I'm a fresh water fly fisher and have been wanting to get into building my own boo rods. I enjoy catching fish on flies that I've tied and want to take that to the next level by using a fly and a boo rod that I've made myself. I have an old Governor boo rod that was given to me and while it’s a real club of a rod I do like the look and feel of the natural bamboo. I've been reading Maurer and Elser's Fundamentals of building a bamboo fly rod and watching every You Tube video that I can find. I've taken the first step and obtained 4 bars of 3/4 x 3/4 cold rolled steel along with the bolts and pins to make my own planning forms as a start. I've been looking for DIY plans for a binder and an oven but have not found anything yet. Anybody on the site that builds boo fly rods and that might want to steer/coach a wanna be boo builder? I know there is a ton to learn about this but I'm close to retiring and would love to pick it up as a new hobby.

You are about to embark on the most frustrating but ultimately rewarding experience of your life. Start with finding both books by Ray Gould - there are plans in them for binders, planing jigs and lots of other pointers that you will need. You should be able to buy them on Amazon (softcover versions). Another good source is "Fundamentals of Building a Bamboo Fly Rod" by George Maurer and Bernard Elser . There are diagrams in the back of that book as well including information on ovens and many many tips / tricks

for making forms

[www.thomaspenrose.com]

Binders

[www.bamboorodmaking.com]

in fact [www.bamboorodmaking.com] should be a good read.

[clarksclassicflyrodforum.yuku.com]

is also a good source for all sorts of bamboo information.

Chris Richer
Iroquois ON

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PM me and we can talk.