Bamboo spey guys

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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scarlet>fire
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Bamboo spey guys

#1

Post by scarlet>fire »

Good Morning Everyone,
I am curious how many of you swing bamboo spey rods for steelhead/salmon/trout? I love swinging for steelhead and even though I have fished bamboo for trout for my entire life, I have always used graphite for my spey rods. Curious on your experiences. Do you just throw dry lines, classic wets, etc? Do you throw tips and shank style flies? Love to hear about your experiences using two hand cane rods!

Cheers and tight lines,
Chris

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Brooks
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#2

Post by Brooks »

Chris, I fish bamboo two-handed spey for both steelhead and trout. I have a 12’ Bob Clay ‘Suskwa’ for steelhead, and a Poppy Cane 10.5’ trout spey built by Poppy of the infamous Red Shed.

On both I fish Airflo Rage heads (sort of a compact scandi hybrid) that works great with both long floating poly leaders, and sinking poly leaders.

I prefer .030” coated mono shooting line behind the Rage heads and I make my own bimini-sized loop at the head end by whip finishing mono nail knots and putting a little pliobond over the nail knots. (If your lost here with my description, the bigger bimini loop is so the I can loop-to-loop different heads onto the shooting line whilst they are still coiled up from my head wallet.)

On rare occasions I use an integrated fast-sinking skagit head on the Bob Clay rod mid-winter when steelhead are locked up on the bottom.

Only time I use carbon-fiber spey rods anymore are for travel (such as the Dean!).

Spey rodding means more to me with my bamboo. Occasionally I’ll swing flies dubbed with my dog Rosie’s chocolate lab fur, and hackled and winged with pheasant feathers from birds I’ve shot and she’s retrieved. Such goes the madness…..

I should mention I live in and mostly fish the Salmon River in Idaho, and the Clearwater and Snake occasionally.

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scarlet>fire
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#3

Post by scarlet>fire »

Brooks-
Thanks so much for the response. I love it! I really like the OPST lazr line for shooting line which I assume is similar. The Suskwa is a 12' 7/8 yes? Do you find that just right for the Salmon? I will be up your way tomorrow and swinging the Salmon through the weekend with a buddy. Cheers and appreciate you weighing in!

Best,
Chris

Dwight
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#4

Post by Dwight »

I just finished a seven day steelhead trip fishing straight until last light each day. The wading was very challenging, as usual, and I always use a wading staff now. I threw a 14’ Sharpes spliced cane rod with a double taper oiled line. Loved every minute of it! Those rods are absolutely amazing tools for single and double spey casts. I hunted with a small, dark size 6 low water fly. I just turned 60 and the trip left me tired but very happy.

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fishbum
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#5

Post by fishbum »

Been making and fishing bamboo two handed rods for several years. They range from 10' 6" up to a brute of a rod that I call "Brutis" that is 15'. The rod I grab most often is a 13' that started life as a spliced rod. It later spent some time as a one piece rod after I glued it together at the splices. Hauled it around bungeed to the rear view mirror and the latch on the cap of my truck. It is now equipped with ferrules.

Jerry

16pmd
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#6

Post by 16pmd »

I've fished a couple of Bob Clay rods and find them great with shooting heads, Skagit or Scandi, and integrated lines with fairly short heads. DT and long head WF lines, are best managed with long rods, and bamboo becomes too slow, in my opinion for easy casts for distance. Too much concentration on timing and technique required, at least for my level of skill, and long graphite rods make the casts with mindless ease. The weight of a 14' bamboo with a heavy reel to balance it is also quite a load for all day fishing.

60InchDV8
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#7

Post by 60InchDV8 »

I like the Hardy and Payne double handlers, 10 to 13 feet, for overhead casting while wading or fishing for steelies and Atlantic’s in a drift boat or in a canoe. I use Sharpes spliced cane 12 to 15 footers for roll casting CD Scandi heads and for spey casting with a greased silk as a floating or as an intermediate sink tip line by leaving the last 20 feet untreated. I’m also partial to modern floating Wulff Triangle Taper spey lines and Intermediate sinking clear spey lines for stealthy swings in lower water conditions. These versatile Sharpes spliced rods have a one piece feel and can also be used for overhead as well as spey casting while wading or fishing from a canoe.
Regards from the Restigouche....Jim
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jmcj1984
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#8

Post by jmcj1984 »

I use bamboo Spey both spliced and ferreled with floating line and heavy sink and large Steelhead flies lengths are from 11 to 12 .5 long ,I have a heavy trout Spey on order and a 14 ft 4 piece 9w on order they just make me smile when I cast I will take a couple to the river to just cast even when no big fish are around they are heavier than modern graphite but are slower so you don’t have to move your are as fast, over all I don’t know if they are better for everyone but they are fun and comfortable to cast if you don’t push just let them cast

Dave Westburg
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#9

Post by Dave Westburg »

I fish for winter steelhead with a 13' Sharpes Spliced bamboo rod. Nothing funner than running a Red King or Black King or General Practitioner down a 200 yard long riffle on the Skagit with a Sharpes Spliced bamboo rod, a Sharpes or Hardy or JW Young reel and a midbelly spey line. The Sharpes is a little heavy for a whole day of fishing but I love fishing a bit of history.

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troutlout
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#10

Post by troutlout »

Hi there. I didn't enjoy using the Clan bamboo spey rod I owned. I use cane trout rods all summer but this bamboo two hander was like a wet willow branch. I've been using two handers for more than 10 years on Great Lakes tributaries in Ontario - mostly graphite. I'm a bit of a stubborn DT fan and tried various upper weight lines on the Clan rod and even a #10 WF. This stick just didn't have enough power to pick up the line especially on a double spey cast. I was told to try a Scandinavian line on it but the idea of stripping in at the end of each cast didn't appeal to me. Fortunately, I was able to sell it to someone with more optimism for success than myself. It was a beautiful looking rod and I paired it with a large, vintage click and pawl reel. It's gone too.
I really enjoy visiting this forum. It makes me feel I'm thumbing my nose at the modern world a little bit. ;) \
GK

Dwight
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#11

Post by Dwight »

Dave, those Red King & Black King speys are beautiful! Did you tie them?

16pmd, you may want to try not balancing your 2-handed cane rod with a heavy reel. For a 13’ or 14’ solid-built cane spey, a reel weighing over two pounds is needed to balance and that killed the feel of the cane for me. The casting motion is ‘balanced’ without a heavy reel because we have a hand above and a hand below the axis point and our strength is easily enough to start and stop the motion. I solve the only remaining balance issue by sticking the rod butt under my elbow on the swing, or sometimes I stick it against my belly. Ymmv..

Dave Westburg
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#12

Post by Dave Westburg »

Dwight wrote:
11/12/21 20:07
Dave, those Red King & Black King speys are beautiful! Did you tie them?
Yes I did. I like tying and fishing the classics. Syd Glasso Spey patterns.

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Jock Scott, Black Doctor and Thunder and Lightning wet flies.

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Torrish wet flies.

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A highlight of last year's spring season was catching this Skagit steelhead on a fully dressed Torrish.

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teter
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#13

Post by teter »

I do fish both single-handed and double-handed bamboo rods swinging for steelhead. With the double-handed rods, it's usually overhead casting, as they were designed for. I don't have a true bamboo spey rod. I have tried a number of lines on rods from 7 to 9 weight and have not yet perfected a spey cast on any of them. But I keep trying. Truth be told, I'm not good at casting graphite spey rods either.

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Brooks
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#14

Post by Brooks »

Here’s a nice short vid of Bob Clay talking about his 12-footers
https://youtu.be/OYfLIi99Dho

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scarlet>fire
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#15

Post by scarlet>fire »

Thanks so much for all of your thoughts everyone! Cheers and Happy New Year!
Chris

flyty2
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#16

Post by flyty2 »

Dave Westburg wrote:
11/13/21 01:46
Dwight wrote:
11/12/21 20:07
Dave, those Red King & Black King speys are beautiful! Did you tie them?
Yes I did. I like tying and fishing the classics. Syd Glasso Spey patterns.

Image

Jock Scott, Black Doctor and Thunder and Lightning wet flies.

Image

Torrish wet flies.

Image

A highlight of last year's spring season was catching this Skagit steelhead on a fully dressed Torrish.

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I spent 10 days indoors during an Oregon trip to the North Umpqua river due to torrential rain and all the rivers being blown out and extremely dangerous. My Dad had a place on the bank of the Umpqua River, in little town called Scottsburg, and we watched the water rise up into the backyard, wondering if we would have to evacuate. I had just bought the newly released book "Spey Flies and Dee Flies: Their History & Construction (John Shewey)" because I was interested in challenging my fly tying skills (Wow, that book has gone up in price!). I struggled mightily trying to get the feathers to curve in the right directions, but I had a lot of fun tying and learning about Spey and Dee flies during the long hours cooped up inside. Several years later, I made it back to the North Umpqua, and I tried out all the Spey flies I had tied--on a 9' 6wt trout rod. I watched with delight as the flies glided through the water when I retrieved them. You are an incredible fly tier!

I remember the North Umpqua River had a big fat fluorescent orange line painted down one bank and up the other bank. Below the line, hoards of bait fishermen were trying to snag salmon that were moving up the river. Above the line, there was a 20+ mile serene section of river designated as fly fishing only. I don't remember seeing another fly fisherman as I drove upriver to various pullouts and waded out into beautiful waters. I remember straddling slippery slabs of slanted rock, which were cleaved with deep slots, and I watched as dark forms in the deeper water move silently up river.

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BigTJ
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#17

Post by BigTJ »

A few years ago the answer would be a resounding yes. But to be honest I am so disappointed with the state of our runs that I am close to giving up chasing steelhead to be content with the swing grabs I get from trout during the caddis hatch. At our current rate I could see many of my most cherished runs being functionally extinct by the end of my lifetime. Hate to be a wet blanket but that’s what it is feeling like at the moment. I’ve gone from hooking 2 to 5 fish a day regularly to week-long trips without a grab just in the last few years. Would like to think it’s a natural cycle but when I look big picture at what is going on with the world I know that’s wishful thinking.

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Brooks
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#18

Post by Brooks »

BigTJ, I hear you. Beyond depressing on the Salmon in Idaho.
I’m swinging for trout with my Poppy Cane trout spey, just to swing flies. I guess its kind of like a golfer hitting a bucket of balls. Let’s hope mother nature is as resilient as some say…

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paramount
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#19

Post by paramount »

Agree with BigTJ. Already have a fiberglass spey and would love to have a bamboo spey but....I haven't bought a steelhead tag with my trout fishing license for 3 years now. The native summer runs ( and hatchery) on the Deschutes have been terrible! Bruce

pescaconDios
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Re: Bamboo spey guys

#20

Post by pescaconDios »

Tough to find good bamboo Spey rods, but they do exist, even for the longer lines I prefer. I have cast up to 53’ heads with a friend’s James Reid, and the 11’9” rod handles a 53’ line quite well. Super fun to cast.

James Reid, Bob Clay, Per Brandin (if you can find one) all make or have made good cane Spey rods.

I hear David Reid makes a nice Spey rod, but I have not cast one.

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