Has anyone ever had book published on the history of fiberglass and graphite rod building? Kinda along the lines of the books that are out there all about the history of cane rods? As a guy thats pretty new to rod building I think it might be an interesting to have book out there that gets into the who, what, why and when of the folks that gave us fiberglass and then on to graphite.

Each year such a project gets harder and harder to do as many of the guys involved pass on. The recent passing of Gene Bullard took away the single most recollective mind in the history of custom rod building. Of course we do have his articles on rod building history that appeared in the last 3 or 4 years worth of RodMaker issues (You did read those, didn't you?).

Prior, we had Andy Dear do a series of interviews with some of the real stalwarts in the rod building industry. Men like Jimmy Green, Press Powell, Tom Morgan, Roger Sieders and many more.

So the history is out there and much of it is in RodMaker Magazine. But there is no compilation or single book and at this point I'm not sure who would be qualified to write such a thing. So many of the people you'd need to talk to have passed on. Gene was the last guy who really knew about all of them and now that chance is gone, too.

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

Dale Clemens would know a pretty good bit about it but I guess his days of writing are over.

If you mean a history of the blank mfg's... No book yet! There is a cool book about Fenwick that has a little bit of info and how and why alot of the companys came from the same area in Washington state!!

Whats the name of the book about Fenwick?

I agree about Dale Clemens.

If I were President of funded rodbuilding group, I'd throw a strong effort into documenting some history and do it now, before the builders from the 50's 60's 70's,and 80's, start dying off. The rodbuilders themselves are a great part of history, the" old pharts" (instant apology, promptly accepted I hope) learned from somebody, or were at least influenced by others..adding to the history.

Who would buy a book on the history or fiberglass/graphite rod building? Who would buy the cane book?.....Would anyone buy a book on the "History of ancient and modern Rodbuilding, its Builders and its Founders"

Hate to say it.......only the nostalgic care, and forgotten history goes away.....poof!!!!!

Hunter MJ Thompson

NERB that types with a bar of Ivory soap in his mouth.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/15/2009 10:58PM by Michael Joyce.

I enjoyed Gene Bullard's articles in Rodmaker. Many of the people and companies he talked about were way before my time and so I had no idea how a lot of this stuff came to be or who was responsible. Not sure if such a book would sell many copies but I would buy one!

I would not trust a group to write such a history. A few years ago one gruop named the LEGENDS of rod buidlng and it ended up with them all being members of that same group. How likely is that?? That only members of a certain group were the rod building hobbies only legends? Not much credibility there IMO. So if you were not part of that group you would not be part of what they consider rod biuilding history?

The History still exists even if some of the people who were part of it are no longer with us. The Fishing industry is full of people that participated in making this history, some worked with and alongside (or for) the folks mentioned. Many more who were part of this evolving craft went on to help develop other companies, brands, and product and are still around today. Many of the active participants are what I call "lifers" and continue to persevere. To me the most interesting part of the story involves the folks that will most likely never be mentioned with celebrity status. (and I really like the stories behind the story which will never make the "official story")

Recent chapters are what I look forward to looking back on since the last couple of decades offered a huge acceleration of the developments in rod building. People like Tom Kirkman and this board along with all reading this, building rods, asking questions, and offering suggestions fuel and guide an exciting future that links rod/blank designers/companies together like never before. History to come is going to be the best!

Best Regards,

Darrin Heim
American Tackle Company

Vic Cutter certainly knows a good many of the people that shaped the rod building world over the past 3 or 4 decades.

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