I just spent the last few hours prepping rod blanks & mixing varnish. Tomorrow morning those blanks will get their first coats of varnish. After that - & a quick breakfast - it'll be time to glue a grip & reel seat onto another rod. Then I'll need to inventory my line guides, to see if I need to make or order any more......& so on the day will go, until it's 1 am again & I'm taking a quick check of any emails that will need to be addressed for the next day before I turn in for the night.
I once had a friend tell me that what I do is a labor of love. That is so true. No, I couldn't do it - or have kept it up for so long - if there wasn't some money in the equation, that's for sure, but one look at the bank statement will tell me that it can't be for the money that I do this. I've come to realize that there's a trade-off here: I don't have some of the nicer things that people who are supposed to have established themselves in life have. Nor do I really care, when I stop to think about it. Heck, I shun some of that stuff anyway. Don't get me wrong: there are times when it would be nice to have a brand new car, or be able to afford a nice trip to Patagonia, or to buy that fancy bread down at the grocery store bakery. I am human. But if I had those things in place of what I'm doing in the rod shop, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be as happy.
So as I end this stream-of-conscieness ramble about being a rod maker, let me just say that I'm very grateful for it. It's the coolest job I've ever had (& the most frustrating at times). I get to meet some of the coolest people from all over the world. I get to enhance the time people spend participating in the most beautiful of activities ever dreamed up (fly fishing). I get to make fly rods!!! Next to actually going fishing, it's the most awesome way to spend my time that I've found. So, what's the word for a trout bum who makes fly rods?......rod maker bum?!!? Thank you all so much for allowing me to do this. Without you folks, none of this would be possible.