The Second European Bamboo Rodmaking Gathering was held in the middle of Switzerland in the lovely village of Sarnen on the week-end of 25 through 27 September 2009.


Our Swiss friends organized it perfectly in the rowing sport center by lake Sarnen a few kilometres from Lucern.
Just over 100 people from all over Europe met again in a beautiful Autumn weather to exchange knowledge, experiences and cheers, thus confirming this event as the highlight of the bamboo rod making arena in Europe.

For the first time we had one guest from the UK, while a few new visitors approached us during the event .

Christian Diacon and wife came from France. The majority of people, were old friends from the first informal gathering with the Swiss, Italian and German rodmakers - also held at the same place in Sarnen - back in 2006 and the following gatherings in Waischenfeld, Germany (2007) and Sansepolcro, Italy, (2008).



We can certainly say that, well a century and a half into the making of the modern fishing tackle era, the "Renaissance" of bamboo fishing rods and bamboo rod making is alive and striving. Our friend Christian confirmed us that also in France there is a recent renewed interest in this tradition once very rooted in his country.


The beauty of these gathering, and in Sarnen it was respected again, is that all information is shared and that part-time rodmakers can meet in a friendly, intimate atmosphere with real trade artisans such as Rolf Baginski (Germany), Robert Stroh (Germany), Christian Strixner (Germany), Bjarne Vries (Danemark), Larry Tusoni (USA), Jerry Kustich (USA), Nick Hughes (South Africa, based in Switzerland). Andy Royer (USA), our bamboo broker, also attended the event with his daughter...leaving us all at first disconcerted because of his new beardless look and a pony tale: too much time spent with bamboo rodmakers, he explained.

This second gathering was structured almost exclusively around workshops. However, these were not mere how-to stations, but real work places where a complete sequencing of bamboo fishing rods building was in place. As a result, a three pieces rod, " C.C. de France of Hardy" was created and given as price in the final raffle which concluded the week-end.
The workshops began on Saturday morning with the splitting of bamboo culms, and continued with the straightening of the nodes, binding and tempering the strips, and down till the very end stage of varnishing and signing which happened on the following Sunday morning. The rod was made in a record time of just one and half day by an international group of 33 rodmakers. Understandably, 33 people working on the same rod and applying all possible different techniques and tools for each building phase as an educational exercise (Note at bottom of paragraph)) could not end up in the very essence of a precision cane rod (we, for instance, randomly measured over 10 hundreds of an cm of differences in the mid section of the rod), but the exercise could perfectly illustrate the simple yet manifold world of building bamboo fishing rods.


Opposite to the splitting area and at same moment, another large group of people surrounded Mr Ferdi Wenziger working at the lathe and making nickel-silver ferrules. Mind: by drilling and not turning the original silver-steel piece. A high precision work perhaps to be attempted by the most experienced craftsmen. As always, it might look easy but it's not a trouble-free task.


Claudio and Luciano said that many rings get broken in the making, since natural stones are unpredictable and have anisotropic properties. Once the ring is ready, it's then soldered in an equally handmade framework. The whole process can take two hours or more for just one agate stripping guide. The job is frustrating, says Luciano, "because perhaps you are a good half an hour into drilling, that the agate ring falls apart and you have to start all over again". Other times " I lost one or two finished agate rings which fell on the floor and so I realized I had to have a soft rubber mat on the bench to prevent occasional bouncing and loosing!" Sounds familiar, isn't it? You learn at your expenses all little details of your craft. Claudio was the first IBRA member to go along this path, alone, and out of his home workshop. "Buy the more expensive but best quality tools, you will never regret it" he gave us as an advice. A remarkable achievement, by both Luciano and Claudio whose work was very well received by many fellow bamboo fishing rods makers. By the way, Luciano Oltolini's agate stripping guides can be seen and purchased through Alberto Poratelli's website (www.aprods.it) ...just for those who asked to buy some.


Another innovative workshop was carried out by Kurt Zumbrunn: how to make handmade grips of birch tree bark for bamboo fishing rods. The craft of using birch tree bark to make basketry and other objects has a long tradition but it was the first time that it was presented in our rodmaking circle in a step-by-step way. The first stage is to staple little squares of birch tree bark around a long bolt , then gluing them together and finally work them down on the lathe. The grip has a smooth, very pleasant touch. The weight is slightly heavier than natural cork, but aesthetically, the distinct colouring of each ring and the unique natural pattern which result have a tremendous impact on the viewer. We, on the other side, immediately thought of other materials or uses which could be invented to sake of bamboo fishing rods....





Jaroslav Vecko wanted to become an engraver in his native Czechoslovakia when , like many of his countrymen, fled to Switzerland in the aftermath of the Prague Spring of 1968. Engraving is the art of manually drawing and chiseling in metal to make either prints or stand-alone masterpieces like those "carvings" or "drawings" you can see on knife handles, guns, rifles...and, yes, even ferrules and reel holders The task is daunting since no mistake is allowed. Many years of practice are necessary to master this magnificent fine craft. Today, the best schools are in Belgium and Italy. Jaroslav demonstrated us how to engrave a ferrule by using a special turning vise and a hand graver. The picture on the left is made by a professional Belgian handgraver, reportedly, and it sits on a Philippe Sicher's bamboo fishing rod. Jaroslav is also an avid bamboo fishing rods maker and has been showing up in all our gathering asd well.



By means of this test, one can compare rods (and bamboo fishing rods) independently from line, length and material. Beginners and interested anglers could then use it before buying a new rod knowing what they are looking for. Mr Reim also developed a test to measure the speed of a rod but we do not enter into it in detail in this article.
The declared target is to have this system adopted as THE worldwide standard by rod manufacturers. Besides, more and more people are recognizing its importance. "The test is as simple as effective, so what could be against it?", say the two entrepreneurs? More about their test at www.solitip.de and soon also in English (www.solitip.com ).



Terenzio Zandri and Gianluca Nocentini have become a fixed presence of our gatherings. Again their beautiful flies made out of a special loom, the hook vertically placed, created a sensation. But Terenzio is also known for his famous silk line. To learn more about Terenzio, check his website www.terenziosilklines.com .
I already spoke about Terenzio in another part of my website two years ago. Here is the link.




Larry Tusony, whom we met in Sansepolcro a year ago, gave a speech on Sunday morning explaining the new features of his popular software - and taper data base- "RodDna" which has now reached version 1.4. Larry was also busy in the workshops, on the planning form, on the excellent professional TORMEK Water Cooled Sharpening System and giving a demonstration on how to sharpen blades and was a very active all trough the gathering. I remember his delightful 4 pieces bamboo fishing rods, very nice to carry around. He had one again with him while in Sarnen.


Fly Reels were again presented by aficionados of this craft like Waldemar Nowak (www.flyfishingdesign.de) who makes beautiful "S-shaped" reels (at wish also engraved or scrimshawed), Wolfhard Schulz, the both from Germany and Markus Rohrbach (Switzerland).

We met Wolfhard for the first time in Waischenfeld in 2007. With a direct mentoring of Joe Janciuras who lives in the USA, Wolfhard has been gradually trying to reproduce Edward vom Hofe reels, the only person in Europe!


Markus Rohrbach of Swiss Tackle, a mechanical engineer, exhibited his beautiful fly reel and the new tippet dispenser. He said "All started in 1999 when I first build the prototype of the dispenser for myself. After using it for a while friends were asking for it and I decide to produce a small series for them in 2000. After that I started the reel project and sold the first reel at the end of the year 2003 to the USA and another 15 piece to Japan" His reels and tippet dispensers are available to try at next gathering and of course on his website
( www.swisstackle.ch ).


Cheerful Daniel Hoda (http://hoda-bamboo-rods.ch) , always present since the beginning of our gatherings, showed a spinning bamboo fishing rod along with his beautiful fly fishing rods.



The variety of the workshops and presentations did not finish here. Along with bamboo fishing rods and reels, the Swiss entomologist Heinz Suter, provided a magnificent display of aquatic insects. A masterful work which could be easily placed in a Natural Museum without doubt!



As we said, the gathering finished with a raffle. Many prices were on the table including the bamboo fishing rod which had just being finished and provided with a document with all 33 names of people involved in the making. We left Sarnen after lunch together in a nice, autumn sunshine.




...and what is next?

The third European gathering will be held in Witten, Germany, not far from Dortmund, North Rhine Westphalia, in the middle of September 2010 and it will be organized by Gerd Peter Wieditz - Gerd is an important figure in Germany with nearly 30 years of bamboo fishing rods making experiences- like our Walter Rumi -. Gerd was also the first person to organize rodsmithing courses in Germany in cooperation with the firm Dick. He also contributed to fly fishing articles and books and is often seen in the most important fly fishing events.

Alessandro
(more on www.upon-bamboo-fly-fishing-rods-and-reels.com)