| Robert Traver on Cane Rods By Robert Traver Robert Traver AKA John Voelker's Essay on Cane Rods. John Voelker was the embodiment of the best of Fly Fishing. If you haven't read his books you should, and quickly. |
I am now reluctantly satisfied that glass fly rods are mechanically the equal
of and perhaps often perform better than the best bamboo rods. Not only
that, they are more reasonable in price; require little or no care; and
apparently last forever. I'll concede all that, but never will I let another glass
fly rod darken my door. Put it down, if you will, to a burst of girlish sentiment
of the heart or middle-aged sediment on the kidneys - I'll take split bamboo.
To my mind there is no fairy wand in creation more graceful and beautiful
than a good bamboo fly rod. They look so good; they feel so good. Like
fingerprints, no two bamboo rods are alike; each is an individual possessed
of its own unique character and one that a fisherman can really get to know.
But these gleaming impersonal glass rods that some chemist has conceived
in a laboratory out of skimmed milk and old box tops, these synthetic
concoctions that are turned out on an assembly line as much alike as two
peas in a pod, simply aren't for me. I'd sooner cast over glass fish than use
one. I love my bamboo fly rods and I choose to think they have a sneaking
yen for me. But I'm afraid I can never quite fall in love with a chemist's
incestuous brain child. In short 'tis a pox I wish on all glass rods. (Adv.: I'll
sell you a dandy for five bucks.) ~ Robert Traver
Credits: Excerpt from Traver On Fishing (Trout Madness 1960) Published by
Lyons Press.
of and perhaps often perform better than the best bamboo rods. Not only
that, they are more reasonable in price; require little or no care; and
apparently last forever. I'll concede all that, but never will I let another glass
fly rod darken my door. Put it down, if you will, to a burst of girlish sentiment
of the heart or middle-aged sediment on the kidneys - I'll take split bamboo.
To my mind there is no fairy wand in creation more graceful and beautiful
than a good bamboo fly rod. They look so good; they feel so good. Like
fingerprints, no two bamboo rods are alike; each is an individual possessed
of its own unique character and one that a fisherman can really get to know.
But these gleaming impersonal glass rods that some chemist has conceived
in a laboratory out of skimmed milk and old box tops, these synthetic
concoctions that are turned out on an assembly line as much alike as two
peas in a pod, simply aren't for me. I'd sooner cast over glass fish than use
one. I love my bamboo fly rods and I choose to think they have a sneaking
yen for me. But I'm afraid I can never quite fall in love with a chemist's
incestuous brain child. In short 'tis a pox I wish on all glass rods. (Adv.: I'll
sell you a dandy for five bucks.) ~ Robert Traver
Credits: Excerpt from Traver On Fishing (Trout Madness 1960) Published by
Lyons Press.
RKP Cane Rods
989 348 2435
rkp@rkpcanerods.com
989 348 2435
rkp@rkpcanerods.com