Brookes Rods – fine handmade bamboo flyrods
Rod Building Courses in Rural France. One-week and four-week courses are available hosted by Mike Brookes.
Fly fishing is a peaceful pastime carried out in some of the most beautiful countryside in the world. It would be a shame to spoil this, by rushing about with fast-actioned "plastic" rods. Application, not perspiration is the keyword - a bamboo flyrod will do the work for the fisherman; it is the spring that propels the line and fly to its destination.
There are no real secrets to the building of my bamboo fly rods, just as there are no short cuts. The bamboo is imported from China and matured for at least 8 years in my workshop before being even considered for use as a fly rod.
Each rod is built from one culm of bamboo, split and hand planed with meticulous care. After handling each strip countless times an intimate knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of each strip is acquired.
Each handle is fabricated from the finest, flor quality, specie cut cork, selected and shaped to your own requirements. The rings are Perfection hard-chrome with snake intermediates and the reel fitting made in my own workshop from jewel-finished nickel silver. The reel seat is made from individually selected olive wood, which is sustainable and highly attractive.
Bamboo rods work best at lengths between 6 and 8½ feet, with line weights between 2 and 8. Tapers can be anything from my own semi-parabolic action to the lighter, more delicate, tip actioned Garrison or to the fast, powerful parabolics a la Charles Ritz.
Every rod I build consumes four weeks of my life and is a reflection the quality of materials and workmanship that goes into each one.
Mike Brookes
Rods are available built to order, contact me to find out more...