Well, it is official. I'm obsessed with bamboo. As you know, Wyatt Dietrich of Sweetwater Rods over in the good old US of A recently took up a challenge. This was to build me a cane rod to tackle the toothy, top-of-the-food-chain fish of the Thames, namely Esox Lucius, otherwise known as the Pike.

I've been hunting this fish for many years with Mark Anderson, a former Zimbabwean living here in the UK. To say he loves the Thames and it’s amazing variety of fish is a vast understatement. Around a year ago, I thought, ‘Why not with a cane fly rod?’

Wyatt took on the challenge and just recently an 8½’ 3 piece 10-weight found its way to Blighty. 

Last Saturday was the world premier of a unique rod. Three fish on, just one landed, but the point was proved...everything is possible, even a toothy Thames zoo creature on bamboo!

I'm taking delivery of a boat soon...so more about that and more about the lovely piece of workmanship from Dietrich, someone who is destined to become one of the hallowed masters of the dark art of bamboo fly rod making!

 Click in images to enlarge

This is one of the wonderful weir pools up where I live. Highly oxygenated water. The fish fight like hell. 

 It was a pike on the business end, not a huge fish but beautifully conditioned...