CRESSY CANE

A Celebration of Australian Bamboo Rodmaking

2018 Photo Gallery

Click on photos to view larger images and captions

The casting pool is well used over the weekend!

2018 Group Photo

Bob Clay talks Spey Rods

The rod comparison project gets under way

Mark Rampant - one of our passionatre two handed makers soaks up the wisdom!

David Anderson's readings are worth attending for alone!

Rods Rods Rods

Hairy and Bob talk about the merits of facial hair

Into the evening...

Graphing rods proved a valuable excercise

Tonkin and Madake bamboo

Rods Rods Rods

Cressy Cane is an intimate setting where everyone can get involved

Composite ferruels on a two hander

Rod envy - the big and the small of it

Spey Casting session with Bob Clay and Peter Hayes

Roy Wybrow, "Mr Smooth" talks two handers with Bob Clay

Casting Pool guide, Jim Morris, helps Hamish Murray christen his cane rod

Ken Bradbrook demonstrates the wooden planes that have revolutionised his rodmaking

Sunset on the casting... Whisky time!!!

Bill Lark talks about his passion, Whisky

For a teetotaller, Bob Clay showed a lot of interest in Whisky

Bill signs a bottle of Lark whisky for Kathy Clay

Marian Miller with a serious piece of glass

Hairy and Bob talk flies

Group discussion

Hollow building

Thanks to Jen Girvan and Maddie Hayes for feeding us and putting up with us!

Peter's drift boat

Madake magic! Madake was the surprise hit of the rod comparison projects. Especially Dave Hemming's Dickerson

Rod swap....

Peter Hayes talks about kinetic whips and the power of deep loading/hinging rods

Fred von Reibnitz on the casting pool

Leaping casting pool rainbow, taking midges on the wing

The sun sets on Cressy Cane. For this year. See you again soon.

Tasmania has a fishing culture!

After Cressy Cane, it's back to work. Is that for spltting bamboo Garry?

Frosty dawn on the Shannon Lagoon

Introducing Bob Clay to Tasmanian Wilderness lakes and wild brown trout.

Naoto Shibuya Kawatsura rod and reel in the Western Lakes

Peter Hayes and Bob Clay in the Western Lakes

Tasmanian Western Lakes - clear and full of wild brown trout. Catching them isn't always easy though

Tasmanian Western Lakes wild brown trout action

Bob Clay's first wild Tasmanian Brown Trout

Tasmanian Western Lakes wild brown trout action

Wombat on the Western Lakes

Wombat skull

Bob Clay gets up close and personal with an Echidna. Stright to the pool room!

Echidna

Nick and Nick with a brown trout and a brown trout, on Jeff Wagner bamboo rods

Peter Hayes with a wild Tasmanian brown on his Jeff Wagner bamboo rod.

Wild Tasmanian brown on a Jeff Wagner bamboo

Peter and Di

Harsh beauty of the Western Lakes

W......T......F!!!!!!!! Mona

G'day mate!

Tasmanian Devil

A visit to Bamboo Dave's Cane Cave

Nibbles at Di's coast house

Tasmanian Coast

Swinging wets at St Helens for Australian Salmon

Tasmanian Soldier Crabs

Tasmanian Soldier Crab

Oyster's Bob? Oh, you don't eat them. Sorry about that!

Sunset at St Helens

Introducing Bob to an Aussie "Pub Parmi"

Aussies love gambling. Bob tried but his luck was like all other gamblers.

Trout rock near Derby

River fishing in Tasmania.

Tasmanian Mayfly spinner

River fishing in Tasmania. Hard early season conditions but we got a few.

What do you get from a Tasmanian butcher? Kangaroo of course.

Bob Clay cuts up some exquisite Tasmanian woods for reelseats.

Fiddleback blackwood for reelseats and landing net handles

On the Spirit of Tasmania ferry, enroute to the mainland and home.

Program of Events

Welcome and introduction - David Hemmings

Morning Reading - Schwiebert - David Anderson

Spey Rods - Bob Clay
Bob, renowned for making bamboo Spey rods to fish the demanding waters of British Columbia, shared his knowledge and experience on the challenges and rewards of using bamboo for casting two handed rods.

Discussion of Spey Rod Tapers
Spey rods appear to transfer the energy of the cast with minimal effort from the caster. A discussion on this energy transfer and its consideration for Trout rod tapers.

Casting with Cane – Bamboo Spey - Bob Clay and Peter Hayes
The Roll cast is the foundation cast for spey casting. Peter and Bob discussed and demonstrated the elements of the cast with one and two handed rods, followed by a group session practising the "Snake Roll" single handed.

Compare and Contrast -the Dickerson 7613 and the Paul Young Perfectionist - David Anderson and Nick Taransky
At the 2017 Cressy Cane a number of makers agreed to make one or two (or three ! ) of these rods but with one difference. Eg; scarf ferrule. 4 piece, oven tempered /flame tempered. Madake Bamboo. Composite ferrule. And so on.

The process was started with a blind casting session. Tasting notes were made and formed the basis for a group discussion. This was a unique opportunity to compare, contrast and cast these very popular rods and to evaluate any of the differences.

The makers of these rods each gave a brief persentation to the group about the version made and their thoughts on the resulting rod.

A selection of rods were plotted and traced on the wall related to the tasting notes.

A detailed report is available here (TBA)

Gin and Tonic at the casting pool. Group

British Columbia Steelhead - Bob Clay
Wild big Steelhead. Startling scenery. Big rivers. Bob introduced us to his fishery. His life. His world

The 8’6” – 5 weights - Jim Morris
This group of rods seemed to have slipped under the radar. Generally, ‘parabolic’ or “fully bending” in nature these rods “cast themselves”.
The Payne 204L Phillipson Pacemaker. Heddon Premier, Granger 8040.
Jim has been experimenting with these rods which have an interesting developmental history.

The 8’6’ - 5 weights
Casting session. Once you cast these rods – you will have to make one. A beautiful rod for fishing the larger rivers or lakes.

Bamboo Ferrules - Nick Taransky and John Herriot
Nick and John lead a discussion on Bamboo ferrules. John has been experimenting with integrated ferrules and Nick with sleeve style.

Ferrule Talk. How many ways to join a rod together
Metal – Truncated. Super Swiss, Step Down.
Bamboo.
Spliced.
Composite.
One piece. Ie. no join.
Bob Clay gave an overview of his composite system for two handed rods. Jim Morris spoke about his bind-on prefabricated fibreglass ferrules.
Morgan Had Mill Overview - Bob Clay
An impromptu discussion on the history, development and uses of the MHM

Wooden Planes – would they work - Ken Bradbrook and David Anderson
Ken and David have been using Australian made wooden planes for Bamboo Rod making with surprising results. (Demonstration included )

Whisky Tasting Bill Lark

Hollow Building Cane Rods - Bob Clay
Bob has been an innovator of Hollow building. Influenced by EC Powell and involved with the development of the Morgan hand mill . Bob shared his extensive knowledge on building hollowed rods, including laying out some rod sections to discuss and demonstrate hollow building techniques.

“Rods that Cast themselves”
Peter dissected and articulated why there are some rods that do seem to ‘cast themselves’ and why other rods need greater input from the caster.

An open session to discuss any of the weekend activities.

Discussion for future workshops and feedback
Topics for consideration include a one off Autumn Cressy Cane to fish local rivers and Creeks. David Hemmings,

Gin & Tonic at Haysies Creek

2018 Cressy Cane - 5 - 7 October

2018 saw our second invited international rodmaker attend Cressy Cane - Bob Clay - from British Columbia. Bob is a renowned maker of two handed hollow built rods for Steelhead. Bob's visit was a fantastic success, and has inspired many of us to further pursue hollow building and two handed bamboo rods.

The technical focus for 2018 was a "Rod Comparison Project", where we used two tapers - the Paul Young Perfectionist, and a Dickerson 7613, and made many variations of these rods. It was quite an ambitious task, but it generated a huge amount of experimentation, discussion, and learning.

(The Program of Events for the year is listed here with the Gallery images below)