Since mailing the card announcements for the National Rod Builders Show, I've been hearing back from quite a few builders. It's interesting to learn that so many builders spread out across this country are so far removed from the mainstream rod building community. For instance...

Talked to a fellow today at length. He lives in Kansas and has been building rods for over 30 years. He did not know that there was any place other than Cabelas from which to purchase rod building supplies. He's less than 40 minutes from Bingham Enterprises but had no idea they existed. Said he doesn't use the internet and had never seen a copy of RodMaker Magazine.

As much as it might be hard to believe, I think he's a pretty typical rod builder. Maybe even in the majority. But without RodMaker or the internet, he had no idea of the width, breadth and scope of this craft. If Cabelas doesn't sell it, he has no idea that it exists.

Obviously, this will continue to change as more and more builders come of age in the time of the internet. But, there is still a very large number of rod builders who are working in virtual anonymity all across this land, unaware of the many places that sell rod building supplies as well as the range of products that are available.

......................

Thats an amazing story. I wonder about the possibility of having like an demo on one of the Saturday morning fishing tv programs? I never knew there was such a thing until a friend about 10 years ago gave me 2 books on rod making when i learned she and her husband we avid fishermen building their own rods in the second bedroom. Havent heard about rod making since and then just recently went surfing looking for a little info.
I think it would make a great show. Like the New England Woodworker, that type of hands on program. Maybe? Call it .The RodMakers I'll bet there would a huge audience

Computers are so cheap I am suprised many people don't have one.

Tom,
Just curious what the card announcements were. Do they go out to all who subscribes to the magazine? I'm just wondering since this will be my first show and I hadn't heard anything about them. Thanks, Randy.

Tom you are so right!

When I started building rods in the late 80's I did not know any rod builders accept for a couple of fly rod guys who worked thru a fly
shop and they didn't seem to want to give me the time of day let alone help me learn anything. I saw Dale's book in a tackle shop
that also sold a small supply of components. I bought the book and also tried to get a good look over any custom rod that I saw
while out fishing and thats how I learned. I did find a couple of other tackle shops that also sold some blanks and components so
my knowledge of available blanks and stuff was very limited although I really was not aware of it at the time. I moved out of my old
neighborhood to where I am now and unfortunately did not build any more rods until last holiday season when I just had to build one
for my step-mom who is in her 60's and fishes like nobody's business! If it had not been for my local Fisherman Warehouse and a
couple of web sites that I stumbled across and @#$%& I would not had a clue as to go about getting any blanks or parts because none
of the local tackle shops sold anything but a few things for quick repairers! I had not found RBO or any of the sponsors except for
Custom Tackle Supply yet!

Until I found this forum I really thought I was pretty good rod builder with not much more to learn except for turning my own cork or wood
handles. Boy was I WRONG! The development of newer components, blanks, and methods etc. Well, I had no clue! I had never even
seen a weave on a rod until the photo page and Billy's foam inlays about knocked me over! Original ideas regarding the spine (spline)
no longer are accepted, guide spacing has gotten more refined, there are more products than "Flex-Coat" and more manufacturers
than isles in Wal-mart! Marbling! Flocking! the list goes on!

Have have learned more in the past year than all the 4 yrs in the 80's when I had built about 50 rods or more combined and I owe most
of that to this forum! The rods I built before do not compare in beauty and performance to the ones I build now! However, I still have a long
journey ahead. It's wonderful to be out of the cave!

Remember always, it's not the destination but the journey!!

Raymond Adams
Eventually, all things merge, and a river runs through it..

I got lucky-when i first started to build, i asked some guys at my second Trout Unlimited meeting if there was anybody around the NC piedmont area who sold flyfishing and rodbuilding equipment.they told me about a guy in a little shop in High Point-'opinionated SOB but knows his stuff'-called his shop TKR.i've been mining that tip for years-not everybody gets so lucky, but I'm sure glad you decided to go public,Tom and thanks for the help over the years.what makes this craft so special is there really isn't a 'typical' except the typical guy who wants something else besides the typical factory rod and tries something new-or at least new to him-and thanks to Rodmaker and this board, can share it with other builders. I learn something new every rod-sometimes stuff i didn't want to know, but that's the fun part.

That story doesn't surprise me one bit. I would think there are 100 times more stories like that, than the one where you bump into someone who is an internet legend. The way I found out about Rodbuilding was ordering Live Body foam for McMurry Ants from Clemens Tackle. I was into tying flies, and was @#$%& I had to go through all these pages with funny letters (BGSVLMNOP-20) to get the the fly fishing stuff. Same with Anglers Workshop - dual purpose catalouges go a long way.

back in 1979 i was a member of a fly fishing club. twp of the clubs leaders owned a tackle store. they held classes on rod making. that is where i learned some of the techniques. they were the gatekeepers of knowlege on rod building and they were the sourse of supplies. in 2002 i had not built a rod in nearly
20 years. i decided i would like to build another fly rod. i searched the web and ran accross this site. the knowlege available here has accelerated the aquisition of knowlege and my rod building skill set has
increased 100 fold over what i was able to learn in 1979. the internet and web sites like this has been
an amazing educational tool and has changed who the gatekeepers of knowlege are.


it has not, however, improved my spelling.

I too am not surprised, Tom is right , that is probably the typical builder. I also had a similar experience, I was lucky when I started to build rods I was taught by a good builder who had a shop in a mall in Gainesville Fla. You could buy his supplies and he would guide you through the building process. Unfortunately he was a student at the U of Fla. and soon moved on. I also moved on and never had contact with another builder for a lot of years. I believe it was an add for Mudhole in one of the fly fishing magazines that caught my eye and contact with them led me to Rodmaker magazine and eventually to this site.
I will stress that for the younger particpants a computer is still a formidable thing to a lot of my generation. That doesn't mean that they are not very skilled rod builders. I have run into a couple of them and they are totally isolated from other builders. One of them was producing some beautiful wood handles and had no idea anyone else was was doing similar work. The other was making very servicable bass rods and was active in the local tournaments and had a sizeable following. I gave him a copy of Rodmaker magazine and he was amazed but when I mentioned on line ordering and this phorum he backed off and said he didn't own a computer and didn't want anyone to know his business or spy on him so he wasn't going to own one.
I have no idea how to reach such a guy, but it is sad.
Sam Fox
Columbus MS

i to started building rods in 1979 after talking to a local tackle shop owner who built rod. i bought both of clemens books,and contacted fenwick about blanks and was referred to custom tackle supply and have dealt with them since.up until this year when we got a computer i never knew of other rod suppliers or places like this .i used to belong to rod crafters in the 70s,then i think they folded for a while.now that i have seen rodmakers magazine i have found heaven again.thanks joe

Guess I live in a pretty awesome part of the country. I cruised by Lamiglas and Angler's Workshop just driving down the freeway. Used Lamiglas blanks long before I used Loomis' because Angler's didn't carry Loomis. Always had Lamiglas, Talon, and Loomis in the same town to pick from.