What a great day we had! Although our crowd was a bit smaller we did manage to cause a few new rod builders
to become addicted to this hobby. We had a small class to teach the basics of Rod building. Three men and a few kids went home with partially built rods and enough knowledge to finish them at home. One of the kids won a Rod kit which was donated by American Tackle and was very excited. All who registered went home with door prizes.

Oh what talent we had in the room ! Mark Crouse who finished second a couple of years back in the International Rod building Competition in Germany, John Powell was present, he finished 1st and Roy Miller who came in 6th in this years competition. All were showing us there works.

Greg Hromiko was the instructor for the Rod building class with the help of Roy Miller and Joe Vanfossen. All this while Herb Tidrick was demonstrating fly tying, Roy Miller doing his prism wraps and Joe Vanfossen doing static testing.

Thank you to: American Tackle, Rod Geeks, Pro Paste, Swampland and all of the ORBS who have donated prizes. I can't leave out Joe Vafossen, Herb Tidrick, and Greg Hromiko, who organized this event. It was fun to sit this one out as an observer.

I think we had four states represented this year, I hope to see every one back next year

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

I'm sorry I missed it !!! I've been adding some new toys in my boat, and needed to take advantage of the beautiful weather to get everything buttoned up before the up coming tournament season.

I had a good time at the one I went to last year, and I have no doubts that this year's was just as good. And I'm sure Joe and the others did a great job.

Hope to see everyone at next years gathering!

Bill,

Thanks for posting a reflection. It was a great event, even though attendance was down. We were late getting our advertising out this year because we had a lot to work out with the rod class. We now have some ideas to make that portion of the event even better going forward!

The shelter we used this time was fantastic, and we will likely return to the same location next year!

Stay tuned for announcements as we make our plans.

I would also like the thank American Tackle, Rod Geeks, Pro Paste, and Sea Guide.

I put 2 sets of Sea Guide casting guides and a spinning seat into the door prize mix. They went home with one of the members of the class, a gentleman who built some rods in the past and is now getting his sons interested.

Mark Crouse demoed pyrography techniques for rod building, and it was amazing, and far easier than I had expected!

John's rod was simply SPECTACULAR and perhaps just as interesting was learning about the 1900's era milling machine he used for the reel seat inlays.

Roy's rod was amazing as well.

Greg was awesome at managing the class!

Thanks to Roy, Herb, and Greg for all they did to help with the planning and demonstrations. Thanks to Bill for all of the advice and guidance to allow us to keep the event rolling!

Thanks again to all that attended and contributed!

Dave, hopefully we'll see you next time!

Joe

Kudos to the whole gang for putting on an excellent gathering once again, and thanks to all of the sponsors who help make it possible. The look on the faces of the kids from the rod building class when they won door prizes was priceless, and so were the opportunities to learn from builders like Mark, Roy, and John and tying tips form Herb. The venue was great and there is plenty of room for more people to attend and take advantage next year.

Thanks again for a great gathering

Jim Devine
Marion, OH

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/20/2016 04:52PM by John E Powell.

A BIG thanks to all!

I would like to say THANK YOU to all at the gathering! I had a great time, felt right at home, and learned some new tricks as well.
The wealth of knowledge available was unbelievable. I to enjoyed the pyrography demo and will be looking to get into that aspect of this
obsession. I am already looking forward to next year. Also, if there is interest in putting together a Ohio / Michigan fall gathering, I would be willing to
look into the hall located near my house in Oak Harbor Ohio.
Again Thanks to all who made this a success.

Mark Warnke

Black Swamp Custom Rods

Glad you guys had a great turnout. Hope to see some of you in Langsburg Michigan on April 2nd.