All of our rivers and streams are roaring down through their valleys still, and the coming week advertises more rainfall. By midweek, I am hopeful I can sneak off to a small mountain stream with a special 6-foot bamboo rod and a single box of dry flies, but there are no guarantees. The ten-day forecast predicts nearly an inch more rain for Hancock for Tuesday through Saturday. Our total for the past week, Saturday through Saturday came to 5.49 inches of rain. Some parts of the Catskills received more. This was the kind of event necessary to replenish the springs and aquifers so degraded by the drought of 2024-25, and we all hope that Nature accomplished that goal. The Delaware system reservoirs, still unfilled a week ago, are spilling tremendous amounts of water over their dams today.
I will do my best to take advantage of this forced time away from fishing. My own rod making project will give me a place to concentrate my energies. The butt and mid-section of my three-piece Lo o bamboo rod have been glued-up and are curing. Final planing of the two rod tips lies before me.
With more than forty hours invested, I am very satisfied with my rod crafting attempt thus far. The glued sections looked very good, with nice tight glue lines, and they proved to be very straight when examined after binding. Planing the rod tips down to dimensions as miniscule as 0.035″ is intimidating. Handling must be flawless, as also the planing and final scraping to get the finished dimensions accurate to one thousandth of an inch tolerance. The winter project has grown to perhaps more than half a year!
If I succeed, there will be a great deal of work ahead. Filing and sanding the excess epoxy from the rod sections, fitting and cementing ferrules, and then mounting the handle and reel seat. Wrapping rod guides decades ago proved challenging to me, and the traditional silk thread to be used for bamboo is more difficult to work with. I hope to complete the rod this summer, and to be able to attend the Catskill Rodmakers Gathering in September with my own handmade bamboo fly rod in hand.
Bright Waters Catskill 