Bring Back The Cane

Clark Colman explores the history and construction of split-cane fly rods and asks: is there still a place for cane within the running water flyfisher’s armoury?

- Clark Colman

Nowadays, working your way up or down a river or stream with a split-cane fly rod can attract quizzical glances from fellow anglers wielding more familiar carbon or graphite equivalents. Some will regard your continued use of cane as an affectation at best and a stubborn refusal to move with the times at worst. However, such views might just soften a little if you place a cane ‘wand’ in their hands and give them a few minutes to try it out. I did this recently, with a superb guiding client from Australia, and couldn’t help but smile at the pleasantly surprised reaction that followed.

“I expected it to weigh a ton and bend like a steamed noodle, but this one’s really light and crisp!”

Most split-cane fly rods are, admittedly, a little heavier than those built from carbon or graphite and offer the soft, all-through or full-flex action with which they’ve long been associated. They may not, therefore, be quite as easy on the arm and wrist over the course of a day on the water, or be as capable of  delivering the kind of high tip speed, high line speed, tight loops and quick recovery that many of us look to the very latest in rod materials and designs for. However, for those whose fishing circumstances, preferred techniques and casting style suit them, traditional-action cane rods are a joy to use.

Investing in a modern split cane rod with a traditional action precludes the kind of damage risks inherent in taking an older rod to the water, while advancements in material sourcing and construction techniques have also enabled current craftsmen to produce models that not only look just as, if not more, beautiful as those of yesteryear, but which have many of the snappier performance characteristics that we’ve come to expect of carbon or graphite. So just how far have cane rods come since their earliest days? I’ll be using this two-part feature to try and find out…