Vintage Hardy bamboo rod find?

[MikeLove]

I have been fishing winston boron rods and find thay they shoot line well and are very Light. However I come upon a nicely refurbished 8 ft Hardy split bamboo rod from the 30's. It loads well with a silk wt fly line. However the snake eyes and the other eyes are so small it doesn't shoot line very well. Are bamboo rods of that era not design with shooting line. Could you suggest a different line to help. MikeLove

 

[Joni]

The guides are small because Silk line is so much smaller in diameter than lines of today. That is what this rod was made for. Even the new SYLK by Cortland is a smaller diameter trying to creat that same feel.
I would suggest trying the Cortland, but there are several companies that still make Silk. It is going to be a chunk of change, but if you take care of it it will last a very long time.
How far do you want to cast, by the way?

 

[MikeLove]

Joni, I had on hand a cortland sylk, yellow 6wt wf fly line that I bought some time back. I cleaned it yesterday and plan on trying it again.. However last night I took my b2x out and fished my deer hair mouse and caught a few bass..Having never fished bamboo I just didn't know what to expect. It has a much slower action than I am used to fishing, but seems to handle the line very well up close inside 30 feet.. when stripping streamers I am able to fish the b2x out to 50 or 60 feet fairly easy.. I just noticed that I was having to work a little harder to shoot the line through those little eyes.. Thank you mike.

 

[Joni]

I don't know about you, but using slower rods like bamboo and glass has made me a better caster. I have to slow way down and smell the roses.
There is no room for error like with a faster rod.
I recently got a Mike McFarland 9' 3 piece 5wt. GTX graphite. Real close to that Loomis GLX, but Mike put a little more umff in the tip. This thing cast close, cast far, it does everything!