Meet the Cane Rod Builders!

Larry Donahe has always had a desire to be creative, and making bamboo rods has fulfilled that for him. Making bamboo rods became a passion the very first strip that he hand planed. He was fortunate to spend time learning the craft from master bamboo maker Daryll Whitehead, and Chet Croco (Bellinger of Oregon). Since that first strip all he wanted to do was create beautiful fly fishing rods using Tonkin cane.

Each rod Larry makes becomes a part of him, and he a part of the rod. Bamboo rods have power, grace and elegance that allow us to reconnect to the past. And he loves being a part of that. When he is making a bamboo rod he becomes lost in time. He gets caught up in the texture of the bamboo, the smell of flaming a rod or just dreaming about where the rod will be fished.

To Larry, making bamboo rods is truly where art and function blend. Larry would be honored to build your first or next bamboo fly rod.

Click on Larry's photo to learn more about him and his work.

Dave Dozer's finely crafted bamboo fly rods evoke a feeling of artistry, quality craftsmanship, and tradition. Casting one takes you to a whole new experience level. Dave's goal in building bamboo rods is to create the best looking and finest castings rods that he can and provide you with a fine fly fishing instrument that is constructed of the highest quality components available. Dave strives to incorporate elegance, simplicity and fine craftsmanship in his rod designs.

Dave spends upwards of 75 hours building each rod, and he cuts no corners along the way. Dave is intent on superior quality, precision, and attention to detail in his building process. The styles and tapers he uses are modeled after the master rod designers. Dave uses the highest quality Tonkin bamboo, reel seat hardware, ferrules, Brazilian agate stripping guides, bronzed snake guides, and fine silk thread for wraps that is available. He also hand selects and turns all wood reel seat inserts on his rods, making sure that the lines and grains of the woods blend well with the bamboo and the overall appearance of the rod. He then finishes off all his rods with many coats of a high gloss urethane finish that will last a lifetime.

Dave's standard offering of rods is not extensive, but it includes several that he has confidence with and that he feels can meet the desires of the new or experienced fly angler.

Click on Dave's photo to learn more about him and his work.

Zachary Pryor - owner of Pryor Custom Fly Rods, grew up in Central Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley, home to many of the world's most revered trout waters.  From a very early age, he was introduced to fly fishing and fly tying by his father, the holder of a Pennsylvania State Record Rainbow Trout, taken on a fly in the Yellow Breeches Creek.  The trout was probably the largest WILD Rainbow Trout ever taken in the state at nearly 11lbs.

The area was home to many of the most famous names in fly fishing including:  Koch, Fox, Shenk, Marinaro, Clouser, Bashline and Utech, among many others.  By the age of 8, Zach was taken under wing by many of these fly fishing "Greats" and taught the art of fly tying and fly fishing and, in short order, won nine national fly tying championships.  All available time was spent on stream resulting in an intimate knowledge of the area's waterways such as the Yellow Breeches, Big Spring, LeTort, Mountain Creek, Old Town Run, Falling Spring, and Susquehanna and Junieta Rivers.  By age 13, he was making fly rods, tying flies professionally and began guiding on local streams and rivers.

Thankfully, Zach's primary mentor, Gene Utech was deeply rooted in the history of fly tying and fly fishing, as well as it's equipment.  Being a classic salmon and wet fly fisherman and fly tier, Utech was partial to the strict English methods of tying and fishing and used them as the basis for his teachings.  The knowledge and experience gained from tradition never faded and became the foundation for which every Pryor Custom Fly Rod is made.
 

Click on Zach's photo to learn more about him and his work.

At R.A. Smith Custom Fly Rods, it’s all about customer satisfaction and making a 'custom' exceptional quality, fly rod designed specifically to fit your casting style, fishing needs, taste and budget. They also offer superior bamboo rod repair and restoration.

Ross enjoys being a bamboo rod maker and it shows in the quality and detail of his work. He gets a tremendous amount of satisfaction from making a truly customized fly rod. That’s why he offers 2 types of construction and 3 grades.

Construction types:
Ross offers the time honored hexagon configuration and the new Tri-Hex method. The “Tri-Hex” is a new construction method that brings all of the structural properties of the triangle to bamboo rod construction with none of its problems. Tri-Hex rods have a crisp smooth action with less rod bounce than a conventional hexagonal rod of the same taper. Tri-Hex rods are a new and unique development in rod making and are being built by very few makers. They will take their place alongside “Quads” and “Pentas” offering fly fishermen another choice in the action and feel of a bamboo fly rod.

Grades:  Bamboo Rods are available in 3 grades

R.A. Smith offers quality built rods for discriminating anglers that are precisely hand crafted by a fisherman.

Click on Ross' photo to learn more about him and his work.

The Gnome - Gnomish Rod Works began building "One-of-a-kind pieces of Useable Angling Art" in 2000. To understand what I do, one needs to know how I got here. My father instilled a great love for the outdoors when I was very young. That love translated to a deep seated love of fly fishing; all aspects, all species. This love has lead me down a long strange float along the banks of fly fishing history; eventually finding myself at two wonderful bends in the river; around the first bend was tying flies and just around the second where bamboo rods. From that time forward, I learned as much as possible about these magnificent rods and flies.

While serving his country in Vietnam, during early 1971, my brother’s earthly journey abruptly ended; I was just 10. Wanting to honor him, I began tying flies with his tying equipment. By the time I was 13, I had received my first bamboo fly rod and had started tying commercially for family, friends, and teachers at school. By 1983 I was tying for AK Best which boosted my skills at the vise exponentially.

Gnomish Rod Works' rods - Every aspect of my process, from my mortised rods, hand sewn leather scabbards, to my custom matching one-of-a-kind formfit cases are a hallmark of the Gnome’s work. I build rods either hollow built or solid in 6 strip construction from 4'4' single or two piece and up to 12' in a 3 piece configuration. Sculpture quality Bronze in either cast or hand carved hardware is also a unique feature of Gnomish Rod Works rods. My rods are incredibly sensitive due to the 12 strip grip with no cork. There are two significant advantages to this style of grip: 1) The rod is more sensitive in the hand; thus making you a better caster and angler (cork absorbs action thus cutting down on the “feeling” of the rod and its action), 2) the custom grip looks a lot better than a standard, run-of-the-mill cork grip and is a nod to our Victorian forefathers who developed this style of build. The fish we chase and the places we fish are some of the most beautiful creations on earth, why shouldn’t our tools be the same?

Each rod is truly unique to each customer and will show that individuality in the rod and its fittings as well as the formfit case; where there is always gifted turquoise as well in the rod. This imbues both with good luck. In addition, I love to work in scrimshaw and lapidary so every rod and case reflects the Victorian age as far as style and appointments while performing at a modern level of efficiency.

Gnome’s Traveling Rod Museum - The Gnome’s unique and highly sought after Traveling Rod Museum is the only traveling museum display that covers over 200 years of rod making history with over 100 rods dating from the mid to late 1700's up through the 1960's. The collection has one of the most complete gatherings of pre-1860 rods in the world and shows the evolution of the fly rod from the wood rods of the 1700's through the composite tipped wood rods of the early to mid-1800's and right on through the evolution of the modern bamboo fly rods up to the late-1940's and early 1950's when fiberglass was introduced. Just to name a few materials that the rods in the display are made out of are: ash, greenheart, lancewood, snakewood, hickory, bethabarra, calcutta cane, tonkin cane, baleen, steel, fiberglass and graphite.

Just a few of the rod makers within the collection are; Phinn, Armstrong, Murphy, Krider, H.L.Leonard, John Conroy, G.I.Varney, Geo. Burtis, H.A.Merrill, KOSMIC, Edward Vom Hofe, John Landman, Fred Divine, Heddon, South Bend and Granger and many others too numerous to list here.

Whether you are having a fund raiser, producing a sporting or outdoor show or hosting a flyfishing gathering the Gnome’s Traveling Rod Museum is a instant hit with anglers and is a very popular and highly sought after exhibit.

To order your “custom rod” or to book the Gnome’s Traveling Rod Museum for your next fishing event, contact Jeff Hatton at: gnomishrodworks@tds.net