Michael Herman created a fascinating video documenting how Nick Taransky’s finely crafted bamboo fishing rods are made.
It’s a tedious process overall, one that involved approximately 60 hours of work and more than 150 steps to complete a finished product.
Each fly fishing rod is made out of bamboo called Tonkin Cane, which is grown in the Kwangtung province of China.
Here’s Taransky’s take on his process:
The bamboo is flamed to give it additional strength and stiffness, and to accentuate the colors of the powerfibers and nodes. Strips are hand spilt and planed, to ensure the powerfibers are retained for the full length of each section. I turn my own grips from high grade Portuguese cork, and use the best nickel silver ferrules and reel seat hardware available from the USA. Australian hardwood burls are sourced from local supplies for use in reelseat spacers. Guides are bound with the finest Japanese silk.
