handles summer steelhead, coastal coho, and smaller chinook with genuine authority. It is not designed for heavy winter gear or large coastal rivers where anglers are throwing big intruders on full sink lines — that is a different rod for a different fisherman. What the John Day does, it does exceptionally well.

The rod takes its name from the John Day River in Eastern Oregon, a steelhead river of particular character — long, clear, and demanding in the way that the best steelhead water always is.

The Fighting Butt

Every John Day ships with a fighting butt as standard equipment. On a trout rod it would be unnecessary. On a steelhead rod it earns its place on the first good fish you land.

Built the Way a Bamboo Rod Should Be

The John Day is hand-planed to the standard that has defined Headwaters rods since 2002.

The fittings: A finely knurled double-locking downlocking reel seat with stabilized burled maple insert. Full Wells cork grip with fighting butt. Red agate stripping guide. Hard chrome guides wrapped in deep burgundy thread with a narrow black tip.

The tube: Cordura rod tube with rod sock included.

Choose Your Version

The Favorite | $550 The Favorite is our single-tip version, priced for the angler who wants to get on the water first and add the second tip later. Same rod, same fittings, same hand-planed cane, with a clear upgrade path when you're ready for the security of two tips. (Full price. Maker's Price does not apply to the Favorite Series.)

The Deluxe | $750 Two piece, two tips. The complete rod as it was meant to be fished. Maker's Price applied automatically at checkout. Your net price is $525.

The Outfit | $1,045 Everything you need to step onto steelhead water with a complete bamboo outfit. The John Day Deluxe paired with a Clark Fork 3.0 fly reel, weight-forward fly line, backing, leader, tippet, and a selection of flies. Maker's Price applied at checkout. Your net price is $731.50.

Specifications

• Action: Medium fast
• Length: 8'6"
• Weight: 7-weight
• Pieces: 3 (includes extra tip, Deluxe and Outfit)
• Taper: Dickerson 8615
• Reel seat: Downlocking, double-locking knurled nut, stabilized burled maple insert
• Grip: Full Wells cork with fighting butt
• Stripping guide: Red agate
• Guide wrap: Deep burgundy with black tip
• Tube: Cordura with rod sock

No Risk. Our Promise.

Fish it for 30 days. If it's not the rod you hoped it would be, send it back for a full refund, no questions asked. The lifetime warranty covers the original owner for as long as you fish it.