For fishermen, his crafted rods cast a spell

Per Brandin of Shelburne Falls crafts split-cane bamboo rods for fly fishing. Brandin, who isn't taking any new orders, charges several thousand dollars for each rod he makes. (CHRISTINE PETERSON FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE)

A $4,950 fishing rod might sound expensive to some, but there are plenty of trout-savoring fishermen who will pay this whale of a price for one of Per Brandin's custom-made split-cane bamboo fishing rods. There are so many Brandin bamboo fishing rod fans, in fact, that there used to be a wait of seven to nine years - but now, this fishing rod craftsman has closed off the list and isn't taking any new orders.

Once you pay thousands of dollars for a handcrafted tapered rod, though, the key question is: Do the fish really know the difference? "In a rational way, I'd have to say 'no', " says Brandin, who has a reputation as one of the industry's top makers of hollow-built rods, regarded by many fly fishermen as having exceptional casting ability. "And if fish could tell the difference, that would imply they knew they were being fished for, and then they wouldn't take your fly anyway."

In an age of high-tech graphite fishing rods, bamboo fly rods are a flashback to the World War II era, when almost all anglers carried these flexible wooden rods while plying sparkling rivers and brooks. Despite the growth of lightweight and durable synthetic rods, bamboo fly rods are undergoing a renaissance, with a loyal following of fishermen who swear by the craftsmanship and simple nostalgia of these painstakingly built rods. "I always fish with bamboo rods because it has a feel unlike any other material," says Brandin. "There's a connection with the rod, and it's a beautiful object as well."

What's the biggest fish that's been caught with one of your rods?
For me personally, it was a 20-pound steelhead, caught on the Morice River in British Columbia. While fishing in the Florida Keys, I also had three tarpons up to the boat, they were between 60 and 90 pounds, but I never actually landed them.

So if I go out and buy one of your rods, I'll be more likely to catch a fish?
I can't say that for sure. But, I will say that trout, in particular, have a very primitive nervous system. They'll shy or spook from any shadow, or movement, or unusual reflection. So the presentation of the fly, the way it comes floating down, drag free without any funny movement, is important, and hard to accomplish. The rod is important, so the line lays down the way you want it to.

But a bad day of fishing is better than a good day at work, right?
There is a lot of truth to that saying. And here's an interesting tidbit: I started fishing when I was young, and it actually took me three years before I actually caught a trout on a fly.

You must have gotten better through the years, though.
Actually, in my 20s, I wanted to catch more fish, and bigger fish. I was eager and rabid and out fishing all the time. Now I'm much older, and I just sit and watch trout feed, studying them. I might see one particular fish rising to the flies and then spend one or two hours just trying to catch that one fish.

Let's talk about your bamboo fly fishing poles. Why are they so expensive?
It's a very long and involved process to make a bamboo rod. I only make 25 rods a year, and it takes in the neighborhood of 40 to 65 hours of actual bench time. I get the bamboo in raw form, split it down one side to prevent cracking, and then season it, letting it sit for as long as five years or more. I even have bamboo from the 1920s that I still use. Then I heat and dry the bamboo, split it into strips, scrape off the enamel-like coating, put it through a milling machine, and then use hand tools to cut the final taper in the strips to get a precisely mitered strip. It is accurate to less than one-thousandth of an inch. There are a bunch of other processes as well, since I also make my own reel seat hardware and ferrule plugs.

You recently returned from a casting tournament. How did you do?
It was the 100th anniversary of the American Casting Association national tournament. I did so-so. You don't actually catch fish; you're casting flies at a target, trying to hit the target or cast for distance. I don't know what place I finished, but it was far down the line, not good enough for a medal.

How did you get into making bamboo fly fishing poles?
The first time I saw a bamboo rod and started casting them, I loved the way they looked and felt. But after fishing them for a while, I'd think, 'This one is nice, but not quite the way I want it to be.' The wonderful thing about bamboo is that you can design the rod to behave anyway you want. I think there should be a particular way that the rod bends and recoils, it should bend under load and recoil and stop so it doesn't swing past itself. So I started making my own, and it evolved from a hobby into a business.

Do you have any celebrities who use your fishing poles?
Not that I know of. A fellow fly rod maker made a rod for someone in Pink Floyd, and also Eric Clapton, who is a big fly fisherman and even owns part of a river in England. I wish Ted Turner would buy one of my rods, so I could fish his private waters in Montana.

Finally, there are plenty of fishermen who choose graphite over bamboo. Why would anyone fish with a graphite rod anyway?
Because they're nuts?