No excuse for rudeness to a kid.
John, I have an old, no name, split bamboo fly rod. It is missing one eye and I doubt that I will ever use it. It, along with some ancient rods and reels, are stretched across some deer antlers in my sun room. They are garnished with old, some really old, lures. I'll never use any of that stuff but they are certainly not for sale. I like that stuff.
I've seen a lot of people using fly rods as cane poles when crappie fishing in the Spring. Minnows are always the bait of choice. There's not many things more effective than a fly rig when bluegill fishing with crickets.
I love bamboo rods and I've built quite a few of them. I still have my bamboo surf rod that I built 30+ years ago for Striper fishing. They are a pain in the butt to get the guides positioned correctly. But, all homemade rods are a pain to get the guides correctly aligned.
About five years ago I dug out an old jointed cane pole and introduced my Grandson to it. He thought I was nuts to not let him use a traditional rod and reel. A 7 or 8 pound CC took the bait and it splintered the pole. However, it didn't snap in half and he got the cat in. No "modern" rod could have done that. Now he likes them and we sometimes cut green cane and season it. I toss them in the pond for about a month or so to season them. Then hang them straight from the tip for another month to straighten them. I seldom put guides on them but do tie the line along about every 16 inches along the top half of the pole so the entire "rod" takes the pressure of the fishes weight. It's a blast.
Last edited by Dave Davidson1; 07/17/12 05:37 AM.
