Have you ever wondered about a rod you have built if it were in the hands of an expert? I attended a fly tying gathering today. I was told that a great fly fisherman would be there to answer any questions related to fly tying and casting. I took a 9 wt. fly rod that I recently made and I asked this fellow if he would test it for me. During a break from fly tying, he took me outside to test my rod. First he made a few false casts to get a feel of the rod. Next he stripped all of the line and shot the hold thing. Then he took just the tip and shot over 50 feet with it under windy conditions. I had seen Lefty Kreh do that at a symposium so I asked Dan Edwards if he had ever worked with Lefty and was told that they got together and did the first fly fishing symposium ever in Texas. Dan used to be the rod builder for Abercrombie and Fitch long ago. Then I got a free casting lesson from him. He told me that I had built a very nice rod. The rod was built on an Allstar Austin blank that I bought from Andy Dear. After the session one of the fellows in the group approached me about help in building a fly rod. Andy, if you read this, this gentleman is a good candidate for an interview.