Headwaters Bamboo rods

[mcwillja]

I am in the market for an affordable bamboo rod and came across Headwaters Bamboo. Does anyone know of this company or fish their rods. Any opinoins would be appreciated. I am looking for a 7 ft. 4 wt.

Thanks

 

[FrankRizzo]

I haven't heard much on them at this point. You may want to talk to the guys at ADH rods, call Jonas at The Feathered Hook (new and used bamboo) or contact the Dietrich Bros at Dream Catcher. Good luck and tight lines.

 

[GreenWeenie]

Another great boo resource is Len Codella (he used to own Thomas and Thomas). www.codella.com.

 

[gfen]

They appear to be Zhus Chinese-made rods. Opinions will vary.

I own a Zhus blank with the Highland Mills name on it. I'm happy enough with what I paid, which is more than Zhus ebay store prices, but it did come with two tips.

Spend some time doing some reading, depending on your budget, you might be surprised what's within your means.

 

[Rolf]

They are in fact Zhus Chinese-made rods. Understand I am NOT even close to being an expert on bamboo so take this for what it’s worth. From what I understand, the early ones were a mess. Inconsistent tapers, poor workmanship and noodles. I had the opportunity to cast one three years ago and was not impressed. I understand the newer ones are much better however though I haven’t fished one let alone cast one.

As gfen has said, have a look around. There are some decent deals available especially on used rods. The market is soft for “blue collar” rods right now and you can pick up a Soutbend 290 with two tips for $300.00 in good condition. Jonas is a good place to start as he has an inventory available to try out and see what may or may not suit you. Len is also a good resource. Tell him what you feel you like and he’ll be happy to guide you. Don’t make the mistake of buying a rod without casting it. Bamboo is as varied as graphite. Good luck and let us know how you make out.

Rolf

 

[mystillwater]

Cabelas has a bunch of boo rods tagged "discontinued" in the bargain cave for $350 or so. don't remember the brand. i hadn't heard of it before.

 

[jdaddy]

Cabelas has a bunch of boo rods tagged "discontinued" in the bargain cave for $350 or so. don't remember the brand. i hadn't heard of it before.

Highland Mills . . . they have been there for quite a few months now. They were marked at $350 a few months ago. They should have dropped since then. If not just maybe make them an offer?

*disclaimer : I know NOTHING about bamboo except I used a bamboo hardware store special between the ages of 11 and 17. I think it was $50 new and it floated a mean hopper, night crawler, cricket or whatever else I could find to impale on a hook.

 

[bassistjon112]

Check out R chapman and co. I bought a blank off them for less then 150 i think it was.

http://www.chapmanblanks.co.uk/specials/specials.htm

 

[gfen]

Cabelas is where mine came from, but they were discounted in the fly cave. I paid $350 last summer, fwiw.

 

[pafisherman]

What others have said is very true you really must cast bamboo rods before you buy one. The are very diffrent. You did not mention what rod you are looking for and why you have decided you use bamboo. Learn as much as you can and cast as many rods as you can before you pull the trigger. Not sure were you are from but there will be a number of builders at the upcoming Flyfishing Heritage day at allenberry in a few weeks..

Bill A

 

[outsider]

If you want a reasonably priced cane rod, see Phil Baldachino at Kettle Creek Tackle Shop or contact Jack Mickiewicz at Jack's Tackle. Phil has a nice inventory on hand, and you can take them outside to cast. Jack's putting a new reel seat and grip on an old bamboo rod of mine, and sometime in the near future I'm going to have him build a 7'-9" bamboo rod based on a Payne taper. I casted one that he built and fell in love with it.

Either one will be very reasonable. I think around $400 for a single tip rod.

 

[mcwillja]

Thanks Everyone. Good stuff.

 

[gfen]

There's about 5 left in Hamburg, 6'9" 3 and 4wts, and 7'6" 5wts. $320.

 

[outsider]

Just a reminder that Cabela's does not warrant anything in the Bargain Cave (to the best of my knowledge). Maybe the mfr will.

 

[gfen]

IIRC, its 1 year. There's $100 fee, but I don't remember if thats before or after that 1 year.

I wasn't that thrilled, but I guess that's the way probably the way all cane warranties go?

 

[mcwillja]

A friend of mine recently got an offer for a discount for a headwaters bamboo rod and really liked it, so I also purchased a deluxe model rod with two tips (7' 4wt). I have to say the rod looked great came with an aluminum tube and fished and played fish beautifully for the money. The rods are normally $550.00 for just the rod. I called Headwaters and they gave me the same discount as my friend so I got the rod, two tips, sleeve and aluminum tube for $379.99.

I was very pleased with the action and they way it layed my midges down delicately. I caught 5 nice trout on lycoming creek my first time using bamboo. I recommend this rod to anyone starting out. If anyone wants to check them out their web address is...

www.headwatersbamboo.com

 

[Slate_Drake_9]

Go here:

http://clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com/


If you can't get your questions about bamboo rods answered here, there isn't an answer.

Also, fow what it's worth, many bamboo rod fishers and collectors do not like Zhus rods. I have one I got for $125 and for that price I like it (6'6" 2/2 3 weight). With all of the options out there in "blue collar cane" you should be able to find some really great rods in the $500 and down range, including Orvis, Heddon, Southbend and Montague.

 

[gfen]

My personal thought on the matter of "many bamboo rod fishers and collectors" and Zhus are simple: These guys don't want to let go, and are angry that something cheap is on the market which removes some of the cachet of their antique, or newly made, rods.

Certainly from the collectability standpoint, there's no worries. Guys who've spent big bucks assembling a collection of prestige rods have nothing to worry about, but given the choice between a 70yo old mass-made (as best that label applies) by someone with an American mailing address and fished hard versus a brandy new mass-made by someone with a Chinese address for same, or less. Well? No wonder modern makers are sweating these things.

I'm sure the same thoughts were heard when things like fiberglass first came on the market, or people first started to offshore production. I can easily remember when I started reading about Chinese vs Korean vs American made, and that was only 3-4 years ago!

I also wonder how many of the modern, low cost, makers are just using Zhus blanks for their rods, anyways. I'm not clued into this field at all, but how many pre-made bamboo blanks can one find out there?

Sometimes, an extra $100-200 is more than a person can swallow. If you can afford a $380 rod, but you can't afford a $580 rod, then so be it. You buy what you can, and you enjoy it. One man's trash is another man's treasure.

 

[GreenWeenie]

I would only recommend that if getting a brand new mass produced bargain cane rod you do not buy it sight unseen.

Remember, cane is wood and is not very consistent from one cane to another and in order to make a mass produced cane rod inexpensively you can't be rejecting a lot of raw cane because it's not perfect. Quality control over raw materials is probably the number one difference between mass produced bargain cane rods and low end boutique rods - the boutique makers are much more selective in the raw cane they use so each rod of the same model feels and perfoms almost exactly as the other.

So it is very possible to get an excellent bargain rod that will perform as good as any high end boutique rod (if that rod happened to be made from very good raw cane) BUT is is just as possible that you will get a crappy rod because it was made from a poor piece of cane. So I would strongly recommend either buying it in person or buyingit from a reputable shop and I don't mean a mass outlet like Cabelas or Bass Pro Shops, etc.

 

[FarmerDave]

GreenWeenie wrote:
I would only recommend that if getting a brand new mass produced bargain cane rod you do not buy it sight unseen.

Remember, cane is wood ...

Actually it's not. It's grass, but close enough.;-)

Good advice though (IMO).