What can a person write about a bamboo rod that justifies it? You could reminisce about how a sizeable hollow stick becomes a fly rod—the hours spent in a shop, the late nights, and early mornings. You could go into detail about all the different tools and gizmos and thread and components, the perceived superiority of a given method. I suppose one could even explain their inspiration behind color combination and wrapping style. But, I'm not sure any of that contributes to the rod. Perhaps, if anything, the words can distract and take away from the pure, handcrafted beauty.

So, maybe this time, I'll skip the words.