Bamboo Shoots…

Satisfying, so satisfying it is when a trout rises to a fly one has tied oneself. Imagine, then, how pleased professor and bamboo rod maker, Bill, from Missouri, was when he brought a 16 lb. Chinook to the net on a bamboo rod he built himself.  Bill fished steelhead early in the day with the rod, and when we started chasing salmon, he insisted on fishing his gorgeous piece of craftsmanship for kings. An eight weight rod, the bamboo stick held up with no set despite Bill’s battling the fish a long, long time.

Bill and his university department chair, Tom, traveled to our fair state to be hosted by Ron Barch, bamboo rod maker extraordinaire.  Monday, they hunted grouse and woodcock, and on Tuesday joined me on the Muskegon. Great guys and yet another example of the collegiality so enjoyable among the fly fishing fraternity. Here Bill poses his catch while Ron shows off Bill’s bamboo.

Captain Tom Kuieck