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Original Watercolor by Michael Simon
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In the mid 1970s, I began building and
designing fly rods as a student of my local friend, Vince Marinaro.
Vince was like a father to many of us who regularly fished with him
and we always called him "Pappy." I was never allowed to see Vince's
taper information, but over the years the two of us spent countless hours of instruction
either stream-side or in our shops. Slowly, he brought me along to the
point where he could admit that I had made a good rod.
While my current designs are not identical to those of Vince, they do remain identical in design principal -- that of the "convex taper". My rods are very crisp in action, but they are not meant to be powerhouses as it has never been my intention to build a rod that loads properly only upon hauling. On the other hand, neither do I build a "soft" rod, as most fly fishers find these to be quite unsatisfactory under all casting conditions. |
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Fly rod design, when I was
learning, was largely unexplored by amateur
builders, but Marinaro believed that no rod maker worthy of the name should
copy the work of another. For many years I used to hold to that belief as well,
designing my rods to the principles of the convex taper as Vince taught, and eventually
arriving at the series being offered here.
The chief attributes of rods built to a convex taper are a remarkable smoothness of action, lighter weight and a more uniform stress-curve than "conventional" tapers designed to the same length and line size. If there were such a thing as a strength-to-weight ratio, a properly designed "convex taper" must take the prize, hands down. |
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Precision Hand-Milling The Cane Strips
Photography by Michael Simon |
All Harms bamboo rods are designed to
match the typical dry-fly fishing conditions as we find them in the eastern
part of the U.S. From Appalachian brookies to chalk-stream browns or the
burly Delaware rainbows, there's a Harms custom fly rod designed to excel in every situation.
Each of my rods is flamed to create a gently mottled effect, and built with a subtly swelled butt. Nodes are always spiraled one-by-one up the length of each shaft, and the tips will be exactly "mirrored." Cork grips are turned either to a "cigar" shape, or a "half-Wells," and reel seat hardware includes a decorative, nickel silver butt cap, sliding ring and cork check. Buyers may select silk thread from a range of colors, and also may choose wood for the reel seat from several species of highly-figured burls. Finally, each rod model is offered in either the hexagonal or "quadrate" configuration. Every Harms rod is built and finished to the very highest standards, using only the best components available. All rods are custom-built to order, and I carry no inventory. Delivery time varies from six to nine months, depending upon the season and my backlog. |
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