Some of you may have heard the term 'mirror matched tips' in regards to a bamboo fly rod & wondered what that meant, exactly. Well, it has to do with the nodes on a rod that has two tip sections. Let me explain....

When we make a bamboo fly rod, we have to deal with the nodes. These are like knots in a piece of wood. The grain of the bamboo often changes direction a bit here & so the nodes must be straightened out & flattened by the rod maker. It's also because of this irregularity in the bamboo grain at the nodes that we don't want two nodes next to each other on adjoining strips in the finished rod. As a result, the rod maker must stagger the nodes in the layout of the bamboo strips, so no two nodes are next to each other. 

​There are several different methods of staggering nodes in a bamboo fly rod & each has it's place & uses, depending on how the nodes are spaced on the raw bamboo. This is where mirror-matched tips sections come into play.

The term mirror matched tips basically means that where you see a node in one tip section, you will see a node in the other tip section in exactly the same place:

This is the mark of a very fine bamboo fly rod & shows the attention to detail the rod maker gave to the rod. The idea being that, as no two pieces of bamboo are ever exactly the same, we can give each tip section the closest we can to the same 'feel' when the tips are mirror matched like this. It also proves beyond any doubt that the tip sections were made from the same larger piece of raw bamboo, which can also help to give some consistency between the two tip sections.

Of course there are many rods made with two tip sections where the tips are not mirrored in their node placement. Most of the time this is no big deal & it doesn't mean that the rod is inferior in any way. Often times the raw bamboo a rod maker has to work with will not allow for mirrored tips. In fact, some of the sweetest feeling bamboo rods I've ever cast did not have mirrored tip sections. As bamboo is a natural, growing plant, Mother Nature often has as much to say about exactly where the nodes go as does the rod maker.

Now the next time you hear a rod collector, vintage rod dealer, or any bamboo fly rod aficionado mention a rod with mirrored tip sections, you'll know exactly what they're talking about.

A while back, Mike Buriak of Mountain Brook Fly Rods got in touch with me & told me about an idea he had. Mike was working on designing a new line of fiberglass fly rods & thought that the rod tubes & rod bags Dad & I make would make nice homes for his new rods. He also had an idea to pair the first few rods with the fishing bags we make, too. Both the tubes & fishing bags are customized with Mikes vintage-styled Mountain Brook Fly Rods patches. Mike's a heck of a nice guy so I jumped at the chance to work with him & pair his rods with my accessories.

Well, recently Mike introduced this new line of fly rod, & folks, they look darn good to me!!

The fiberglass blanks for these rods are made by Mike McFarland, of The McFarland Rod Company to Mike Buriak's design. Mr McFarland makes some of the finest glass rods & blanks on the market today & Mike Buriak has built some gorgeous rods on these awesome blanks!!

As all three of us (Mike Buriak, Mike McFarland, & myself) are Pennsylvanian rod makers, this package is truly a PA fly rod outfit!!!!

Mike is offering these in two sizes, both 2 piece rods (I looove 2 pc glass rods, myself). Here's Mike's description of these rods:

Appalachian 632…. This little 6ft, 3wt model was designed to target the Brookies of the great Appalachian Mountain Range where my family traditions in fly-fishing originated. This classic two piece, tip over butt model is great for roll casting buggers and still has the finesse of throwing little stimulators and caddis. It has a great classic glass feel with a progressive tip for hook sets on the little gems of the Appalachians. “This is just my preference and opinion when I state the following”, sometimes fishing slower and other glass I noticed I missed a few strikes in tight quarters, so this is just something a little more progressive in action.  This little gem can handle a lot of diverse conditions, and I tend to under “gun” at times because I like to push rods to the limit and enjoy feeling the fight.  I have fished bigger water as well with this one, and it’s a performer. Personally, I tend to fish a 3 wt most of the time

Salmo Trutta 852….  This 8 ft. 5wt, 2 piece was designed with my home waters in mind of the Pine Creek Valley (Big Pine Creek), Penns Creek, and Spring Creek here in Central Pennsylvania. The browns in these waters always make me smile, and relieves the stress of everyday life.) The older I get the more I cherish these precious moments on the stream. This model has the backbone to do it all from nymphing, or a dry with a dropper, and reaching out there at a pretty good distance when needed.  The goal was to offer a solid all-around rod. Just like the Appalachian, this model has a progressive recovery to shoot some line, and yet have that full flex feel for a great “digging” and “head shaking” brown.

I am so very pleased to be a part of this wonderful line of fly rods & to be working with Mike Buriak. He's an upstanding, honest guy who is a true pleasure to work with. If you're looking for an affordable, high quality, well made glass fly rod, then why not consider one of these fantastic rods from Mountain Brook Fly Rods?

To see more photos of these rods, tubes, & bags - including Mike's contact info -please see this post Mike put up at the Fiberglass Flyrodders Forum by clicking HERE.

I've just put together a fresh, new video showing you just a few of the things that go into making a bamboo fly rod by hand. This isn't intended to be a "how-to" video, but just a quick peek behind the curtain into the rod shop.

​Take a short moment to look over my shoulder while I work on some custom, hand-made bamboo fly rods!!

This past year, my good friends & fellow rod makers Jeff Wagner & Casimira Orlowski were featured on the television program, "A Craftsmen's Legacy". Together, Jeff & Casimira make up J.D. Wagner Rodmakers. This episode featured them, their story, their rods & walks us through the basic steps of making a bamboo fly rod. It is a very well made show featuring two extremely talented rod makers.

Now, I'm biased because their friends, but Jeff & Casimira are two of the finest people you will encounter in the fly fishing business. In addition to making some of the finest rods, they also make a host of tools & sell rod building supplies. If that weren't enough, they also offer classes throughout the summer months, where they will teach you the in's & out's of making a bamboo rod from scratch.

I was very happy to see bamboo fly rods getting the spotlight on a national TV show & I was even happier to see Jeff & Casimira get some well deserved attention for their work. As ambassadors for hand-made bamboo fly rods, you can't get any better than those two!!

Below is a short preview of the episode. To watch the entire show, check out the website for A Craftsmen's Legacy.

It has been a very busy & productive winter here in the rod shop. After a lot of hard work, late nights, & many pots of coffee I'm very happy to announce that I will now be offering a special category of hand stitched leather fishing accessories!!

These hand stitched leather accessories will be a notch above everything else you can currently get on the market today. Each item will be made by hand, one stitch at a time. The reason for this is because I wanted to make some things in such a way that cannot be done with a sewing machine. Plus, I wanted to 'stretch my legs' as a leather worker & working by hand allows me to pursue some very unique & classic designs of bags, cases, & wallets.

The classic & traditional saddle stitch is prominent in many of these items. This stitch is traditional to leather working because of it's distinct appearance & because of it's strength.....the saddle stitch is one of the strongest stitches that can be made.

The plan for these accessories is to make them the finest angling accessories that you can get. I've spent a lot of time studying vintage & modern designs of accessories for fly fishers & taken a broad look around the market to see what is out there today in terms of quality & functionality. After a lot of research, I believe these will be the highest quality accessories offered anywhere!! These will be items you'll be able to pass on to future generations someday.

These hand stitched leather accessories will be available in small quantities & on a limited basis. Unlike my other accessories, where I try to keep a supply of each in stock, these leather items will be made only in small batches - & sometimes only one will be available, or ever made of a particular design. 

To showcase these leather accessories I added a new page to this website just for them. On that page you'll be able to see the items that are currently available as well. You can visit that page by click HERE. 

To that end I'm pleased to offer you a new accessory: a leather fly book.

​A truly deluxe way to carry all your wets, nymphs, & streamers this hand made leather fly book is large enough to hold them all. This book is made from a heavy cowhide that is tough, rugged, & gorgeous. The book is lined on the inside with a velvet soft suede leather. The suede is made in such a way that water will bead up on it &, if allowed to soak in, will quickly dry.

When closed this book measures approximately 7" x 5 1/4".
When open it measures 14" x 7".

​This book contains 8 pages of a soft felt material, the same pages in my leather fly wallets. I recommend barbless hooks, as I do for my fly wallets. Each page measures 5" x 6", giving you ample room to store a huge selection of flies.

​This book also has a snap button closure. The sides of the book have been burnished, dyed, waxed, & buffed for a beautiful finish.

For more information about this fly book, please visit the Hand Stitched Leather page of this website. Currently, there is ONE available.

Folks, I can't tell you just how proud I am of these accessories & how pleased I am to be able to offer them to you. I honestly believe that you'll not be able to find better quality leather angling accessories than these. It's my sincere hope that you will find them to your pleasure. If you have any questions about these leather accessories, please do not hesitate to contact me.

This is just the beginning. In the coming days & weeks look for even more of these special items to be offered including unique reel cases, leather rod tubes, & very special leather fishing bags!! I can't wait to share them all with you now & for many years to come!!

Rarely am I up on the latest fly fishing products to hit the market & rarely do I go for the newest & latest gadget......& there are always new products coming out all the time. This is especially true for fly tying, where there are countless little tools & gadgets to add to your tying table. That said, I recently discovered a new, neat little tool......

The Hareline Bend-A-Blade is a tool that will help in forming deer hair heads. It helps to hold the razor blade in a curve while you cut the hair. With this tool, you no longer have to worry about the razor popping out from between your fingers & flying around the room. It also makes the job a lot quicker when tying up a bunch of flies with deer hair heads. Since you can adjust it, it makes for going from one size fly to another at the vise easy & quick.

I don't normally go in for new gadgets, but I thought this one was a good idea & worth giving a try. You can pick one up at your local fly shop that is a Hareline dealer, or a trusted source to buy one online would be J. Stockard fly fishing.

(please note: I'm not affiliated with J.Stockard or Harleine in any way. I only mention these as sources for this article)

Below is a forty second video showing how the tool works. 

Ever notice how, on bamboo fly rods & some high end fiberglass & graphite rods, the wraps over the guide feet look like the were painted on? How the heck does that happen? Well, let me tell you.....

The first trick to get smooth wraps that lay flat on the rod is to wrap with a very small diamter thread. On bamboo rods we use silk thread not only because of tradition (it's what they had back in the day), but also because it is still the best thread you can get for wrapping rods. It's fine diameter lays down flat on the rod & over the guide feet, while at the same time it's much stronger than nylon thread - it has a tensile strength stronger than steel.

The next way to get really smooth wraps is to use varnish to coat the wraps. The same varnish that is used on the rod shafts of a bamboo fly rod will provide a very nice, even coating over the thread if applied correctly. It takes multiple, thin coats of the varnish to get it correct. An additional, & tedious step, is to sand the varnish over the wraps flat with a very fine grain sand paper before the final coat.

Of course, all this takes a lot of time, but you can't argue with the results. Wraps done this way are vastly superior to those made with nylon thread & covered in epoxy, whch result in the large, bulky wraps you see on some commercial production rods. Smooth, flat wraps are a sign of a high-quality fly rod & that's why rod makers take so much time to get the wraps nice & smooth.

If you need ideas on what to get that special fly angler in your life, or if you need ideas for your own gift list this season, I can help. I've put together an easy Holiday Gift Guide to show you some of the really nice things you can get or give as gifts this year.

There are a variety of fly fishing goodies to choose from, too. From small stocking stuffers that cost very little, to bigger & more personalized gifts like the chance to have your special angler get a custom rod made to their specifications. There's a little something there for everyone & every budget. As we go through the Holiday season, I'll feature some of those gift ideas right here in later postings.

Maybe you're not a fly angler, & yet you have one in your life that you want to get a gift for? Maybe you've seen something in a magazine, catalog, or somewhere else online that you might want to get them but you just aren't sure about? Well, if you need help in that department, let me know & I'll do my best to guide you along & offer advice. Even if it's something I don't offer, I'll be more than happy to help guide you to make a decision. 'Tis the season & I'm here to help in any way that I can.

If you have any questions about anything fly fishing related this Holiday Season, please feel free to contact me at any time.

No matter how you celebrate this special time of year, I hope you all have a wonderful & joyous Holiday Season!!

You have so many options & choices when designing a custom fly rod, & the reel seat is a great place to give the rod a unique touch. One good way to do that is by the wood you choose to have in the reel seat. Today let's look at one type of wood you might like:

This gorgeous wood is called Bocote. It comes from Mexico & South America. As you can see it has a beautiful grain to it, almost zebra-like stripes in it. Bocote also has 'eyes' or circular grain patterns in it as well. The stripes stand out because of their darker color. It is a very striking wood in appearance.

Besides reel seat spacers, bocote is used for everything from knife handles to furniture to guitars. It is a very versatile wood indeed!

Currently, Bocote is not on any endangered lists & is mostly available. There have been some harvest practices put in place to ensure it's availability in the future as a sustainable wood, so every once in a while you might have to wait to get some. Of course, this also makes it a little more expensive, too but I think the cost is well worth it for such a gorgeous wood.

Bocote is just one type of wood you could have in the reel seat of your custom fly rod. As I said, you have many, many choices. Please, contact me to discuss what you'd like in your custom fly rod.

For those of you who fish with bamboo fly rods, you know how important the Nickle-Silver ferrules on a rod are. If you've been fishing those rods for some time, you've probably had a set of ferrules come apart from the rod. It usually happens after a day's fishing, when you're taking the rod apart. It's obvious what has happened: the glue holding the ferrules onto the rod has let go. It can be frustrating, disappointing, & shocking all at the same time.

With today's modern adhesives, this problem doesn't occur as often as it once did - but it still happens, even with the best glues. Why? Well, the answer is basic physics. The act of flexing a fly rod is shear force by definition. Without getting too technical, no glue can withstand that constant flexing forever. Your only alternative is to use an adhesive that would make it impossible to ever remove the metal ferrules from the bamboo underneath. That would be fine, if you could guarantee that the ferrules would never be damaged, worn out, or ever need to be replaced for any reason.

There is a way to prevent the ferrules from separating away from the bamboo, should the glue bond fail. The answer is to secure the ferrules onto the rod by driving a pin through the rod & ferrule. This pin is used in addition to the normal adhesive used.

After the ferrules have been mounted onto the rod with the glue, as normal, a very small hole is drilled through both:

Next, a small piece of Nickle-Silver wire, slightly larger than the hole, is driven through the hole to secure the ferrule.

After the pin is driven into place, it's nipped off close the the side of the ferrule. Then the little nubbin of the pin that's left is filed down flat to the ferrule. If done right, you'll have a hard time seeing where the pin is located in the ferrule. Can you see the pin in the photo below?

Fellow rod maker Jeff Wagner has the right idea when he says that there are three types of rod makers: "those that have had ferrule adhesive failures, those that lie about it, and those that have never had a problem...yet" I have to agree with him totally on that. 

I use the best adhesive on the market for ferrules. Through the years I've had a total of three rods have their ferrules separate from the bamboo & each time it was frustrating & embarrassing to me. No matter that it has been an extremely rare occurrence, from now on each & every one of my rods will be made with glued & pinned ferrules. I'm doing this to ensure that there won't be any problems in the future & so you can be sure that you won't have that problem when fishing one of my rods.

If the glue on a pinned ferrule should fail, you'll probably notice it anyway because the ferrules will start to click, or make a small noise, as you flex the rod. This doesn't mean that you should ignore that forever. You'll eventually want to get the ferrules re-glued onto the rod. The pin, though, will save you from the trouble of the ferrules coming off the bamboo. 

Some rod makers will tell you silly reasons why they don't pin. I used to be one of them, but after looking & thinking over the situation I've come to realize that it adds security to the ferrules & quality overall to the rod. What decent rod maker wouldn't want that. In the end I decided that the extra time & effort of pinning all my ferrules was worth it. Sure, it wasn't a problem before this, but if it prevents just one ferrule adhesive failure on any of my rods, then it's worth it. I want you to fish my rods with confidence!!