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Showing posts from March, 2011

The Calm Before the Rise

Nice Mad River Brown and my “Little Mecoche” 6'9" 4wt. Eventually we all find our favorite river and come back to it season after season to reacquaint ourselves with ourselves and hopefully catch some fish. We hear our own breath and heart beat after a long winter in an environment that is always conducive to clarity and focus. We also hope that we can let go of our expectations, frustrations, and distractions the moment we hit the water. I recently fished when I was very ill and it reminded me of an important lesson that I learned nearly thirty years ago from a very wise man. Robert Gilmore was not only a great teacher but a great artist. His still life paintings would stop you in your tracks and leave you weak in the knees. I can still smell the distinct odor of his favorite pipe tobacco (Amphora). He was a short stocky man with a twinkle in his eye and a gruff but good natured personality. Gilmore studied with the late Walter Murch a student of the Art Students League of

Lenticels~Doping the Scope

  I recently had a customer comment on the great quality of my grips so I though I would comment a little on the topic. Cork is a beautiful thing in its most natural form and is warm to the touch. Typically I look at them very carefully. I do not use fillers in my grips simply because I do not have to.   If you have ever seen cork grips that look like they should be hanging off of a fishing net in the middle of the Atlantic look a little closer at many of the rods sold at retail today. Many grips with fillers look like the grip has been extruded out of a sausage maker.    The above photo shows what a premium grip looks like after  going through the extra step of locating the lenticels, numbering the  measured rings, and placing them in sequence. Thus avoiding them  during the final turning process. I start out by using the best cork I can get and then take it one step further. I measure all the clusters of lenticels in the rings to miss the final surface diameters of the intend

Ginger On the Fly

  The picture was taken for a cover of LIFE back in 1942 by photographer Bob Landry “The most important thing in anyone's life is to be giving something.  The quality I can give is fun, joy and happiness. This is my gift." ~ Ginger Rogers