What I didn’t like / don’t agree was the idea of bamboo fishermen being ‘superior’ or more proficient than fly fishermen using fly rods made of man made materials.
Agreed, although I do appreciate this site, as I find the fishing wisdom to be higher than other sites, this may be a your mileage may vary situation, but it is my experience that actual fishing advise is typically very good here.
The caricature of bamboo fishermen being:
White
Bald
50+ old
Etc.
Is funny but mostly nothing more than a big generalization
This is what profile's do, they distill to the most common denominator. As much as we respect the individual, generalizations help everywhere from setting public health policies to how you spend marketing dollars to sell fly rods.
BTW, I do pride myself on not being the target demographic that my race/age/occupation/income predict I should be. I do not get upset that I am often marketed to wrong.
I don’t know, if you’re talking about the demographics of the average bamboo fly fisherman, maybe ask one of the dealers who’s been in the business of buying and selling rods for a while.
I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I would bet that 90% of their customers are
1. Male
2. White
3. Over 40
4. Middle upper class or upper class (makes six figures or is retired from a previous six figure income).
I’m not a dealer, but I have some data that may be helpful. Two years ago I started a Facebook group related to bamboo rods. FB provides data on membership demographics to the group admin. As of today there are 1.3K members of this group, 96.1% are men, 3.6 % are women. Almost 70% of the members are over the age of 55 and the largest age group represented is the 65 and older group.
I don’t have any stats on race/ethnicity, but if I scan the profile pictures I would estimate I have the same percentage of white/Caucasian members as I do men, in the high 90 % range.
And, given the percentage of men over the age of 55 who are bald (google tells me it’s about 50%) there’s a good chance that a majority of the membership is, in fact, bald.
Facebook - Bamboo Fly Rod Identification and Value
Instagram - vintagebambooflyrods
Lupalupa wrote:… I do appreciate this site, as I find the fishing wisdom to be higher than other sites …
Oh that’s for sure. Any place people gather together on a niche (of a niche ) are likely to be more interested & knowledgeable on history, use and maintenance of the gear.
After wading through the thread and, mostly enjoying it, I have come to the conclusion that bamboo rod fly fishermen really can't be profiled. Evidently a few generalities can be assumed. So what?
I'm blue collar, got through high school and a year of tech school. 43 years as an electrician with about 33-34 of those self employed. Never made a lot of money but we're comfortable and unless things really blow up, should continue that way. I always loved the outdoors with hunting being my first love and fly fishing 2nd...then came all those others like cross country and downhill skiing, vintage sports cars and sailing. Some of those have gone by the wayside as candles on the cake accumulated. Have maybe a dozen vintage rods that I never paid over $200 for. Reels are mostly J.W. Young with a Hardy/Orvis thrown in just 'cause. Ha...my silk lines cost more than most of my rods!!! Rifles, handloading and the study of old German rifles and cartridges and making obscure one's shoot is a completely different, mostly consuming category. I am of mostly East Prussian extraction.
I quit drinking 12 years ago, never could stand Scotch or cigars of any kind. Give me my pipe and Captain Black Royal. Daily driver is one of 6 vehicles, ALWAYS lived in the country on our own acreage and, for 20 years raised beef in addition to my wife's business, (beauty shop), and my business.
Fished a lot of places but almost always as a side benefit of a hunting trip. Lived on the Wyoming/Idaho border for a few years and got to fish some legendary waters.
I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6
No sir diamonte, I once more have a full head of hair. It got thin during 6 months of chemo but I never lost it all even then. To my knowledge there was no bald men on either my mother's or father's side. My ex-wife's dad was bald and it evidently passed on to both my sons. They both shaved their heads, the oldest at 21 while the youngest held off until his mid-30's. They both rub their heads and say, "thank you grandpa Reed."
I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6
Looked at this thread for the first (and last) time today.
A mountain is a fact -- a trout is a moment of beauty known only to men who seek them
Al McClane in his Introduction to The Practical Fly Fisherman . . . often erroneously attributed to Arnold Gingrich
Looked at this thread for the first (and last) time today.
So commenting was for what purpose?
(Not directed to Eric Peper) I find it amusing so many people seem to get offended at this thread, but rather than just move on they have to comment in a negative fashion to let everyone know they're above the topic for some reason.
What I didn’t like / don’t agree was the idea of bamboo fishermen being ‘superior’ or more proficient than fly fishermen using fly rods made of man made materials.
I don’t feel like going back through all the posts but I don’t think anyone said the bamboo fishermen were better or somehow superior — I think it was more about the skill required to use bamboo. Just because you fish with bamboo doesn’t make you a great fisherman — but it is more challenging to make long casts and to catch big fish on bamboo than it is on graphite. That’s just a fact
“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.
I don’t know, if you’re talking about the demographics of the average bamboo fly fisherman, maybe ask one of the dealers who’s been in the business of buying and selling rods for a while.
I’m not a betting man, but if I was, I would bet that 90% of their customers are
1. Male
2. White
3. Over 40
4. Middle upper class or upper class (makes six figures or is retired from a previous six figure income).
I’m not a dealer, but I have some data that may be helpful. Two years ago I started a Facebook group related to bamboo rods. FB provides data on membership demographics to the group admin. As of today there are 1.3K members of this group, 96.1% are men, 3.6 % are women. Almost 70% of the members are over the age of 55 and the largest age group represented is the 65 and older group.
I don’t have any stats on race/ethnicity, but if I scan the profile pictures I would estimate I have the same percentage of white/Caucasian members as I do men, in the high 90 % range.
And, given the percentage of men over the age of 55 who are bald (google tells me it’s about 50%) there’s a good chance that a majority of the membership is, in fact, bald.
Good info — thanks
“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.
For the fishing I do (mostly normal sized trout in rivers) it is definitely NOT more challenging to fish with bamboo.
I just like it better.
If anything, playing a good trout on bamboo is easier than on fast action graphite since the rod absorbs more of the fish's sudden moves. It sure is more fun.
And I can comfortably cast to normal fishing distances just as well with my bamboo rods as I can with graphite.
RSalar
Silly notion that it takes more skill to use bamboo or that it is more challenging to make long casts, bamboo can easily reach any reasonable fishing distance and quite beyond, and to catch big fish on bamboo, do big fish avoid bamboo.
Where do you come up with these misconceptions.
RSalar
Silly notion that it takes more skill to use bamboo or that it is more challenging to make long casts, bamboo can easily reach any reasonable fishing distance and quite beyond, and to catch big fish on bamboo, do big fish avoid bamboo.
Where do you come up with these misconceptions.
So let’s test you conviction. There is a million dollars on the line. If you can land a 100+ lb tarpon on a fly rod in one day of fishing you win one million dollars. You can use any fly rod. You must cast from a stationary platform (if in a boat the boat must be in neutral), hook the fish, play him, and land him (hold the fish and take the fly out). It must be a wild fish in the ocean. If you succeed you get $1,000,000 in cash. What fly rod will you use? What will it be made of? Are you going to use a bamboo fly rod with a million dollars on the line? Yes or no?
“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.
Is this that tournament where everyone pays $100 to enter to have a chance to win a million? And then the winner is disqualified because the tarpon dies, so you refund him his $100
(Keeping all the losers entry fees….)
If you succeed you get $1,000,000 in cash. What fly rod will you use? What will it be made of? Are you going to use a bamboo fly rod with a million dollars on the line? Yes or no?
I'd pay the entry fee for somebody else whose casting and saltwater fishing are much better than mine with the offer that they just give me $10,000 if they win. I would generously allow them to use any kind of fly rod they wished.
The point is that if you really want to win you are going to use the best equipment for the task that money can buy. You are not going to handicap yourself by using a bamboo fly rod.
On the other hand I think it would be a great challenge to use bamboo. You should get extra points for doing so because it does require greater skill.
“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.
The point is that if you really want to win you are going to use the best equipment for the task that money can buy. You are not going to handicap yourself by using a bamboo fly rod.
On the other hand I think it would be a great challenge to use bamboo. You should get extra points for doing so because it does require greater skill.
Silliness. If you want the competition to be "what is the best equipment", you have the same person, or small group, cast all the rods in the competition and name the best rod based on results. If you want to find the best caster, have 'em all cast the same rod and name the best caster, based on results.
RSalar, while I appreciate your passion and interest in these topics, the reason people get frustrated with this thread is because you don't seem to respect other people's points of view when they are different from your own.
Your over-generalizations are just that. For example:
I don't fish for tarpon. I probably never will. I don't fish in tournaments. As I already wrote, for the fishing I do, bamboo is not inferior to graphite. And I have no more skill fishing bamboo than I did fishing graphite. Skill has to do with experience. If it is true that most anglers who fish bamboo gravitate toward it after years of fishing graphite, then yes, they are probably more skilled than the average angler. But (how many ways do I have to say this?), I am in no way handicapped by fishing for trout in small and medium sized rivers by using bamboo fly rods.
I agree with you about graphite being a better material on balance for saltwater fishing, but that doesn't prove that graphite is therefore superior to bamboo for all fly fishing since not all fly fishing is saltwater fly fishing.
And, really, we're just a bunch of diverse individuals who, for one reason or another, like to do this goofy thing: go fishing and geek out about our tackle.
The typical bamboo fisherman: Suffers from hammer-toe; can't see his feet for his belly; owns apartment complexes in various urban ghettos; travels to New Orleans regularly to visit conjurers with voodoo dolls with "Guide" emblazoned on the chest; is having a private stream built with underwater refridgeration to keep temps below 75; likes to dress as homeless person and panhandle at hwy exits in order to "get in touch with misery" in order to feel great about being flush; met Henry Winkler onsteam and declared him an "idiot;" has trainers who teach grizzly bears to devour punk Internet fly fishing "influencers:" has another hobby where he cuts in line in front of old ladies at the supermarket. Plans to enslave all rodmakers and keep them jailed in his fly rod factory. These guys are easy to spot.