A split cane rod (left) is made of split bamboo cane, glued and lashed together. They were largely replaced by fibreglass rods in the 1960s. Cane rods have had a small resurgence in use in the 1990s and 2000s by keen purists who want to fish the old way – but they offer no practical advantages over carbon fibre, now the most popular material. Rods made of carbon fibre (right) began to replace fibreglass rods in the late 1970s. Carbon fibre is only around half the weight of split cane or fibreglass. In the early 1980s, the new rods began mass production and neither of the older materials could compete. Most modern rods – whether for fly fishing or spin fishing – are made from carbon fibre.