Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

This board is for discussing concerns of fishing bamboo fly rods. Examples would be, lines, actions, classic and modern makers actions and the like.

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samsonboi
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#161

Post by samsonboi »

This entire thread is absolutely cancer and I have no clue what I just walked into. I think that’s enough internet for the decade.

RSalar, have you heard of the Dunning-Kruger effect?
"Car ce n'est pas assez d'avoir l'esprit bon, mais le principal est de l'appliquer bien.”- Descartes

RSalar
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#162

Post by RSalar »

Samsonboi, have you heard of psychological projection?
Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.” Bacon.

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Kai Larson
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#163

Post by Kai Larson »

RSalar wrote:
10/23/21 18:08
If I had to guess (with very limited actual knowledge) I’d say the person who fishes with bamboo fly rods would most likely be a well off male between the age of 55 and 75. He would most likely be a very experienced fly fisherman. He has matured past the stage of just trying to catch the most fish. He fishes for the pure joy of fishing. He appreciates nature and single malt scotches, fine cigars and good conversation. He travels to fish and stays at really nice lodges. He doesn’t need a guide but probably hires one anyway.

As far as his bamboo fly rods go — he has many. He probably has found a maker he likes and is a repeat customer.

All kidding aside I’d really like to know the actual answer to my question.
This would be my guess as well

I myself fit this stereotype reasonably well. The most notable difference is that I tend to camp as far as possible into the backcountry rather than staying at lodges.

RSalar
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#164

Post by RSalar »

Kai Larson wrote:
12/26/21 18:42
RSalar wrote:
10/23/21 18:08
If I had to guess (with very limited actual knowledge) I’d say the person who fishes with bamboo fly rods would most likely be a well off male between the age of 55 and 75. He would most likely be a very experienced fly fisherman. He has matured past the stage of just trying to catch the most fish. He fishes for the pure joy of fishing. He appreciates nature and single malt scotches, fine cigars and good conversation. He travels to fish and stays at really nice lodges. He doesn’t need a guide but probably hires one anyway.

As far as his bamboo fly rods go — he has many. He probably has found a maker he likes and is a repeat customer.

All kidding aside I’d really like to know the actual answer to my question.
This would be my guess as well

I myself fit this stereotype reasonably well. The most notable difference is that I tend to camp as far as possible into the backcountry rather than staying at lodges.
I enjoyed your blog — impressive amount of material based on your personal experiences— hiking, mountaineering, backcountry fishing etc. This quote from your site is most fitting for the topic at hand:

“I love fly rods made from bamboo.

“They combine beauty, functionality, and traditional craftsmanship in a way that is truly rare in the modern world. A "bespoke" bamboo fly rod is made to your specifications by a single person, working mostly by hand, with primitive tools. He works for anywhere from 30 to 100 hours making the rod, and when he is finished, he writes his name on it, declaring to all the world that this is his work and he is the person responsible for making it.”

Your viewpoint is interesting and your attitude towards bamboo fly fishing is very similar to mine. It’s about the appreciation for the finer things in life—to include the beauty of nature and the rare higher level skill obtained by some craftsmen. Thank you for your contribution.
Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.” Bacon.

3creeks
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#165

Post by 3creeks »

Kai Larson wrote:
12/26/21 18:42
RSalar wrote:
10/23/21 18:08
If I had to guess (with very limited actual knowledge) I’d say the person who fishes with bamboo fly rods would most likely be a well off male between the age of 55 and 75. He would most likely be a very experienced fly fisherman. He has matured past the stage of just trying to catch the most fish. He fishes for the pure joy of fishing. He appreciates nature and single malt scotches, fine cigars and good conversation. He travels to fish and stays at really nice lodges. He doesn’t need a guide but probably hires one anyway.

As far as his bamboo fly rods go — he has many. He probably has found a maker he likes and is a repeat customer.

All kidding aside I’d really like to know the actual answer to my question.
This would be my guess as well

I myself fit this stereotype reasonably well. The most notable difference is that I tend to camp as far as possible into the backcountry rather than staying at lodges.
Kai, your blog link is the best thing to come from this thread in my opinion. I've been wanting to expand my fishing experience into the back country so reading your posts will be inspiration.

RSalar
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#166

Post by RSalar »

samsonboi wrote:
12/26/21 08:46
This entire thread is absolutely cancer and I have no clue what I just walked into. I think that’s enough internet for the decade.
Thank you for stopping by and adding your brilliant negativism to the discussion.
Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.” Bacon.

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Titelines
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#167

Post by Titelines »

Let's keep it civil here folks.

Mark

samsonboi
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#168

Post by samsonboi »

RSalar wrote:
12/30/21 00:31
samsonboi wrote:
12/26/21 08:46
This entire thread is absolutely cancer and I have no clue what I just walked into. I think that’s enough internet for the decade.
Thank you for stopping by and adding your brilliant negativism to the discussion.
You’re welcome
"Car ce n'est pas assez d'avoir l'esprit bon, mais le principal est de l'appliquer bien.”- Descartes

9.3x75r
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#169

Post by 9.3x75r »

No, it isn't cancer. I had cancer. There is absolutely, positively, most emphatically no comparison.
I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6

RSalar
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#170

Post by RSalar »

9.3x75r wrote:
01/01/22 17:36
No, it isn't cancer. I had cancer. There is absolutely, positively, most emphatically no comparison.
I agree — not even close — a total mischaracterization
Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.” Bacon.

billems
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#171

Post by billems »

This is just silly. The best angler I know never owned a bamboo rod. Some of the worst and most ignorant fishers I've ever seen own a quiver of cane. A great angler is a great angler--whether fishing with a fiberglass, graphite or bamboo rod. Yes, I prefer the feel of bamboo in my casting. i also own a fiberglass that casts just as well.

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Seabowisha Salmo T
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#172

Post by Seabowisha Salmo T »

billems wrote:
01/07/22 12:35
This is just silly. The best angler I know never owned a bamboo rod. Some of the worst and most ignorant fishers I've ever seen own a quiver of cane. A great angler is a great angler--whether fishing with a fiberglass, graphite or bamboo rod. Yes, I prefer the feel of bamboo in my casting. i also own a fiberglass that casts just as well.
yea!!! ernesto's hero wielded a hand line to entice the beeg feesh,

regards, jim w

RSalar
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#173

Post by RSalar »

billems wrote:
01/07/22 12:35
This is just silly. The best angler I know never owned a bamboo rod. Some of the worst and most ignorant fishers I've ever seen own a quiver of cane. A great angler is a great angler--whether fishing with a fiberglass, graphite or bamboo rod. Yes, I prefer the feel of bamboo in my casting. i also own a fiberglass that casts just as well.
You have come to an accurate but irrelevant conclusion. People who fish with bamboo aren’t necessarily better fishermen. But it takes greater skill to fish with bamboo than it does to fish with graphite — graphite is lighter, faster, and casts farther so it’s easier to fish with. It takes even greater skill to cast by hand without a rod. That doesn’t mean that those people who fly cast by hand without a rod are better fishermen.
Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.” Bacon.

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Gnome
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#174

Post by Gnome »

if you can cast by hand you are a very competent caster{and most likely a very competent fisherman} I can throw most of a fly line by hand just like I can throw 1-2" tall loops despite the anguished howls from some about whether that is possible or not. Some can and most can not due to lack of practice. And I do not fit the average profile as displayed in this thread. well below the average income level postulated here. It is all about passion and if you have the passion none of that other crap matters!!!

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RScottFlyRods
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#175

Post by RScottFlyRods »

I remember the first time I saw a guy fishing with a bamboo fly rod. It was in the mid 70’s, well after everyone was fishing graphite and it was “odd” to see anyone using bamboo. I was with a friend of mine on a very technical stretch of crystal clear tail water in central Massachusetts. We were just checking out the river—looking into the pools and checking out what was going on. At one point we noticed a guy fishing and stopped to watch him. He had a bamboo fly rod, a nice trout net on his back, classic fly vest and a floppy hat. He was making very delicate casts upstream with a tiny dry fly. He looked like a classy Edwardian era fisherman. Kinda cool but we thought, at the time, totally out of place and weird.

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Flykuni3
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#176

Post by Flykuni3 »

Yes, that man was out of place, he was in heaven.

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cdmoore
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#177

Post by cdmoore »

RSalar,

I hope it's not too late to suggest that you just need a few data sets if you can find them. A distribution curve for age. Some Venn diagrams perhaps. You get the idea. You'd have to set the parameters for which percentile ranges (quartiles? deciles? etc.) are included in the label "typical". It'd also be important to nail down the time frame you are talking about, though I assume you mean present day. In 1930, almost everyone was using bamboo of some kind, though there were exceptions of course.

An alternative and perhaps more useful approach, which some people have hinted at, might be to use softer data related to why people choose to fish with bamboo rods. Feel and action, appearance, nostalgia or tradition, affinity for natural materials or craftsmanship, etc. Or maybe something behavioral: likelihood to practice catch and release, pick up garbage, fish dries by preference, stalk individual fish, etc. Perhaps that approach would be more representative of a typical bamboo fly rod fisher than factors like age or gender?

My .03 (used to be .02)

PYochim
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#178

Post by PYochim »

I don't think RSalar has come up for air here for a while.

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Drossi
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#179

Post by Drossi »

PYochim wrote:
01/19/22 14:37
I don't think RSalar has come up for air here for a while.
or come down from his rarefied air to where the rest of us reside..... :lol

RSalar
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Re: Profile of a bamboo fly fisherman

#180

Post by RSalar »

cdmoore wrote:
01/19/22 12:40
RSalar,

I hope it's not too late to suggest that you just need a few data sets if you can find them. A distribution curve for age. Some Venn diagrams perhaps. You get the idea. You'd have to set the parameters for which percentile ranges (quartiles? deciles? etc.) are included in the label "typical". It'd also be important to nail down the time frame you are talking about, though I assume you mean present day. In 1930, almost everyone was using bamboo of some kind, though there were exceptions of course.

An alternative and perhaps more useful approach, which some people have hinted at, might be to use softer data related to why people choose to fish with bamboo rods. Feel and action, appearance, nostalgia or tradition, affinity for natural materials or craftsmanship, etc. Or maybe something behavioral: likelihood to practice catch and release, pick up garbage, fish dries by preference, stalk individual fish, etc. Perhaps that approach would be more representative of a typical bamboo fly rod fisher than factors like age or gender?

My .03 (used to be .02)
Thanks! All good ideas and helpful. The problem is that I am neither a statistician nor a marketing guy. I am just curious and interested in the topic. The behavioral approach does yield some useful information but I doubt that even if we could find parallels that trace the bamboo fisherman’s preference for the use of the magical material in his fly rod, it wouldn’t get us any closer to defining exactly who these fishermen are. And would knowing that bamboo fly rod users also pick up random road trash help us determine how to best market to them?

When I first posed the question I wasn’t thinking in terms of trying to find hard data. Probably because I felt that would be impossible to find. Instead I was looking for insight from those people on this site who probably know other like minded fisher people.

Someone suggested that I might find the area of this forum that asks users to provide information about their occupation and location useful. I did read through most of them and did find that to be very interesting. The only problem with that information is that it is very possible that those of us who are proud of our accomplishments are more likely to post about ourselves there than those of us who are maybe feel slightly less conceited.

I suppose it would be like trying to determine the profile of the bird hunter who, by choice, hunts with a side by side shotgun. And when I say “by choice” I mean he or she has the means to use any type of shotgun—anything from a Remington 870 pump gun to a custom fitted Perazzi over and under. Does he carry the side by side because he believes it is the most effective design to bring down his winged quarry or does he carry it for sentimental reasons? Or perhaps he just wants to look cool. If we assembled all side by side shooters together would we find they have other things in common? I tend to think so — despite the fact that I have no hard statistical data to prove it. That’s all I was seeking — just insights about these rare individuals.
Testimony is like an arrow shot from a long-bow; the force of it depends on the strength of the hand that draws it. Argument is like an arrow from a cross-bow, which has equal force though shot by a child.” Bacon.

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