My good friend & fellow local fly angler Mike, is no exception. Mike is a traditional angler, to say the least. He likes old rods, old fly patterns, & I've even known him to mess with gut leaders!! Being that Mike likes the traditional aspects of our sport it comes as no surprise that he likes greenheart (wood) fly rods. Yes, that's right Mike enjoys those rods most of you have probably only read about - & he catches fish, too folks. In fact, he's very good at it.
I was blown away the other day when Mike showed me his latest project. It's an old 9 ft, 3 pc fly rod made from wooden blanks!! Yup, he went out, a few years ago, & got himself some old wooden rod blanks from the Partridge of Redditch Company (I think), back when those things were still being offered. He turned those plain wooden sticks into a beautiful, gorgeous fly rod.
I'm always so excited to see the things that you folks come up with related to fly fishing. I'm blown away by your talent. All of you are so creative & skilled in so many ways that it really inspires me as a rod maker to do the best work that I can.
To that end, you folks should always feel free to show me your 'extra curricular' fly fishing items with me. I'd love to see them along with your fishing photos & your stories of angling adventure. I'm often awed & inspired by the things you folks do & create - as I was when Mike showed me that fly rod!!!