L.L.Bean 100th Anniversary Bamboo Fly Rod
Our founder, L.L. Bean, made products he could use and use well. These products, as you all know, were built to last through the countless outdoor expeditions that L.L. himself took part in.
Among L.L.’s favorite outdoor activities was fly fishing – the sport brought to life in the bucolic scenes of the 1992 film A River Runs Through It.
Fun Fact: L.L.Bean Archives supplied fly-fishing apparel and equipment for the film, which was set in 1920s Montana.
Fly fishing’s popularity surged in L.L.’s home state of Maine in the 1920s – and L.L. was ready, having stocked his store with fine bamboo fly rods. Fishermen from all over the country counted on them to land trophies, including famous anglers like President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Red Sox legend, Ted Williams.
In remembrance of nearly a century of outfitting fly fishers, we’re highlighting a piece from our limited-edition 100th Anniversary Collection: the Bamboo Fly Rod.
The 100th Anniversary Bamboo Fly Rod is a tribute to the classic bamboo rods used a century ago by L.L. himself. The legendary Thomas Rod Company, located in Brewer, Maine, was chosen to handcraft the 25 individually numbered rods. Each rod boasts the Thomas special taper, over 100 traditional intermediate wraps and stripping guides with agate stone inserts.
Watch the video below for footage of how the rods were crafted by Steve Campbell of the Thomas Rod Company.
L.L. was known to fish for Atlantic salmon and brook trout with his bamboo rod. Are you an experienced angler? Support our Million Moment Mission by sharing your own fly-fishing stories.
Joern Esser | February 29, 2012 | 7:54 am
Sweet, I would like one! Have not fly fished yet. Greetings Joern
Sue | March 6, 2012 | 10:54 pm
My Husband I do a lot of fishing. And of course I am usually the one to catch the most fish. One year we had some friends with us on the boat, and I kept yelling fish on, and my poor husband ran over with the net to get the fish in, and the other two guys just looked at him and said, “If she catches one more fish we’re throwing her in.” And I did but they did not throw me in, thank goodness. But my husband said to the guys now do you see what I have to live with.
But on a more serious note. My father was showing me how to fly fish, and we put a weight on the end of the string it was just a little weight enough to through out the string and I kept on trying to whip that weight out but I guess I didn’t have the correct wrist motion, because I kept hitting myself in the back. Well I had just about enough of that at least for the season. However my father passed away this past November so I guess I will just have to try with out him. But I’m sure he will be looking down upon me and laughing, saying practice makes perfect sissy.