I just returned from the rodbuilders get together in Woodland Wa. at Lamiglas and we really had a good time, at least I did. Todd Vivien and the Lamiglas crew, including Todd's wife, put a lot of work into this and were very gracious, basically opening up the whole Lamiglas facility to us. There were a bunch of excellent presentations, a very large number of prizes given away by Pacific Bay, Batson Enterprizes, American Tackle, All American Roller Guides, Paul Blanch, and Lamiglas, I hope that I have not forgotten anyone, and a lot of Salmon and Steelhead consumed. It was just generally a very enjoyable get together.
It was also nice to see a lot of people that are relatively new to rod building. At one point I did a head count and counted 87 people but I think that I may have missed a few and we are already starting to plan what we are going to do on about the same dates next year.
All of you rod builders from the western part of the US and Canada should start thinking about joining us next year.

I had a great time as well. It was good to see folks that I have traded emails with and also see all the great info both from the product reps and from the presenters. Even though I've been building for some time, you can always pick up new ideas and meet new friends, and even pass on a few tips yourself.

I do want to thank Todd and all the others at Lamiglas for hosting the event. The suppliers were all very respectful of each other and very willing to share information. I am sorry I didn't get to stay for the BBQ, but will try to do so next year.

The only suggestion I would make is to charge a small fee to cover some of the food and maybe some of the expenses for those presenters that traveled. At least make a stronger pitch for donations to cover some of the out of pocket costs that I know Lamiglas had to foot to put this on.

Emory, let me know if you Todd need some help next year with any of this. I would be happy to pitch in.

Terry

Terry,
Thanks, everyone was so pleased with the way this years event came off we will probably start some early planning of next years get together pretty soon. I will let you know. There are a surprizing number of things to do so I know that Todd would appreciate some more assistance. It was a lot of work for him. We are also thinking about the possibility of having a small monthly get togethers.

Hi all,
I also enjoyed the get together very much myself barring the lack of sleep from the drive that had me a bit stymied.
Both the food and all the people were great.
I was very pleased with the ability to talk face to face with the representatives that were there and were very receptive to questions and comments.
It was nice to be able to see the different methods other rod builders’ use to save time and effort in completing curtain aspects of building fishing rods. As I have learned from the school of hard knocks I can only speak positively of such get togethers for builders experienced to beginners.
As well being able to show my work and what I hope to be able to offer rod builders in the future was definitely appreciated as there were interests and comments that were very positive.
I do hope to be able to get more time off from work next year and to be able set something up for the rod builders if not just to lend a hand with all that has to be done for such an informative and valuable meeting for rob builders.

I would like to thank everyone that had a part in hosting this get together and to the rod builders that attended. And of course a special thanks goes out to Todd Vivian his wife and the folks at Lamiglas for all they have done.



Tight wraps and lines,
Wylie

I forgot to mention the the prize for the biggest Salmon went to Steve Satterfield and his fishing partner Frank Rodrigues. I think that Frank actually caught the fish. The most fish were caught by the Batson crew. I think that that lucky Karry Batson once again got the most.

I went to the gettogether and had a great time. I gave a demonstration on outwrapping and it was the first time I talked to a group since I was in school. This was a lot better because people were actually interested in what I had to say. I had to miss the presentation on weaving because I was talking at the same time, but I talked to Kerry later and he gave me a demonstration. That's how the whole weekend went everyone was willing to go out of their way to be as helpful as posible.Thankyou Todd and Emory and everone else for a great time.

Thomas F. Thornhill

This is the second year I missed this. It would be neat if this had better promotion.

I had hoped to attend but instead spent last week in the hospital having back surgery. If anyone took any pictures please post them.