I grew up in a small town nestled below the Black Mountain range in North Carolina.   From my home Mount Mitchell provided the sunsets of my youth and the Catawba River became my playground.  

I have been fishing most of my life.  I have enjoyed all types of fishing from the lowly catfish in local ponds to the large billfish off our Outer Banks.  I learned to use a fly rod during my summers in Chapel Hill.  I discovered it was a great way to catch bass & bluegill.  And like other ‘Baby Boomers’ by the late eighties, I gradually found myself pursuing fly-fishing for trout to the exclusion of all others. 

One day not too many years ago my brother handed me a bamboo rod to use for some small stream fishing.  It was a rod from a local maker just starting out.  It had a rather strange set to it, not unlike the tail of a pig.  The feel of the rod was strange yet enticing.

I can’t really describe it except to say “Hey that’s not bad”. I  fished with it the next day as well and then several months went by.  While on another trip a fellow stopped in the fly shop where I was browsing.  He had a new bamboo fly rod that he was showing off.  I got to hold it and false cast it a couple of times and just like that, I knew I had to have one.

I ended up making my first instead of buying one.  I got lucky with that  rod. It turned out to be a great fishing tool.  I have caught hundreds of trout with it.  The bluing has all but rubbed off the ferrules, the guides have lost all their black and the cork grip has taken on a deep waxy appearance. That rod still fits my hand like a comfortable glove and I still fish with it on occasion. I decided to make a couple more and was talked into putting them in a shop for sale.  I sold those and got orders for several more.  That’s how I got started in the rod making business. 

Today it’s a full time job but it is also a love affair with fly-fishing.  I hope that shows in the quality of my rods.