Occasionally someone I'm fishing with will see me using a bamboo rod and ask why I use it. Some of these guys are old enough to have learned to fish using bamboo. They've participated in the progression in technology from bamboo to fiberglass to graphite. Some of them have the very latest models of graphite rods. I'll bet they have a stash of rods that would represent each new generation of fly rod technology. I don't doubt that each model is in some way better than the previous. I know a lot of them have owned dozens of rods over the years. I'm sure that buying a new fly rod brings them much pleasure. Who doesn't like to collect gear?
For me, owning the latest model of anything isn't a big thrill. I think that as a culture, we've been duped by the marketing geniuses into thinking that we should replace a perfectly serviceable thing with the newer version of that thing. Cars, TVs, microwave ovens, fly rods: you name it. Anyone reading this knows that we are a consumer culture that throws lots of good stuff in the garbage. But I've only been flyfishing a few years. Starting fresh, nothing old to replace. I don't have a closet full of old bamboo or fiberglass rods. Why jump back to bamboo?
Speaking of marketing, remember the 1989 Volkswagen marketing slogan "Fahrvergnugen"? Translated, that term means "driving enjoyment". VW's pitch was that their cars are fun to drive. I happen to agree. I get the most enjoyment in driving from driving the cars Volkswagen sold twenty years before that ad campaign. I think the cars VW sold in 1989 were a hell of a lot less Vergnugen giving than the ones they sold in 1969. So when I think of driving enjoyment, the experience that comes to my mind is getting in my '70 Bug and taking it for a spin with no particular place to go. When I drive that car I know I am driving a car. I understand it mechanically, its a simple thing. I feel the road. I feel its limitations and its strengths.
Newer cars shield me from the experience of driving. I don't have to shift, I can always steer with one hand. I never feel the cold wind my speed is creating while inside them. I might not drive the Bug in all conditions and most people wouldn't feel safe in one, but I savor every minute behind the wheel. It would be difficult to replace this car and I want it to last a very long time, so I only take it out occasionally, in good weather.
For me, using a bamboo fly rod is very much like driving an old Volkswagen. Bamboo rods are still made and cost less than a Volkswagen. So I can use the cane rod more often without fear of losing it forever, or for suffering a lot of expense should I have a mishap. Its appeal is that it gives fishingvergnugen. Forget the fact that its old for a minute. What is it about cane that gives me enjoyment? The casting motion is slower. Doing anything fun slowly, generally prolongs the pleasure of doing it. Enough said on that thought? When you get a fish on with a bamboo rod you feel every movement the fish makes. It is more forgiving in casting and playing a fish than a graphite rod, at least in my hands. And it is prettier than anything made of plastic.
When I get in a modern car after driving the Bug, or switch to a graphite rod after fishing a bamboo rod, the sensation is similiar. I feel like I've lost touch with what I'm doing, like I'm missing something, not enjoying it as much as I did just then.
The bamboo rod has other draws for me. It was perfected in the part of the country where I now live. I could be standing where the shops of Leonard, Dickerson, Edwards worked in an hour from now. Each one was made by hand by a skilled American craftsman from a piece of natural material. The only parts that aren't organic are the ferrules and guides. Grass, wood, and cork are nice materials to hold in your hand. Yes, they are more expensive than graphite fly rods. But if I'm not caught up in the "gotta have the latest model" mindset, I suspect I'll end up keeping and using the rods I buy, not replacing them with the latest whiz bang high tech thing. So I'll be spending less on rods over my remaining days on this planet.
I guess you could call me a ludite or nostalgic, but I don't think enjoying driving an old Bug or using an old fly rod makes me either. In the case of the VW, its not practical or safe to drive the thing much, but it is fun as heck. In the case of the fly rod? Well, fishing is a past time, something done for the pure enjoyment of itself. So why not get the most out of the experience? I don't count fish and I don't carry a tape measure in my vest. If I counted fish, I doubt a graphite rod would catch me more of them, and I can't think of very many occasions in the water where casting further would have caught me more fish. In fact, I can only think of one place. I'll write about that place another day.
Its fishing, why not enjoy every minute of it?
For me, owning the latest model of anything isn't a big thrill. I think that as a culture, we've been duped by the marketing geniuses into thinking that we should replace a perfectly serviceable thing with the newer version of that thing. Cars, TVs, microwave ovens, fly rods: you name it. Anyone reading this knows that we are a consumer culture that throws lots of good stuff in the garbage. But I've only been flyfishing a few years. Starting fresh, nothing old to replace. I don't have a closet full of old bamboo or fiberglass rods. Why jump back to bamboo?
Speaking of marketing, remember the 1989 Volkswagen marketing slogan "Fahrvergnugen"? Translated, that term means "driving enjoyment". VW's pitch was that their cars are fun to drive. I happen to agree. I get the most enjoyment in driving from driving the cars Volkswagen sold twenty years before that ad campaign. I think the cars VW sold in 1989 were a hell of a lot less Vergnugen giving than the ones they sold in 1969. So when I think of driving enjoyment, the experience that comes to my mind is getting in my '70 Bug and taking it for a spin with no particular place to go. When I drive that car I know I am driving a car. I understand it mechanically, its a simple thing. I feel the road. I feel its limitations and its strengths.
Newer cars shield me from the experience of driving. I don't have to shift, I can always steer with one hand. I never feel the cold wind my speed is creating while inside them. I might not drive the Bug in all conditions and most people wouldn't feel safe in one, but I savor every minute behind the wheel. It would be difficult to replace this car and I want it to last a very long time, so I only take it out occasionally, in good weather.
For me, using a bamboo fly rod is very much like driving an old Volkswagen. Bamboo rods are still made and cost less than a Volkswagen. So I can use the cane rod more often without fear of losing it forever, or for suffering a lot of expense should I have a mishap. Its appeal is that it gives fishingvergnugen. Forget the fact that its old for a minute. What is it about cane that gives me enjoyment? The casting motion is slower. Doing anything fun slowly, generally prolongs the pleasure of doing it. Enough said on that thought? When you get a fish on with a bamboo rod you feel every movement the fish makes. It is more forgiving in casting and playing a fish than a graphite rod, at least in my hands. And it is prettier than anything made of plastic.
When I get in a modern car after driving the Bug, or switch to a graphite rod after fishing a bamboo rod, the sensation is similiar. I feel like I've lost touch with what I'm doing, like I'm missing something, not enjoying it as much as I did just then.
The bamboo rod has other draws for me. It was perfected in the part of the country where I now live. I could be standing where the shops of Leonard, Dickerson, Edwards worked in an hour from now. Each one was made by hand by a skilled American craftsman from a piece of natural material. The only parts that aren't organic are the ferrules and guides. Grass, wood, and cork are nice materials to hold in your hand. Yes, they are more expensive than graphite fly rods. But if I'm not caught up in the "gotta have the latest model" mindset, I suspect I'll end up keeping and using the rods I buy, not replacing them with the latest whiz bang high tech thing. So I'll be spending less on rods over my remaining days on this planet.
I guess you could call me a ludite or nostalgic, but I don't think enjoying driving an old Bug or using an old fly rod makes me either. In the case of the VW, its not practical or safe to drive the thing much, but it is fun as heck. In the case of the fly rod? Well, fishing is a past time, something done for the pure enjoyment of itself. So why not get the most out of the experience? I don't count fish and I don't carry a tape measure in my vest. If I counted fish, I doubt a graphite rod would catch me more of them, and I can't think of very many occasions in the water where casting further would have caught me more fish. In fact, I can only think of one place. I'll write about that place another day.
Its fishing, why not enjoy every minute of it?
If I hadn't fenced with my father's bamboo flyrod as a child, I might have had it in my hand when we fished Wappinger's Creek....
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