"If you ain't fish'n cane, you ain't fish'n"                                                  

 
                                                                                                         






High Desert Fly Rods

Boise,Idaho



Expensive? Relatively speaking, yes, however, you do not buy a quality bamboo fly rod from a shelf or catalogue.
It is hand crafted for you, personally, with your name on it and, with my help, is built to your specifications. It is a
fly rod that you can treasure , have fun with, be proud of, and will provide a lifetime of enjoyment.
In addition, this meaningful fishing instrument can be passed down in your family for generations.

I cannot, for the life of me, understand the misconceptions out there about bamboo rods. 90 percent of the critics I have talked with have never casted a well made bamboo fly rod. They attribute their dislikes to their experiences with rods that are absolutely inferior to the kind of bamboo rod I am talking about. Unfortunately for them, these people close their minds, and in fact, even get hostile, about accepting the opportunity of  trying the kind of rod I make. When attending seminars I hear comments such as "they will break" I have had far more failures with graphite rods personally. Most folks equate bamboo rods with the ones their fathers or grandfathers owned. Many of these were mass produced, incorrectly heat treated, and inferior glues and ferrules were used in their production, thus failure in these rods was common place. In addition, many of them cast like pool cues because of their length and weight. The finer rods made today are a different breed. They are light, responsive, and durable. They have a feel that cannot be described. That feel is mostly detected in the way the rod loads and in the pressure felt on the forward cast. The accuracy is exceptional. Some of the finest certified casting instructors will often give one of their difficult students a bamboo rod to get them on track because they can feel the loading, which is so detectable in a good bamboo fly rod. If your back cast sucks, your forward cast will suck as well.

Another belief of the misled, is that bamboo rods are toys and only to be taken out fishing occasionaly to have a little fun with. This belief is a bit right because those who are uninformed mention fun. This is the key word. The rods are great fun and when I have fun, I want more of it. Toys? Yes, they could be called toys, however a more suitable word would be tools for the precise pursuit of fish.

I get a kick out of the extremely high prices gathered by some of the rods that came from the old "bamboo houses". Some of these rods are exceptional, but for the most part collectors have driven up the prices to astronomical levels for these rods which are actually mediorce fishing instruments. Collectors seldom fly fish, or if they do, few of them are accomplished at it. I have a rod collection that I am proud of, they look great on the wall and are fun to brag about, however, only two or three of them are worthy of fishing compared to the rods I make, as well as some of the rods my competitors build.

The best advice I could give, if you want to take fly fishing to another level, is to keep an open mind and ask questions from a competant bamboo fly rod builder. That is to say, one that has built at least 40 to 50 fly rods and understands tapers to the extent that he understands how to manipulate those tapers in order to arrive at a rod that acts as you wish. There are some builders out there that simlpy download tapers from the Internet and try to fit those tapers to their customers needs. Also, beware of purchasing bamboo fly rods offered by folks who sell Chinese rods from fancy web sites at rock bottom prices. If you do want one of those rods, I can supply them at wholsale prices. They are okay as entry level rods if your budget is restricted. You should not spend over $350.00 to 400.00 for a two piece two tip rod such as this. By far, the better choice would be to visit a quality builder and cast at least 10 of their various rods and get to know how to make one of them operate. Select the one that pleases your style. I have changed my liking in bamboo fly rods several times. I am lucky enough to own somewhere in the neighborhood of 35 fly rods, but my first choice would be a 7' 4 wt. and next I would want to own an 8' 4 to 5 wt. in case I wanted to fish really big water and was in pursuit of fish in access of 6 lbls. I f you are willing to do these things, I think you will join many of my customers in saying " Wow, I really like these rods". If you are willing to take that step I am sure that you will be pleased, unless, perhaps, a quality bamboo fly rod is just not for you. I don't have anything against graphite rods, (I have fished them since 1972) nor do I have a horse in the race to promote bamboo fly rods for monetary gain. I do not make these rods in order to pay my light bill. I just love to make them and fish them.







Quality, hand crafted, bamboo fly rods by
Scott Nilsson
208 562 0612



Private rod building classes are available

You should invest the time and money to get the wonderful experiece that this student describes during his trip to Boise. He had, to say the least, an eye opening experiece
of the capabilities of the fly rods I am so proud to make.

My classes cost $875.00 which includes an friendly, informal, but intense method of instruction. If you are handy with tools and a fast learner, you will produce a fly rod that you will thoroughly enjoy. You will begin by casting all of my rods to select the one that feels best to you and suits your kind of fishing. We will then select a culm, split it, and I will lead you through every step to finish the rod. My students usually shoot video and take detailed notes of each step. The length of the class is 6 days, however several students have decided to stay 10 days in order to make an additional blank that they can finish at home. I do not charge extra for additional time spent. I only charge for additional parts required for a second rod. The extra time is also valuable to learn how to wrap the silk and varnish the first rod, which can extend beyond the 6 days.  Most times there is enough bamboo left from the first rod to make the second.
I have gotten along so well with most students, that I invite them to stay here in my home instead of paying hotel expense. They most often then, share grocery expense. If your schedule does not allow you to stay more than 6 days, I will finish your rod at a nominal cost and ship it to you.



Building a Bamboo Fly Rod


In 1954 for my twelfth birthday my father gave me his old steel pull-out fly rod and ever since fly-fishing has been one of my passions.

My friend’s father who would often invite me to fish with them had a bamboo rod that he could cast further than any other fly-fisher person I knew at that time and I promised myself back then that one day I would own such a fine rod.

Many decades later having an arsenal of steel, fiber-glass and carbon fiber rods I decided that it was now time to acquire a bamboo rod, but I not only wanted to own one, I wanted to build it my self.

Having retired two years ago in 2005 I thought the time was now right for me to take up my desire to build a cane rod. I started searching the internet for bamboo fly rod builders who would be prepared to teach me the rudiments of this fine art. Having read a number of books on the restoration and the fundamentals of building a bamboo rod from scratch, I had a fair idea of what I was letting myself in for.

So what made me choose ‘High Desert Fly rods’ for this experience?

Maybe it was the promptness that Scott Nilsson came back to me, or just his straight talk on the phone that made me want to go with High Desert Fly Rods. Well, what ever it was I believe I made the right choice to go all the way out to Boise in Idaho from Philadelphia to spend time with Scott building a superb cane rod.

From the minute I arrived at Scott’s home it was down to business. He came out with a dozen or so bamboo rods for me to cast out on the lawn. From the second I cast one I was convinced that bamboo was now the only way to fly-fish. After much deliberation I eventually decided that I would like to build a 7 ft 4wt two piece rod as this rod felt like an extension to my arm.

Although having read quite a bit about bamboo fly rods I had not realized the amount of work and attention to detail that is needed in building such a masterpiece, and a masterpiece it certainly is as every one is unique, no two bamboo rods can ever be exactly the same and that’s what makes them so special.

During the time I spent with Scott building my rod I found him to be attentive and helpful in all respects and a stickler for detail. “If it’s not done correctly then it’s not done right” and you start again. I now know why these rods cost so much and I can now appreciate that fact.

Working with Scott was a pleasure and I found him to be very open and more than willing to share his experiences and rod building know-how with me. I took loads of pictures and made half a book of notes and sketches.

It was a proud moment when I finally took the finished product it in my hand and cast it out on the lawn. I believe that in building it yourself it means so much more to you and you will treasure it for years to come as you have put part of your heart and soul into it and it becomes almost a living thing, one day maybe it will become an heirloom.

Yours truly,

Terry F. Grills
terry-tucker@hotmail.com