Newsletter
I moved out of this shop over ten years ago now, but Mario has stayed and worked there up until mid April of this year when he moved his operation to his home in Richmond. This is truly the end of an era since Mario was in that shop for over 30 years, at first running a fly shop and teaching fly tying classes and then as a full time rod-maker when I joined him in the space in 1990. Mario and I are still good friends and stay in contact regularly. He is still producing some of the best bamboo and fiberglass rods in the market. It was with a touch of sadness that I saw the gated door to our old shop, however, as we shared many good times there and both grew immensely as rod makers there.
January 10, 2012
There will be a new 'Live Preview' angling auction starting this October in New Jersey. This is the brainchild of Steve Starrantino who many of you know from his classic book business. Steve has assembled a very knowledgeable team of experts in various fields of sporting collectibles to help guide the auction process. I am on board as one of this team and I will be available to examine rods which come in for auction to aid in accurate descriptions where needed. I also plan to be at the auction at the end of October. If you have quality fishing tackle that you have been waiting for the right venue to sell it in, you may want to contact Steve and discuss what you have. I feel it will be very exciting to once again have the ability to see and examine the items we are bidding on. I still enjoy and participate in the on-line Lang's auctions, but to my mind there is nothing like being able to examine in detail these items, many of which have subtle qualities that cannot be appreciated from on-line descriptions and photos. If I am a seller wanting to auction real high quality rods, for example, I would be more confident of being able to realize the true value of those rods when bidders are able to handle and appreciate the quality of the piece. If you go to my 'links' page you will see a link there to the Crossroads Angling Auction website which will give you much more information.
October 2011
My wife Jean and I have just returned from a very beautiful and inspiring trip cross country; in fact, all the way to northern British Columbia and back. Highlights included camping and fishing in the high mountains of Montana, visiting with Tom Morgan, steelheading on the Kispiox River, and seeing Bob Clay and his spey rods again for the first time in many years. The drive from Banff to Jasper with fresh snow on the Canadian Rockies was also a treat.
The primary purpose of our journey was to get Jean into her first steelhead and to visit with old friends in the rod-making and fishing community. We were successful on all counts in spite of less than stellar water conditions for fishing in B.C. on the Skeena watershed. Besides some really good fishing had on our journey, a highlight for me was to see and fish the spey rods being built by Bob Clay on the banks of the Kispiox River.
Yours truly in the final stages of bringing a Kispiox River Steelhead to the beach using a 'Riverwatch' 11 ft. spey rod built by Bob Clay
Bob visited my shop in California shared with Mario Wojnicki many years ago to gain insight into our way of building rods. Since that time I have watched Bob's development as a rod builder with great interest, especially since I had heard glowing reports about his rods, even from acquaintances here on the East Coast. When I had the chance to cast and fish his 11 ft. spey rods, I understood the praise I had heard. In fact, all the steelhead I hooked were on Bob's rods, both the heavier version fishing sink tips and the lighter version with a dry line. Both are five strip, spliced joint rods that have proven themselves on the often large steelhead of the Skeena system. I was very impressed with Bob's understanding of the shorter, more comfortable rods and their relationship to the newer, shorter heads used for modern spey casting. Workmanship is impeccable on these rods and Bob has developed a very distinctive look to his rods, including his very evolved understanding of the spliced joint. As far as I know, Bob is the only maker ever to produce spliced joint five strip rods. Learning from Bob about these rods has also inspired me to go back to my own two hand designs and look once more at shorter, lighter rods. My feeling had always been that most two handed rods were too much rod for the steelhead and salmon fishing I did, and for my own fishing I had gone back to fishing single hand rods. These new, shorter rods with shorter heads are very comfortable indeed and are well suited to the steelhead fishing I often enjoy. My designs along those lines will of course be spliced joint quads; I should have a rod or two ready for next year's steelhead season.
I don't catch very many steelhead, but I catch little ones!
Back in the shop for the winter after a summer filled with fishing for salmon on Newfoundland, trout locally and in the Catskills and Montana, and steelhead in British Columbia, I have my work cut out for me. Rods from my order list will continue to go out the door as well as making progress on many new R&D projects. Some of these will soon be outlined on my 'Models in Development' page.
FROM OLDER NEWSLETTERS:
Spring 2011
Above you see me with my friend and fellow rodmaker Dennis Menscer taking a ride in Dennis' Model A Ford pickup truck at his house on the West Branch Delaware. The rivers were high, so no fishing for me in the Catskills yet, but we always enjoy our visits with Dennis and his partner Patty. There is no better place for me to look for rising fish than right from his front yard which overlooks the river, and Dennis and I share rod-making ideas back and forth. This coming weekend we will be together with some other folks at the 'Traditional Angler Day' put on by Shannon's Fly Shop Saturday the 14th of May in Califon, N.J. If you are in the neighborhood, stop by. I'll have a number of my rods on display and there will be a chance to cast a lot of nice bamboo rods from several makers.
This past April I was in Florida again for the first time in many years, chasing Tarpon, and for the first time also Permit. My good friend Jack Coyle had invited me down and we were blessed with three days of really good conditions. We each got into a bunch of tarpon, though I don't think we brought anything to the boat over about 70 lbs. If I ever bring a really big one to the boat, say around 100 lbs. or more, I will take the time and trouble to get a photo with the bamboo rod I use for these fish. This trip also has inspired me to look at designs for an improved tarpon rod; the rod I made years ago works well, but I feel it can be faster and lighter. This tarpon rod is for a #10 line, and I think a permit rod of similar design for a #9 line would also be a nice rod to fish in the Keys. Not on the front burner, but an idea added to my list of other 'like to do' projects. These are all spliced joint rods, by the way. I was also interested to see that with the right guide, permit are not as impossible as I have heard; I had two almost take the fly and Jack has landed a bunch of them. Our last hours on the flats were amazingly beautiful with the wind down, watching a few permit tails, fins and wakes in slick water which was very reminiscent of the Henry's Fork in Idaho.
John McDaniel and 23" + Rainbow from the Henry's Fork, July 2010. Photo by Gary Franke
Latest Version of the 834-2 df HB Special
On our recent trip out west I was testing the latest incarnation of my spliced joint 834-2 df Special and spent some time with my old friend John McDaniel. John is a well known angler and guide on the Henry's Fork of the Snake River in Idaho. Before we headed home, I asked John if he would be good enough to keep the two spliced joint 834-2 df Specials I had brought with me and spend some time fishing them as I was eager to get his opinion on the rods after actually fishing them extensively. This would be particularly valuable to me because of John's expertise and knowledge as well as the demanding nature of the fishing on the Railroad Ranch section of the Henry's Fork. The photograph above is of a beautiful, deep, 23 1/4" Rainbow John caught using one of the rods I left with him. Following are some quotes from John excerpted from a letter he sent me about fishing one of the rods:
"I have invested 24 hours of actual casting time on the Ranch with the '2010 rod', the one with the bright reel seat, and hooked 10 big fish. (See the photo for an indication of Ranch fish quality this year. The fish in the photo was 23 1/4 inches long, and 5 3/4 inches deep. As you can see, the fish holds the depth for most of its length. I must admit I was tense as fish the size of the one in the photo took me well into the backing as I held the light rod. No problems with any of the strong, athletic fish.
The word that comes to me when I describe the rod to other anglers - who always wander over to see what I am doing when I wrap the sections of it together in the parking lot - is 'effortless.' I feel like I am expending no energy when I cast. After a month of casting a four weight plastic rod, there is no question I can achieve a more delicate presentation with your rod.
What has been astounding has been the way this rod allows me to drive the line into the fierce winds we have had in the last week. I was shocked by the manner in which the rod propelled the long (eighteen foot) leader under the wind. It seems uncanny the way the rod provides a final surge of power at the end of the cast."
John has written a book about his experiences over many years fishing the Railroad Ranch and this book should be published soon.