Got a new knee last week!

After a few years of fighting it, I finally had a total knee replacement surgery last week.  Recovery is going well, but I’ll be “out of rod building action” for about 6 weeks…probably a good time to tie some flies for next season!

New Video

After 14 years, I finally updated the video that is in the right hand column of my WEB Page.  The old video was done in my old workshop.  Finally, I’ve updated to a much more interesting video showcasing my rod building process.  Thank you Olivia Elia so much for helping with the filming and editing of this video.  I’m very happy with how it came out.  Click on the link, and enjoy.

More Summer Fly Fishing in Idaho

We got the chance to fish Big Creek in Central Idaho this summer with a group of friends….fly in by small plane to a dirt runway…and pack horses to a wilderness camp. Fishing was excellent for cutthroats in the 10″ to 15″ range with large dry flies.  Mary Ann and I fished our 8′  0″  5 wt bamboo fly rods the entire trip.  Here are a few photos.

Waiting for the planes to take us to Big Creek.

Ready to board.

Big Creek down below.

Saddle Up!

 

Ready to ride!

Working a great run with dry flies.

A nice cuttie!

One More that fell to a Clark’s Stonefly Dry.

Updates to my WEB site.

I haven’t posted for quite a while so I wanted to provide an update.  I’m in the process of re-designing and updating my WEB site.  I’m pretty excited about some new additions.  This past several months, I’ve been working on a new Fast Action Series of bamboo fly rods that will be available very soon.  These rods are great for anyone looking for a faster action rod that throws large flies well in windy conditions, or, just looking for something with a very nice fast action.  Also, I will now be offering custom Bamboo Wading Staffs that I’ve been building.  These are one-piece wading staffs built from the same select Tonkin bamboo that I use for my fly rods.  Stay tuned in the weeks ahead for my updates.

Starting a new Bamboo Trout Net

I’m getting started on a new Bamboo Trout Net today to add to my inventory.  It will be available for the Christmas Holidays…would make a fantastic Christmas Present for that special angler!

The 5 long strips will make up the hoop section of the net.  They are 72″ x .75″ x .070″.  The shorter pieces will make up the handle of the net.  They are 13″ x .625″ x .200″.

The first step is to start gluing up the handle pieces.

Getting started on a new Bamboo Trout Net

Closer view of handle and hoop sections.

Gluing up sections.

Two handle sections. These will get glued up together.

Both handle sections have now been glued together and shaped.

The handle section for my new Bamboo Net.

Time to glue up the whole net!

Clamped and glued up!

Roughed out net ready for hand sanding.

Finished Net #1

Finished Net #2

Finished Net #3