Leland on Eden Cane Bamboo Fly Rods
The art of building fine bamboo fly rods
has risen to new heights during the last decade. Although comparing the
works of old masters will always be a popular topic amongst
bamboo aficionados, frankly, there are so many more talented hobbyists
and builders producing impressive rods these days, it’s almost
frightening! Modern bamboo rod makers not only have the advantage of
being able to pour over all the tapers, designs, and methodologies
employed by masters of years past, but they also have the added
advantages of modern adhesives and finishes, modern tools, quality cane
availability and lighter and stronger hardware at their disposal.
Bernard Ramanauskas of Eden Cane
is one of these modern makers who has arrived at the pinnacle of the
bamboo rod art form. His success is based , firstly, on his ability to
push the engineering limits in evoking every bit of possible efficiency
from the beautiful cane that he works with, and, secondly, his flawless
and tasteful execution of design and craftsmanship.
Bernard has received much acclaim for his “node-stabilized”
SC Cane Series that he builds for the Scott Rod Company
. Leland is the
largest volume
Scott Dealer
in the nation, so we sell more than a few of Bernard’s rods already.
But the Eden Cane bamboo fly rods, with completely nodeless
construction, are, again, another story.
About the Builder
Bernard Ramanauskas
(pronounced ram–man-AWS-cuss) was raised on the plains of Canada and
took up fishing at an early age in the waters of Alberta and British
Columbia. A retired doctor friend hired Bernard to tie flies for his
various fishing trips, and he soon took Bernard under his wing,
teaching him the intricacies of fly casting with various fly line and
rod combinations. His interest and passion for fly fishing led him on.
One day, the retired
doctor brought out an armload of bamboo fly rods and handed them to
Bernard. “These belonged to my grandfather”, he said, “I want you to
fix them for me.” Bernard’s desire to learn,
coupled with his previous engineering and woodworking experience led
him to research every aspect of making these old, revered bamboo rods
whole again. And, eventually, the old man got his rods back.
The ensuing years in his quest for perfection
have led Bernard to the very pinnacle of the bamboo rod makers’ craft
in a fairly short order. Influenced by earlier masters such as H.S.
Gillum and F.E. Thomas, Bernard fanaticism for trout fishing and rod
building led him on his pursuit of developing construction methods, and
new tapers, to wring every last bit of performance possible from the
finest cane available. His unique, time consuming node-less
construction technique removes the weakest 18% of the bamboo and
replaces it with pure power fibers. Bamboo nodes, or “rings”, have
vexed bamboo rod builders throughout history. Traditionally, these
nodes have been variously staggered or spiraled throughout a split
bamboo rod by a designer to distribute these inherent weaknesses as
evenly as possible throughout the taper. The unpredictability of this
methodology contributes to the fact that individual rods of the same
taper, from the same maker, may differ in how they feel and how they
cast, leading one to the notion that one is more “magical” than the
other. Well, Bernard isn’t trying to take the magic out of bamboo. In
fact, his magic involves taking out the historic, unpredictable
weakness and replacing it with predictable all-natural power. In Eden
Cane rods, these weakling nodes are completely cut out. Long, large
surface area scarf joints, hidden within the rod, are fused together
with space-age adhesives. These sections are then arrayed in the same
order that they naturally occurred on the bamboo culm; power fibers
smoothly abutting brother power fibers. The stunning result is a
dynamic taper that is incredibly smooth, light, and powerful.
Hey, but don’t take our word for it.
Those that are highly regarded in the fly fishing community have made
comments about Eden Cane bamboo rods that are usually reserved for
revered bamboo rod builders that have been in the ground for some
decades. Comments like;
'The best cane rods I've fished…..smooth as crème anglaise.'
James R. Baab, Author and Editor of 'Gray's Sporting Journal’
'As close to flawless as human hands can get'
Buzz Bryson writing for ‘Fly Rod & Reel’ magazine
'Casts like a dream...'
Ed Engle, Author and Field Editor of 'Fly Fisherman' magazine
'The smoothest I've ever cast ...a legend in the making.'
Len Codella, former Owner of Thomas and Thomas Rod Company and owner of Len Codella’s Sporting Collectibles
'Dead sexy rods… the answer to the question, ‘Why bamboo?'
Zach Matthews writing for ‘American Angler’ magazine
'Brings power to cane without sacrificing the elegance, feel, or response ...'
Tim Murrell writing for ‘Men’s Journal' magazine
'Bamboo that outperforms Space Age competitors...'
Grayson Schaffer writing for ‘Outside’ magazine
Need we say more? You simply have to hold and cast and fish an Eden Cane fly rod to fully appreciate what bamboo can do.
Eden Cane Rods have been recognized for their excellence by the following awards;
Winner of GRAY’S BEST AWARD for 2008 ‘Gray’s Sporting Journal’ (the only time this ward has honored a bamboo fly rod)
Winner of the BEST GEAR AWARD 2007 ‘Outside’ magazine
Winner of the GEAR OF THE YEAR 2007 Award ‘Men’s Journal’ magazine
Eden Cane on Eden Cane
Eden Cane is the only production split cane fly rod manufacturer in the world specializing in nodeless construction. In fact, it's all we do.
Nodeless
construction requires the removal of all the growth rings found
naturally in every culm of bamboo. The removal of these rings creates a
very crisp casting action, enabling us to build extremely sensitive
casting equipment.
Eden Cane began by
building nodeless rods while still utilizing some of the best classic
taper designs ever developed. These classic tapers were handed down
from one generation of fine rod makers to another, each maker
reproducing or expanding upon the wealth of information available at
the time.
We soon discovered
that conventional taper design did not fully exploit all the advantages
that nodeless construction had to offer. Rods made without nodes are
slightly faster than their conventional counterparts. By taking full
advantage of this lighter blank-to-line size ratio it became possible
to create new proprietary taper designs.
Every Eden Cane rod
series has been, and continues to be, extensively field-tested by some
of the fishing industry's greats. Our effort has been rewarding, and
rewarded. 'Gray's Sporting Journal' recently honored us with a 'Gray's
Best' award, the first ever given for split cane.
Bernard Ramanauskas , Master Builder
