My intent in building cane rods is simply to make the finest rod that can be made, both in terms of craftsmanship and performance. This endeavor includes the evolution of design concepts relative to performance as well as aesthetic refinement and development.

I design rods with primarily two qualities in mind, smoothness and power. As an individual maker, I can design and build each rod exactly as I feel it should be. My annual rod production is, of necessity, very limited; please rest assured that when you purchase one of my rods, you are acquiring something truly unique with uncommon attention paid to its making.

Four Strip or Six Strip?

Cross sections of rods showing four and six strip configuration

After starting out by making six strip rods, I soon became intrigued by the qualities of the four strip, square section rod. For the next ten years I built only four strip rods and it has been since 1995 that I have again made six strip rods.

I believed four strip rods would be more powerful than conventional six strip rods of the same length and weight. The difference in power between a four strip and a six strip rod is more subtle than it is dramatic, however, and the actual action and power of the rod is affected much more by the taper and by hollowbuilding than by choice of cross sectional design.

In a nutshell, the slightly greater power of the square section comes from the larger flats, which although slightly closer to the neutral axis of bending than on the six strip, are almost twice as wide (given equal volume of material). These wide flats also incorporate the densest power fibers of the cane. The engineers whom I understand to have figured this out (in theory at least) have come up with a stiffness factor of .812 for the square section and of .791 for the hexagonal section and a maximum stress of 1.54 for the square as compared to 1.39 for the six strip. As I understand it these figures do not take into account the fact that bamboo is not a homogenous material. In fact, bamboo becomes much denser as the outside of the cane is approached. This makes the wide flats of the four strip rod, whch incorporate these fibers, of even more significance than if the material were of equal density throughout. Four strip rods seem to have a wider power band than a six strip rod, almost like the torque of a long stroke piston engine.

Contrary to popular belief, however, four strip rods require more work to make than a six strip, primarily due to the wider strips which must be worked with and the desirability of squaring the ferrule to fit the shape of the cane section. Finishing and wrapping guides is also more time consuming than on a six strip rod.

Although the four strip rod has certain advantages as outlined above, there is one type of rod in particular where the six strip design is more effective. If we want a long rod for a light line, such as an 8 1/2' rod for #5 line, or 8' for #3, where extreme light weight and delicacy are the desired qualities rather than power range, we can achieve this result more efficiently by using the same hollowbuilding methods I developed for my four strip rods on these six strip rods. The reason for this is that because of the geometry of the cross sections, I can remove a greater percentage of weight from the six strip rod than is possible with the square cross section. This is precisely what is required when making long rods for light lines. As a result of these insights, I am now building six strip rods again in a limited number of models.

Tapers

The taper of the bamboo shaft is the most important element by far that determines the action and performance of a fishing rod. All the tapers for my rods are my own and undergo continuous evolution and refinement. Arriving at a successful taper is a long process of trial and error which involves many interrelated factors. Whether fast or slow, parabolic or fast dry fly, the rod should act and feel as one unit. The preferred taper shape will vary with the type and size of flies expected to be used, line type and weight, stream size or if the rod will be fished primarily in lakes. Purely personal preferance is of course a major factor.

My 'df' (dry fly) tapers are based on a traditional eastern taper where there is a swell as the cane comes out of the grip, a flattening taper to the mid, and then the taper getting steeper again as the tip top is approached. The 'P' taper has a regressive taper coming out of the grip, the greatest dimension actually being somewhere between the 10 to 15 inch point (measured from the butt), then a relatively flat taper continues to the ferrule (these are two piece rods) and then the tip has a steeper compound taper which ends in a sharp drop in the last 10 inches going into the tip top. Special order rods with no letter designation are semi-parabolic in action.

Generally speaking, my rods are faster in action than most other cane rods, and incorporate finer tips. Note that on hollowbuilt models, there is also an internal taper as well as the primary external taper.

Hollowbuilding

I developed a system of hollowbuilding about 1988 (when I was still building rods in Pleasantville, NY) which allows me to build the tips as well as the butts hollow. Hollowing the tips has a major and beneficial impact on rod action even though the actual weight of bamboo removed from the tips is relatively small. Even the slightest change in weight or taper in the tip will have a major impact on the action and feel of the rod because the further towards the tip we move, the greater is the leverage of the weight that is there, and during the dynamic bending and recoiling of casting it is moving at a very much greater speed than is the butt. A rod hollowbuilt well into the tips throws tighter loops more easily and dampens better because the tips have less inertia to overcome in casting. The power of the cane can be applied directly to the line rather than being used to overcome the inertia of the rod itself. My hollow building methods add an internal taper to the primary external taper of the rod. It is the subtle distribution of material in the rod which determines its action.

My hollowbuilt rods are alternately hollow and solid, the length of hollow and solid sections varying from one model to the next, and the wall thickness of bamboo getting smaller as the rodshaft gets slimmer going towards the tip. Tournament rods are more severely hollowed than are standard fishing rods. The last few inches going into the tip top are always solid, as is the cane going into and coming out of the ferrule stations. Other rod sections may also be left solid as desired to affect the action I desire for a given model. Most anglers and casters who have tried these hollowbuilt rods have been pleasantly surprised by their fast, smooth, easy dampening actions.

Heat Treating

A properly tempered rod will be more resilient and have less tendency to take a set than a rod which has not been tempered. Too much tempering can result in a brittle rod and can actually diminish the resiliency of the cane, however. Heat treating is one of many interrelated factors whose integrity and balance determine the action, longevity and character of the finished rod.

Culms of bamboo outside my shop ready for initial flaming.

Rod Fittings

Ferrules for my rods are machined from precision drawn nickel silver tubing. On four strip models, the ferrule is squared to match the taper of the rod. In this way, I can match ferrule dimension to the exact taper I desire, rather than having the taper determined by the ferrule size, which is necessitated on rods of more traditional design. When building semi-hollow six strip rods, I can balance the bamboo wall thickness to the dimension determined by the ferrule size to achieve the desired action.

Custom, in-house ferrule plugs are supplied with each rod.

Reelseats are of my own design and manufacture. Butt caps and slide bands are of nickel silver and are fitted over mahogany or spanish cedar spacers or cork if a skeleton seat is desired. On the lighter tapers (#4 line and lighter) a dual slide band skeleton seat may be ordered.

Cap and ring mahogany reelseats showing pocket butt cap / round filler and standard butt cap utilizing mortised filler

Locking polished aluminum reelseats are now available on rods for #5 lines and heavier. These may incorporate either a nickel silver or aluminum pocket butt cap.

Guides are dark, either titanium nitrate coated or light wire bronzed, depending on the rod model. I will also occaionally make a rod using old tungsten steel guides out of my stock of Mildrum or Perfection guides which are no longer in production. Most models will have agate stripping guides, though I will sometimes use Mildrum carbide ring strippers.

All rods are varnished with a top grade marine spar varnish hand rubbed to a satin, rather than a high gloss finish. I have this year gone back to this hand rubbed finish which is how I started finishing rods in the 1980's, shown to me by Hoagy Carmichael. I feel this type of finish, though a little more work, results in a rod less likely to spook fish with flashy reflections off the flats. Wraps are of silk, tipped at the grip, ferrules and tip top. A series of signature wraps are placed between the grip and stripping guide.

Rod tubes are of 6061 T6 heavy-walled aluminum tubing with custom brass end caps with felt inserts. The result is a much stronger tube than most of the commercially available ones. Heavy canvas tube sacks to protect the brass capped aluminum rod tube and label also keep the tubes from rattling against each other when transporting more than one rod in their tubes.