SHOP NOTES | C.J. BOVA RODS

I often get asked what is your favorite part of making bamboo fly rods? I typically respond by saying “fishing them”. My follow up response is simply “handling the cane”. There are many ways to experience the process of making a fly rod I choose to experience it without the use of tapering bevelers, gang saws, and a crew of craftsmen. The final result is typically a great rod of some kind either way. I just choose to experience the process in a more intimate way when it involves splitting, straightening, and planing. I have used all of the above mentioned equipment at one time or another but I feel when I do I have missed out on the real joy of making a cane rod. I always have accepted the merits of using more machinery but I don’t experience the same level of intimacy with the cane when I do. Experiencing every inch of a spline and its given nodes track around in my head at night like an endless ticker tape. After all we are not fighting cane monsters we are simply manipulating a raw ...

There's a dreamy river flowing Down the street from my house I walk down there after work But I paddle my way home There's a dreamy river flowing On every street corner in the world And if that young moon is in the sky She'll wink at you and let you pass by There's a dreamy river flowing From my refrigerator into my mouth It only costs a few dollars To keep those shelves stocked There's a dreamy river flowing From my mouth into my gut There's a dreamy river flowing From my wank into the street There's a dreamy river flowing In my mind as I lay to sleep There's a dreamy river flowing From a town I've never been to Across this great country And also from overseas Sometimes from people's kitchens Transversing time and space I float down this river Every night and day There's a dreamy river flowing From the hops and the malts and sugar I call it my brother, I call it my wife ...

There are often moments within a fishing season where time is better spent walking with a youngster down to your favorite piece of water. Simplicity is always better, just handing him or her a few fly’s will make their day that much more memorable. Find a knot that they are comfortable with and find a fish that they can remember for years to come. Sounds a bit sentimental but honestly it really does make a difference especially if the youngster has no father to speak of. His father may have been shipped off to Afghanistan and has nobody to drive him to a stream let alone have someone to go fishing with. It is a simple act of kindness that goes a very long way. It may be your next door neighbors kid, it may be a single mothers child, or it may even be your own son or daughter. Sharing your time is a God given gift and fishing’s “fine simplicity” accounts for many priceless moments of discovery. Take a little one to the river its never too late in the season.   Fishing is much...

19" Mad River Brown August 2010 Caught on a #22 Black Quill Trico  Spinner Above rod: My Tecumseh 7'6" 5wt. The dog days of summer can prove to be frustrating and tedious to say the least especially if your efforts are put to the test with the dry fly. Early bird catches the trout, long leaders with 6x and 7x tippet, and size 20 and smaller Trico patterns will prove to pay big dividends. The saying “adversity introduces a man to himself” is the moment to moment mantra especially if you happen to see a surface pecking 20 inch brown. Chunky Browns sipping Tricos in 10 inches of clear water in a slow and spooky pool is what gets my heart pumping. This is usually during daybreak so the shadows and contrast are a bit deceiving adding to the level of difficulty. Taking a downstream position with a trico spinner at this time of year early in the morning proves successful, but drop a #16 something or another can clear out an entire pool. Hoppers are a crap shoot because you onl...

Tripoli otherwise known as rottenstone I have found is my tried and true method of polishing bamboo fly rods. A mixture of boiled linseed oil and tripoli seems to always bring a smile to my face when I first mix it up. It is a bit archaic I suppose but I'm funny that way especially when it comes to finishes. I connect the smell of linseed and tripoli to a sense of completion and when the new owner pulls the rod out of the case he or she can actually smell the level of detail as well. Many rods are finished with satin type varnishes (silica imbued matting agents) but the act of polishing a rod using traditional methods gives me a deeper layered finish. I find that I can spot the silica finishes and they look somewhat artificial even though they are a time saver for many rod makers. Then again I mix my own spar concoction so my process already is a bit more labor intensive. There are many ways to skin a cat but the tripoli treatment just rings true for me. ~Clint Bova

I have spent my life up till now earning a modest wage using my hands. I don't care if you make yo-yo's, knives, smoking pipes, illustrations, or furniture. If it comes from your bench, drawing board, or cave and it is handled by your hands from natural materials of earth origin and you transform the raw into something “usable” or “artful” it is one of a kind . This has been a topic of heated discussion since Robert Henri wrote “The Art Spirit”. He took a lot of heat in the 1920's and his students questioned and pondered many of his excerpts. Wabi-Sabi refers to natures fingerprint on natural earth born materials. The persona of the wabi-sabi aesthetic include asperity , simplicity, modesty, intimacy, genuineness, and the suggestion of natural processes . Craftsman have made peace with their chosen medium's natural state. My motto has always been~“we cannot control Mother Nature but we can complement her best intentions”. That's complement spelled with an “e...