A day on the Avon — the ethos behind split cane fly rods
- Chris Clemes
- May 28
- 3 min read
Film by Chalkstream Fly, used with their kind permission. Visit Chalkstream Fly at chalkstreamfly.co.uk.
A short film on a single morning on the Hampshire Avon. A 7' #3 bamboo rod in the hand, a mayfly drifting back down the bank, and the biggest trout I have ever seen on this river deciding — finally — to take.
This is the rod-and-river story for anyone wondering what a bespoke Chris Clemes split cane rod is actually like to fish with.
Why I make rods to be fished, not displayed
People put bamboo rods on a mantelpiece and think they are too fragile to fish with. They are not. They are fishing tools — built to a specification you choose: the grip, the fittings, the action, the taper, the length. If you look after one, you can pass it down for generations. That is the point.
I always wanted to fish with a cane rod. I have been fishing since I was seven years old, and bamboo rods have an aspirational appeal to every fly fisherman. They are beautiful to cast. The problem is that almost no one gets a chance to cast one before they buy — most cane rods sit behind glass cases in dealers' shops.
We do it the other way round. You come down, three rods go into your hand, and you cast each of them on the water until you know which one is yours.
The film: a 7' #3 and a Hampshire chalkstream
Stalking a trout on the opposite bank, I put the mayfly over it a couple of times. No interest at all. As I was retrieving the mayfly back down the bank — at my feet — the biggest trout I have ever seen on this river dolphined out of the water on the mayfly. Panic ensued. The fish bolted downstream and the leader caught in the branches.
I managed to bring it in. And that moment, on a 7' #3 cane rod, in tight cover, with a fish of that size, proved the rod — and quickly made it my favourite.
What this means if you are thinking about commissioning
A 7-foot, 3-weight rod is one of the most versatile small-stream and chalkstream tools we build. Short enough for tight cover, soft enough to protect fine tippet, but with the spine to bring in better fish than its line weight suggests. It is the rod I reach for on rivers like the Avon, the Itchen, the Test, and the smaller West Country streams.
If you would like to commission one, every order includes a free handmade leather rod tube and a personalised inscription. Lead time is usually one to three months. You can also see in-stock rods at our partners in London and South Africa.
Full transcript
[00:04] I always wanted to fish with a cane rod. I have been fishing since I was seven years old.
[00:15] I think bamboo rods just have an aspirational appeal to all fly fishermen. They are just beautiful to cast. No one gets a chance to cast a bamboo rod before buying them — they are behind glass cases.
[00:36] You can take someone down and put three different rods into their hands so they can really get a feel for which rod they would like to fish with.
[00:53] They have, I think, a value to them as they last. They will not be outdated. If you look after them you can pass them down for generations.
[01:15] People put bamboo rods on a mantelpiece and think that they are too fragile to fish with.
[01:22] These are fishing tools. And we help them build a rod that will meet their exact specifications when it comes to the size of the grip, the choice of the fittings, the action, the taper of the rod, the length.
[02:09] Stalking a trout on the opposite bank, put the mayfly over it a couple of times. No interest. As I was retrieving the mayfly back down the bank — at my feet — the biggest trout I have ever seen in this river…
[02:21] …It actually dolphined out of the water on this mayfly and panic ensued as it got stuck in the branches downstream. But I managed to bring it in.
[02:33] For me, it really proved the 7' #3 in those branches — and that size fish actually stood up to the test, and quickly became my favourite rod.
Film by Chalkstream Fly. Used with their kind permission. The original film is also available on YouTube at youtu.be/S67Nsd42keI.
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