Edward Barder Fly and Coarse Fishing Rods

The firm of Edward Barder are probably the makers of the best split cane fly and coarse fishing rods in the world. Edward Barder trained at Hardy's in Pall Mall and, by 1990, he was established at a mill in Berkshire, on his own account. The rods are made of Tonkin bamboo cane (Arundinaria amabilis), a species which grows only along a stretch of the River Sui, in the Guangdong Province of China. Only A-grade culms (lengths) are used to be tempered over flame and then split, before the pieces are glued together to make these superlative rods. In fact only first rate materials are ever used in the making, including champagne grade cork shives from the cork oaks of Portugal and Spain. Prices for two piece rods are £1,600 and for three piece rods, £1,800.