About Me

At my shop in Parker, Idaho, I passionately craft split bamboo fly rods, classic guitars, and my own drift boat — all born from my deep love of fly fishing. My heart belongs to the alpine landscapes of Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming, where I've spent countless days casting lines and soaking in nature's beauty. Even at 80 years old, I still enjoy backpacking adventures and the great outdoors.

There's something uniquely fulfilling about working with my hands in the shop, surrounded by friends. It's a space where creativity and friendships thrive.

I have been fly fishing since 1956, using bamboo rods earlier, and then fiberglass and graphite later. My feeling is that for rods between 6ft and 8ft long, I much prefer bamboo due to the more organic, gentler sense of touch and grace. For rods over 8ft, bamboo usually seems heavy and slow to me. This is where graphite shines. So my favorite rods are between 6ft and 8ft long. My good friend, Joe Bradley, has taught me so much in the last three years. A great mentor and coach. Thanks, Joe!


You may see from the shop photos that most of my tooling is handmade here in the shop. The planing form was a 4-week job to build and refine. Developing my own tapers has been very instructive, and a lot of fun. It's not that mine are necessarily better, but it's sort of like using hand-tied flies that you made yourself. It's just more fun.

Hand Made Bamboo Fly Rods

Beginning with bare cane poles, "culms," these are split and the narrow crooked splints are rough planed, straightened, and beveled. They are then ready to be processed on the planing form. After planing to about 20% larger than the finished dimension, the splints are bound and heat-treated. Finally, planing, scraping, and sanding followed by gluing, binding, and cleanup produces a rod blank. Once the blanks meet final dimensions, they are finished with 8 coats of hand-rubbed spar varnish. They are then ready to fit the reel seat, the grip, and the guides. The wrapping of the guides is a tedious task to me. But when that's done, we are finally holding a handmade fly rod. I build my fly rods in two or three-piece configurations, all with extra tips. My rods are supplied with a 2" PVC tube and a cotton bag. I also provide refurbishing work on older rods, including new sticks if necessary, bringing them back to their original appearance and usefulness.

Finished Rods

Contact

Email me at kentfrisby@gmail.com