About
East Slope Rod Works - Owner, Ron Zurawell
I'm fortunate enough to have started fly fishing at an early age. I began with an early generation 'soft' graphite rod and learned to make all the necessary casts a fly fisher requires for most normal stream fishing situations.
20 years - and several generations of graphite - later, I became rather indifferent to the ultra-fast graphite rods common today. My search for a more appropriate material for fly rod construction led me to look into the history of the sport. This exercise naturally resulted in my own discovery of bamboo or 'cane' rods. My fascination with bamboo rods has grown ever since.
My introduction to fishing bamboo took a less conventional path than most. I didn't buy a used or new rod and immediately hit the river to catch fish. Instead, I purchased a new ferruled blank online and began the tedious steps of learning the art and craft of rod finishing including: straightening of blanks, installing cork grips and reel seats, wrapping guides with fine silk thread, and most importantly, varnishing and polishing of the finished rod.
The rod was a 7'6" 2pc 4wt based on a classic #100 taper of Jim Payne. The rod flexed well towards the grip and immediately forced me to slow down and become more deliberate in my casting stroke. It wasn't anything like the extremely-fast graphite rods I was used to and yet, it was exactly what I was looking for. That was fifteen or so years ago.
That first rod led to more rods being finished from blanks produced by some of America's best contemporary rod makers. About the time I finished my second or third rod from blank, I also began diversifying my rod collection by purchasing vintage 'blue-collar' rods - these are so-called as they were inexpensive, mass produced rods of mediocre or acceptable quality.
Many of these vintage rods were 50-70 years old and as such, required some level of repair or refinishing to make them ready once again for use on the water. Much of what I have learned about the craft came from the many detailed vintage rod restorations and more simple refinishing projects accomplished over the past decade.
I get a great deal of satisfaction from refinishing and restoring vintage cane and I can't begin to describe the experience of fishing bamboo rods. If you haven't already done so, experience fishing bamboo for yourself - it may just enrich your life as much as it has mine!
