Lake Fork Rods
Handcrafted Bamboo Fly Rods
Custom-built bamboo fly rods featuring handcrafted bamboo ferrules for a smooth, continuous action from grip to tip.
Why Bamboo Ferrules?
Traditional bamboo fly rods typically use nickel-silver ferrules to join the rod sections. While proven and durable, metal ferrules can interrupt the natural flex of the bamboo.
At Lake Fork Rods, we handcraft our bamboo ferrules as part of the rod itself. This allows the rod to flex more continuously through the ferrule area, creating a smooth transition from section to section and preserving the feel and action of the bamboo.
The result is a lighter, more connected feel with a clean, continuous action from grip to tip.
Bamboo Fly Rods Built for Western Water
Every Lake Fork Rod is designed with a purpose—from small high-country streams to larger Western rivers. Each rod is handcrafted and individually tuned to provide the feel, control, and smooth action that make bamboo such a distinctive material to fish.
The Tributary
The High Country
The Mainstream
The Black Canyon
Handcrafted One Rod at a Time
At Lake Fork Rods, every bamboo fly rod is built by hand from start to finish. From selecting and preparing the bamboo to shaping the strips, building the ferrules, fitting the grip and reel seat, wrapping the guides, and applying the final finish, each step is completed with attention to how the finished rod will feel and perform on the water.
These aren't production rods. Each one is individually built, tuned, and finished in our shop for anglers who appreciate the craftsmanship, tradition, and performance of a handmade bamboo fly rod.
Built to Be Fished
Lake Fork Rods are designed for the places we love to fish—from small high-country creeks and backcountry water to the larger rivers of the West.
Each taper is developed with the water and fishing style in mind. Whether that means accurate presentations in tight quarters, dependable roll casts where backcasting room disappears, or the backbone needed for bigger Western water, the goal remains the same: build a bamboo fly rod that performs where it was meant to be fished.
These rods aren't built to sit on a wall. They're built to go fishing.
Build Your Bamboo Fly Rod
Explore the Lake Fork Rods collection below. Select the rod designed for the water you fish, then choose your available options, finish, and details to make it your own.
7’6” · 3-Weight · 3-Piece · Bamboo Ferrules
The Tributary is a handcrafted 3-weight bamboo fly rod built for small streams and creeks that don’t give you room to think. Brush, broken banks, tight seams—this rod loads quickly and delivers clean, controlled loops when there’s little room for a backcast and no forgiveness.
Short casts, roll casts, and quick shots under limbs—this taper stays alive in close while maintaining control when your footing is rough and the water is moving fast. Bamboo ferrules create a smooth, continuous bend through the rod, helping eliminate the interruption in action associated with traditional metal ferrules.
Small Water. Real Control.
Standard Features
Base pricing includes one tip, cork grip of your choice, nickel silver stripping guide with agate insert, silk wraps, custom nickel silver down-locking hardware, custom wood reel seat insert made in-house, 2" aluminum rod tube, and rod sock.
A second matching tip is available as an upgrade.
8' · 4-Weight · 3-Piece · Bamboo Ferrules
Built for anglers who don’t stop when the road does, The High Country is a lightweight 4-weight bamboo fly rod designed for backcountry trout water. Hollowed through the butt and mid to reduce weight without sacrificing strength, it features a swelled butt for added backbone when wind, current, or fish push back.
Handcrafted bamboo ferrules maintain a smooth, continuous action through the rod, making The High Country equally at home with roll casts, tight conditions, and long days on remote water. Proven in Colorado’s Weminuche Wilderness, this is a rod made to be strapped to a pack and taken where the pavement ends.
Built for the Long Way In.
Base Price Includes: One tip, your choice of cork grip, nickel silver agate stripping guide, traditional silk wraps, custom nickel silver down-locking hardware, in-house custom wood reel seat insert, aluminum rod tube, and rod sock.
A second matching tip is available as an upgrade.
Rattan grips are available in half-wells style only.
Select and customize your rod below.
8' · 6-Weight · 3-Piece · Bamboo Ferrules
The Black Canyon is a powerful 6-weight bamboo fly rod built for big Western rivers where mistakes cost fish. Designed to throw larger flies hard and straight, it puts power on demand and holds it when heavy current and strong fish push back.
Tested during the salmonfly hatch in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, this rod puts flies where they have to land—into pockets, under ledges, and tight to canyon walls. It also has the backbone to handle larger streamers and demanding water. Handcrafted bamboo ferrules maintain a smooth, continuous action while delivering the authority this kind of fishing demands.
Big Flies. Tight Windows. No Excuses.
Base Price Includes: One tip, your choice of cork grip, nickel silver agate stripping guide, traditional silk wraps, custom nickel silver down-locking hardware, in-house custom wood reel seat insert, 2" aluminum rod tube, and rod sock.
A second matching tip is available as an upgrade.
Rattan grips are available in half-wells style only.
Select and customize your rod below.
8' · 5-Weight · 3-Piece · Bamboo Ferrules
Built for the days when you don’t know what the water will throw at you, The Main Stream is a versatile 5-weight bamboo fly rod designed for bigger Western streams and rivers. It roll casts cleanly, carries line when the wind comes up, and has the backbone to stay in control when a good fish digs in.
Handcrafted bamboo ferrules maintain a smooth, continuous action through the rod while preserving the feel that makes bamboo distinctive. Tested on demanding Western water, including the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, The Main Stream is built to be dependable without being complicated.
One Rod. Any Day.
Base Price Includes: One tip, your choice of cork grip, nickel silver agate stripping guide, traditional silk wraps, custom nickel silver down-locking hardware, in-house custom wood reel seat insert, aluminum rod tube, and rod sock.
A second matching tip is available as an upgrade.
Rattan grips are available in half-wells style only.
Select and customize your rod below.
Built as Part of the Rod
At Lake Fork Rods, bamboo ferrules are a deliberate design choice—not a decorative detail or an optional upgrade.
Our ferrules are formed from Tonkin bamboo power fibers so the connection becomes a structural continuation of the rod rather than an interruption in the blank. The goal is to preserve the natural character of bamboo through each section of the rod: smooth, progressive, responsive, and connected in the hand.
Building bamboo ferrules requires additional time, precise tolerances, and a thorough understanding of the material. We accept that extra work because it allows us to build the rod as a more unified system from grip to tip.
The result is a bamboo fly rod designed to:
• Cast smoothly and progressively
• Feel unified and responsive
• Preserve a continuous action through the ferrule
• Take full advantage of bamboo's natural mechanical properties
For us, the bamboo ferrule isn't an accessory added to the rod. It's part of the rod.
Tradition Meets Precision
Lake Fork Rods operates from two workshops—one in Phoenix and another high in the Colorado Rockies. Each rod begins with carefully selected Tonkin bamboo and the same fundamentals that have defined bamboo rod making for generations: flaming, splitting, pressing nodes, preparing strips, and developing the taper that determines how the finished rod will cast and fish.
I built my first rods using traditional hand-planing forms, and that foundation remains an important part of how I approach the craft. Today, precision equipment allows us to control critical dimensions with greater consistency while preserving the hands-on work that gives each rod its individual character.
Our shop incorporates equipment and methods developed by Dennis Bertram of Quinchat Rods, including Digital Cane milling technology. That precision is particularly valuable when producing our bamboo ferrules, where fit and consistency are critical.
Technology doesn't replace craftsmanship here. Grips and reel-seat inserts are made in-house, ferrules are fitted and finished by hand, guides are wrapped in silk, and every rod is assembled, inspected, and finished at the bench.
Traditional materials. Modern precision. Built one rod at a time.