What do you think about Reading Fly Shop Custom Bamboo Fly Rod Blanks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/03/2023 08:22AM by Tom Kirkman.

Is any cane/bamboo used for fly rods grown in the USA?

I don't know...??? I'm looking for info...

I have know idea, but we have enough bamboo around here (central Arkansas) to keep you stocked up for the rest of your life.

I'm not aware of any bamboo grown in the U.S. that is suitable for quality split bamboo rod blank construction.

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The only suitable Bamboo for fishing rods is imported from China, all the way back to the first bamboo rods ever built. It grows in one small area.
So that outfit on the @#$%& site, their claim of 100% made in USA, well they are probably buying the raw product, splitting, planning, glueing and doing the ferrule fitting here, hence the 100% claim.

Are they any good? Only one way to find out.

Years back I bought one of those inexpensive bamboo blanks from a different seller on that site, mine had no ferrules, but the blank was not all that great, had to be straightened, and once finally built out, it casted like crap, and took the “sets” back rather quickly. Live and learn.


The cane is graded also, so what I probably got was cane that would have been rejected by the dealers that sell to the high end builders.

Bill is correct, The cane grows in the Tonkin Gulf area of China. The whole point of my asking is that even should Phillip be able to source all made in USA components for this rod the blank still will have originated in China.

Yes, if you are going to go with a cane rod, you want cane from the Tonkin area of China. I have not heard of anyone building rods of bamboo grown in the U.S.

A cane rod could be made in the USA, and all parts sourced and made in the USA, except the high quality cane. The rod maker could get raw cane and split it and plane it in his or her U.S. shop, but the cane would not be U.S. grown.

Similarly, a graphite rod made in the USA, even if rolled here, may have graphite fiber and resin that were produced outside of the USA.

Sometimes we have to be citizens of the world!

Several of the online merchants sell bamboo blanks for $300 - $500. I would buy the blank from a reputable dealer and not that large on line emporium.

Proof has cane blanks, as does Hook and Hackle, Headwaters Bamboo, Albaugh Rod Company and Epic, to name a few.

Thank you!