Mills and Dean, despite great improvements in graphite rod action and technology, for the size streams Mills pictured he was fishing bamboo is by far the ultimate material for rod construction, followed by quality epoxy glass. Graphite continues to close the gap but is still in third place. Give it a try, you will never go back to plastic for small streams. Add a balanced reel and silk line and you may find you never want to let the fly actually land on the water where one of those pesky fish would waste some of your valuable casting time.
