round bamboo fly rod

Question
I purchased a 6 ft, 3/4 wt. bamboo fly rod that is round (not hex) with Nickel Silver reel seat, NS ferrules, an agate stripper and a ring hook keeper. The stripper has a very fine etched pattern as does the sleeve of the reel seat. It doesn't have any marking to indicate a maker.  I will be using this rod---not re-selling but I was curious to find some information about it.

Answer
Hi Elaine,

You probably know that most bamboo rods are built from strips of bamboo planed to specifc tapers, then glued and the edges are left intact to preserve the strength of the individual strips.  Four, five, six and even eight sided (strips) bamboo rods exist.  Typically, the edges will be kept sharp and well defined to add structural strength to the rod.

I have seen bamboo rods with the edges rounded, but not many.  I don't know of any specifically made round, but I don't know every rod maker either.  There were a lot of other woods like greenheart and lemonwood  from which early fly rods were made that were turned into round shafts.

It is also possible the corners were rounded in a restoration project or that the maker simply preferred the rounded look.  Are there visible glue lines that indicate multiple strips of bamboo?  Does the rod appear to be old?  Is there any chance the rod is fiberglass colored to simulate bamboo?  There were many of those faux bamboo rods built and they are round.

Without a maker mark it is difficult to say much more.  If the rod is sound and fishes well, I would use it.

Thanks,  Joe