Great article this month in Gink and Gasoline about fishing Bamboo fly rods. There a few in the Chapter that make these wonderful masterpieces of art with unbelievable functionality like Ken Nichols and Sam Johnson. I think if there’s ever a question about how a bamboo rod performs and holds up to the rigors of the stream, ask these experts.
My personal viewpoint is I’ve seen Sam catch 20″ pigs on his 4wt 7’6″ bamboo rod and it’s performed exceptionally even though that’s starting to really stress the rod.
Here’s the article:
https://www.ginkandgasoline.com/trout-fishing/trust-the-boo/