Making Traditional Bamboo Fishing Poles

Because of the natural flex and strength of bamboo, it is a highly suitable material for fishing poles. Traditional style cane poles use bamboo, actually classified as a grass, for the tapered rods that comprise the poles. There are many types of bamboo, but the Tonkin variety is the one typically chosen for fishing poles. Preparing the pure bamboo Tonkin cane for a pole requires several steps.

  1. Choosing the Cane

    • Tonkin cane, a type of bamboo, is used for fishing poles because it is considered to be an above-average cane for poles. Look for cane in "culms" approximately 2 inches in diameter. Culms are the raw lengths of bamboo. Choose a culm at least 6 feet in length, then use a special tool called a froe to cut the culm into six to eight rods.

    Splitting and Curing

    • Before the next step of splitting the rod blanks into sections, the rod is checked for "nodes." Nodes are small bumps or knobs on the surface of the bamboo that need to be smoothed and flattened out. Traditionally, nodes are heated over a flame and then pressed down to the center, or sanded down flat and smooth. Today, nodes are pressure sanded to smooth out the cane. After the nodes are flattened, split the rod blanks laterally into another four to six slices.

    Planing and Shaping

    • The six to eight strips made from each rod blank are placed into a special planer tool used in conjunction with a heat gun. The rod pieces are heated then placed into the grooved planer where pressure is applied and they form into V-shaped lengths. A wood planer is placed on top of the shaped strips and the edges are planed smooth and tight.

    Hexagonal Shaping

    • After the rod strips are formed and cooled, the poles are assembled by placing the V-shaped strips together, forming a hexagonal pole. Natural twines or wax-treated cotton string is wrapped around the strips to hold the hexagonal pole together.

    Baking the Poles

    • A long rod oven is used to heat and bake the hexagonal poles. The baking gives a partial fusing of the strips so the pole responds as a whole, yet gains strength from each individual strip. Heating times are part art and part science, with each bamboo pole maker using his preferred time and heat setting.

    Final Wrap

    • After the baking, the twine or cotton string is removed. The pole is put into a special threading and wrapping machine where a tight metal string is wound, sometimes in a diamond or oval design, over the pole, securing it together and ensuring the strength of the strips and pole.

    Adding Rod Guides

    • The pole is now ready for action but first goes through the detail process. This entails adding the metal fishing guide loops up the length of the pole along with a handle and reel sleeve.