doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Bamboo and Doubles

An Orvis rod made in Scotland, must be one rare bird, eh?[/quote


Nope, Orvis outsourced through Sharpes of Aberdeen, same impregnating process as the American made Orvis cane rods.

The past and present Brit gunmakers are to doubles as to what past and present American split cane rod makers are to rods. Both are at the top of their crafts. Gil

Silk lines used to only float for me for about 4 hours and you'd then have to turn them around or dry them and re-dress them. There are now beeswax based line treatments that will last much longer. In the western US, silk really hasnt been that much of an inconvenience. I'd just unspool the damp line onto the floor of my truck and it'd be dry when I got home. In more humid climates....maybe not.

In rods designed for them, silk line really makes the rod come alive. Fishing today actually, in New Mexico on the San Juan below Navijo Dam, but....with modern equipment (Hardy stuff).

Agree- heard a story about Harold Steele Gillum-lived in Litchfield, CT. and like Everett Garrison, was a "one man" shop producing top quality split cane rods, whereas H.L. Leonard , Thomas, and Jim Payne were more into production of rods with many very skilled workers on an "assembly line" basis. Story about "Pinky" Gillum was he was extremely secretive- worked out of his house in the basement, and when a rep. from A&F in NYC made a call on him one evening, his wife invited him in, and shouted down the stairs going to his basement shop "Harold, there's a man here to see you about your fly rods, and Pinky came up, well-worn shop apron on, and holding a 3" wide sash paint brush in hand, said: "Sorry, I was just getting ready to varnish a few salmon rods- what can I do for you!"" RWTF

Bamboo fly rods are a treat to use, as are silk fly lines (they are quite complimentary to each other). The problems I'm facing here lately are finding good places to use either. Colorado has become so-overrun with new people that all the major rivers are simply packed, and in almost all-weather, with rafters, kayakers, fishing guides & sports, and all the other general nitwits. Maybe I'm becoming just another angry old man but...when I fish I do so for the perhaps-intangible benefits of the "quality" experience and it's getting pretty hard to do that on public water out here anymore. Private water seems to be the last vestige of such an experience and I'm having a hard time paying for what I had for free that was so-good for so very-long now. In the end, I'll probably pony up the cash as I do miss it. At least hunting hasn't been so darn over-run, at least not yet. Water is such a limited resource out here, especially "quality water".

Check out “Drew lookin fishy” on youtube.
He will help you up your prospecting game.

CZ: I'll look into that, but....I'm a working stiff again these days. I don't have all the time needed to randomly prospect like I used to. I also tend to like bigger water and...they're not making anymore of that. That trip down to New Mexico last week was double-duty (I attended a celebration of life in Durango) to help justify the 8- hour drive. The cost of fishing trips has risen precipitously, as one would expect these days. $100 per man per night rooms and $35 meals out are now the average, at least here. I can do that a little cheaper (I suppose), but...the cost/benefit basis for all that is getting much tougher to justify for just a few dinky fish. Big trout are much more fun, and even the chance of hooking one is always pleasant to contemplate. Small fish don't entirely justify all of the now-added expenses to get there.

I’ll say. Got the annual TU contest mailing yesterday and the Grand Prize 5 day/5 night Alaska fishing trip for 4 (including rods, reels, and assorted gear) is valued at $35,000!

I do a week up there at a time for less than two, I can’t imagine what they would do to me for 35!

That’s not the same as renting a lodge with staff on a famous beat in Norway for a week or 10 days.

The tug is the drug.

We don’t have forever
Life turns on a dime

I know we don't have forever, but I'm juggling enough stuff these days to make me just a little frugal with my time and money. I was raised by folks who lived through the great depression and I simply can't help but be that way. I need something of a return for my investment or...it seems too-frivolous to pursue.