Beasley Bamboo Rods
Jim H. Beasley Jr. Maker
There are several Payne tapers that I make.
I make the 96, which is a three piece rod for a 3 or 4 wt. line and is 6 1/2' long. I also make the 97, 98 and 100 tapers and the Payne Canoe
Rod which is a 3 piece 7 weight rod.
In Paul Young tapers, I make the Perfectionist, Driggs,
Midge, Martha Marie and Para 15.
In Dickerson tapers, I have made about 20 of the 8013 taper. That is the only
Dickerson taper that I have made.
In Leonard tapers, I have made about 25 of the 50 DF tournament tapers, a 3
piece rod for a 5 wt. line. I have made most of the in natural cane that has
not been flame treated, but I have made a couple of the Hunt series rods that
are much darker. I have made 2 or 3 Leonard 38 taper rods.
In Garrison tapers, I have made all of the 7 footers, the 7' 9" and the 8
footer for a 6 wt. line. The 8 foot 212 is not one of my favorite rods
and I don't ever want to make another of them. I just don't like the way my
version of this rod casts. The 7 foot rods for 5 wt. lines are very nice, the
201 and 204 have turned out well for me.
I have made the 8 foot 3 pc. 4 wt. based on a Granger taper that Walt Carpenter
was kind enough to send me. The fellow that bought it has already caught 200
trout on it and loves the way it casts.
I enjoy trying tapers that I have never built before, especially if I have cast
one of the rods it is based upon and I like the way it casts. If I don't
like to cast it myself, I find it very difficult to get down to business of
making one for someone else who thinks they might like it (when I'm sure they
probably won't).
I have made rods for bonefishing and salmon fishing,
but I don't like to do it. My personal belief if that a graphite rod is
superior in 8 wt. and above, especially if you have to make many hundreds of
blind casts as you have to do on the Maramichi.
The only rod taper that I have made of 8 1/2 ft. is the Payne Canoe Taper. I
have made about a half dozen of them and they cast very well and don't seem too
heavy in hand.
I have made a few rods based on Winston
tapers in 8 ft and 8 1/2ft., but they felt very heavy in hand and top heavy to
boot. I only made one of each and determined that I didn't want to make
them anymore. I did make one Gillum taper in a 3 pc.
configuration for a 7 wt. line. It was 9 ft. in length. It cast well, but about
30 minutes of casting and fishing with it and you would be ready for a rest!
I hope this gives you some idea of the rods I make. I do finish some rods in
light colored cane, such as the Garrison and Dickerson tapers, and some flamed
to a fairly dark finish. The ferrules that I use come from Bailey wood, as do
most of my cap and ring reel seats. For the Aluminum Down-locking
seats that are used on some of the Young tapers, I use a Struble D -1 and make my own cork fillers. For nickel silver up-locking seats and
down-locking seats, I use Bellinger products.
For some rods, like a deluxe midge, I make a black walnut butt piece and a
walnut cork check along with a cork filler and nickel silver rings.
Almost all of my rods are finished with tung oil
varnish, ValSpar 10. If someone requests a polyeurathane finish, I use Min Helmsman. On a few
rods, I have used a half dozen coats of tung oil
sealer and then carnauba wax. It makes a good semigloss finish, especially good because it is much lighter than 2 or 3 coats of
varnish.
Jim Beasley
2006 Prices 2 Pc $1250.00 3 Pc $1395.00
7' 9" is a "5 - Strip"
7' 6" is the "Perfectionist"
7' 2" is the "Driggs"
Contact:
Robert R. Selb
Classic Fly Fisherman
222 S. Broad St.
Lansdale, PA 19446
Visa and Mastercard also check or Money Order, Paypal can be used on orders under $150.00.
Toll Free 1-866-930-3667 or 215-412-3667
E-mail Classicflyfishermanrrs@gmail.com
