I was fishing with Mike Dvorak from Minnesota and Vince Zounek, my neighbor in Colorado, two friends of mine who knew of each other, but had never met before. I wasn’t surprised they hit it off. We all flyfish—which puts us halfway there already—and beyond that we’re just recognizable American guys of a certain vintage; not entirely unsophisticated, but not all that complicated, either. 

And then there were the bamboo fly rods. We all admire them, own more of them than we need, fish with them often, and get tongue-tied when trying to explain to inquisitive bystanders what it is we like about them. Some are honestly curious, but most just can’t get past the high prices that are charged for some of these rods and are what another friend calls “whistling gophers” who ask, “What’s one of those go fer?” and then whistle loudly when they hear the answer…

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