Mr. Brandin’s rod

I first met Per Brandin when he was a teenager laboring alongside of a group of men known as “The Amawalk Rock Rollers” back in the mid ‘60s. That was the crew that put the term “rock rolling” into the fly fisher’s lexicon. The name came about because the only way we could move substantial rocks was by rolling them over and over and over.

As an adult, Per became an outstanding photographer able to make a living in that competitive field. Nevertheless, by 1983 Per’s interest in photography was waning. He found his true calling in 1984 when Hoagy Carmichael showed him how to take a culm of bamboo and turn it into “a useful thing, beautifully made,” as Hiram Leonard described bamboo fly rods. Per was hooked. He immersed himself into learning the skills needed to produce a quality bamboo fly rod. In 1988, he moved to California and soon was devoting all his energy into the production of bamboo fly rods. For a time, I lost contact with Per, until he returned East to Shelburne Falls, MA. It had been my impression that rod building was only his hobby.

It was not until I had purchased a book titled “Casting a Spell,” by George Black, that I came to learn that the Per Brandin that I had known as a youngster had become, in Mr. Black’s words “one of the premier builders of bamboo fly rods today.” Hobby my foot! There was a waiting time of two or three years to obtain one of Per’s rods. I became haunted by the desire to fish with one of these rods. My problem was that blasted waiting period. I was no longer young. If I placed an order would I be around to see the rod? The answer was yes. I now own an 8-foot, 3-weight, hollow built, two and seven eighths ounce Brandin rod.

The rod casts beautifully, but I began to fret; was it too wispy to handle a really large Catskill trout? That question was satisfactorily answered on May 13. Using that rod, I hooked and landed a brown trout 21 inches long. The seemingly fragile rod had absorbed every shock and sudden violent yank the trout was able to make. When the fish was landed, the rod was as perfectly straight as the day it was made. Upon feeling the hook, that trout packed his bags and took off downstream, apparently planning to spend the night with his cousins down at Fish’s Eddy. When the orange backing flew up the guides and out into the river, I had to grimly remind myself of Ed Van Put’s dictum, “let ‘im go, he’ll come back.” Indeed he did.

When I was first able to see the fish, it looked to be 24 inches long. However, the darn ruler shrunk him to 21 inches. This was the largest trout I had ever taken. Luckily for me, Barbara Ann was able to take several pictures before I released the fish back into the East Branch. The fly was a Rene Harrop hair-wing version of a March Brown, tied on a #94831 size 12 hook.

Now for the answers to the quiz that appeared in the last column:

1. Frederick Halford. 2. Gillum’s nickname was “Pinky;” his only retailer was Harry Darbee. 3. Mr. Meloche put the first four-pound fish on Dan Bailey’s wall of fame; the fish was taken from Armstrong’s Spring Creek. 4. The broken-leg pitcher was Bobo Newsom; his team was the Washington Senators; the batter was Earl Averill. You young hitters looked pretty silly standing in the batters box, waving a stick. Not even Willy Landem or “Split” Cane could claim a fly.

The next meeting of the Upper Delaware Chapter of Trout Unlimited will be on May 30 at the Long Eddy firehouse at 9:00 a.m. There will be cake, coffee and fruit served. The dollar raffle will have great prizes. Y’all come.