Trout Grass is a documentary on the journey Tonkin bamboo, the material to make bamboo fly rods, makes from mainland China to Twin Bridges, Montana. I have read many articles and some books on bamboo fly rods, but none of them really gave much information on the area where the bamboo grows and how they are harvested. Trout Grass fills up this gap very nicely.
During the 45 minutes it shows how the Tonkin bamboo is harvested, transported down the hills and cleaned by the local people who make a living out of this amazing product of nature. This specific spieces of bamboo grows only in a small area in the Guangdong province of China.The second part of the movie shows how Glenn Brackett of RL Winston Rod company crafts his famed bamboo fly rods out of the very few bamboo poles that made the cut during the selection proces which started all the way back in China. How amazing it is to know that such a plant (a family of the regular grass that grows in your back yard) ends up as a high priced and masterly crafted fly rod.
I really enjoyed this documentary. Too bad there is no 'The making of' or similar extra footage on how this documentary came together, interview with different people who worked on this, maybe some funny stuff on when things went wrong, etc.
This is not a how-to-make bamboo fly rods movie but a documentary showing how 'important' bamboo and the bamboo fly rod is for one half of the chain versus how bamboo has been a part of the Chinese culture for millenniums as source for many applications and is crucial for the local economy. You don't need to be a bamboo junk, but for anyone who wants to know more about this amazing journey of the Tonkin bamboo this DVD is a must see. More info (as well as some small movie clips) on Trout Grass and how to order can be found at the site of Trout Grass.
