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From The Workbench
Taper Talk: Fly Rod Design and Swelled Butts
Junior swears that this post is going to turn up in some weird google searches, but I’m going to press ahead anyway (for those who have arrived here who are not interested in bamboo rods, you can stop reading now!). Occasionally I get asked about the swelled butt on a rod. All of my rods…
The First Cast
Someone forwarded me a post from the Classic Fly Rod Forum the other day about what rodbuilders typically do when they’ve finished a rod. Do they just pack it up in the tube and send it off? Do they lawn cast it? Do they fish it first? First off, there’s no getting around the fact…
The Inaugural Dubbing Needle Giveaway
We just sent an email out to our list members but wanted to post this here as well. The long-and-short is that we’re going to be giving away a dubbing needle at the end of the month by pulling a name from our email list. If you’d like to sign up and take a shot…
“Spring Training”
Tom Chandler, over at the Trout Underground, recently wrote a good post about his annual “Fly Rod O’Rama” spring ritual of getting out all of his rods, rigging them up, and doing a little lawn casting just to get the feel for each of them before the spring trout season really begins. Initially, you try…
Ah, Spring…
For Junior’s birthday this past weekend we went into Boston for a nice dinner and to see a few sights. I wouldn’t trade my little corner of the Berkshires for anything, but I have to say that the city was great. As long as you aren’t driving around in it Boston is just so much…
The Lost World of Mr. Hardy
The Lost World of Mr Hardy (trailer) from Trufflepig Films on Vimeo. I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t been able to get my hands on the full copy of this yet, but I’m definitely anxious to. The trailer looked great. -JC
Assessing Used Rods: A Primer
Over the years I’ve had a lot of people ask me to look at rods and assess them. Sometimes it’s so that they have a better sense of the value before they buy or sell it. Others want to know more about the rod’s backstory: who made it? When? Is it completely original? This sort…
Update: Bogdan NOT closing up shop after all…
Well well. Turns out that the story circulating the web (and originally published by the Cape Breton Post) that Stan Bogdan and son are calling it quits might have been a tad premature. Okay very premature, at least to hear Mr. Bogdan talk about it. When Marshall Cutchin of the popular fly fishing site Midcurrent […]
Bogdan closing up shop
I guess it’s the end of an era in reels and reelmaking. According to a couple of recent news outlets, famed reelmaker Stan Bogdan and his son Stephen are finally calling it quits. The Bogdan duo built fantastic reels and their work stood as a testament to high-quality tackle in an era when reelmaking was […]
The Great Cork Conundrum
Finding the right materials to make a good cork grip is a more laborious process than it might seem. Every year or so, when we purchase our cork, Junior and I sit down with the entire shipment and devote a good chunk of the day to sorting through it. Out of a batch of say…
New Lathes for a New Year
Making ferrules is one of my favorite parts about building rods. In all of the steps from start to finish, it’s one of the ones that I enjoy the most, one that rarely, if ever, feels like actual “work”. For most of my career I’ve made my ferrules on a lathe that dates back to…