B-I suppose I had the bug from my father at a young age. He taught me some very basic skills about hand planing but I did not start using them till I was in my late 40’s for turnkeying a bamboo fly rod. Honestly I could not afford the rods that I took a liking to so out of sheer necessity I started delving into crafting my own. After making around a half dozen rods I decided that I should give some to my fishing buddies and it took off from there.
D-Have you sold many rods lately?
B- I probably have sold about a dozen or so in the last year. The economy has really put the skids on a lot of things around here in WV. Flyfishing in general has experienced some real hardships in the last few years from a retailers standpoint. I have friends in Charleston that had to lay a bunch of people off in their fly shop. Its sad but I suppose it allows everyone to sit back and realize that it cannot always be peachy and profitable like in the 90’s. I like to think of my rod making venture as a slow and blossoming personal quest. I have a small group of guys down south that keep me busy making not only trout rods but bamboo panfish rods both for baitcasting and flyfishing. I’d say 60 percent of the rods I’m currently making are for smallmouth and panfish. They really go for rods such as these in the state of Texas too. Whereas a trout rod may not float their boat as much.
D-What kind of tapers have inspired you in regards to warm water bamboo rods?
B- Some of the more renown parabolic makers such as Paul Young have great tapers for heavier bushy fly’s. Some of his Para series can be really tweaked and beefed up to make great Smallie or Largemouth rods. Paul Young tapers have a lot of reserve power so if you start out with his taper dimensions and push the numbers around a bit what you end up with is a really great warm water rod suitable for many kinds of fish especially carp when you get it up to 8 and 9 weights. I just made a carp bamboo fly rod for a gentleman down south, its a 9wt. and he really is a carp specialist at heart but also loves the bamboo feel.
D- Do you have any recommendations for a guy like myself that wants to build his first warm water rod?
B- Most definitely break out of the trout mindset when it comes to taper design. Think about how and where you want to use the rod and most of all the fly’s you wish to use.Expore tried and true heavier tapers and don’t be afraid to beef them up a bit for Largemouth or Carp on the fly. Take risks and enjoy the journey.
D- Thanks Bob.
Bob Henderson has now been making rods coming on fifteen or so years for both warm water and cold water fishers. He made his first set of forms out of kiln dried hickory and still uses them to this day. He’s a sworn “West Virginia Boy” who “would rather spend time on the water than in church”.
