This is the 19th century tackle box I am copying in maple at the moment!!! Look at my earlier post to see it. The hardware has been the problem, it's like the old days where I have to order the parts from catalogs!

A small note about the blog design, I use all the organic colors of trees and the circle pattern reminds me of the end of the wood rod!!!

I have always owned motorcyles as did my dad. I am also in HOG, Harley's Owner Group. It has been reported on most websites that HD built their bikes to race. Actually they built their first bike so they could get home faster to fish everyday. I have noticed most of the ads for the older age group always include fly fishing, Holy Kevin Bacon and the 6 degrees of separation. Since Jesus touches almost everything in culture and Peter fished it is so easy to link it all.

The tackle box is almost done. For me there is nothing harder than making a square box, square anything out of wood. Plywood is very stable, that's the idea. There wasn't a lot of it around back in the 30's. I am making these tackle boxes not like a jewelry box or artwork but more like Stickler furniture, Craftsmen style. This box was thrown in a backseat or hauled through the woods! The same for the rods, something to be proud of but also something that was going to break or wear out. I made the bottom out of Alaskan yellow cedar as is the tray inside. This will keep the bugs out of the all natural materials like the line and the cat gut leaders.

Casting Rod

What I set out to do was make a 1930's era wood rod using all period correct equipment. I purchased a new-in-the-box (NIB) 1937 Shakespeare reel (actually 6 of them) and am making rods/tackle boxes/nets/and all the tackle in the box to match. That means hand carving the plugs and hammering the spoons myself. I have silk and hemp line and cat gut leaders.This rod is 6 ft. with a white ash lower and a Ipe tip. All the wraps are silk with varnish finish (about 20 coats). The guides are antique as is the reel mount.

 


Reel Art
I know this is supposed to be about rods but rods w/o reels are like a sandwich without bread This is a painting of a reel made by my friend Michael Hackney. How we met online and I taught him to make reels is well described in his book (I''ll quote it shameless later). Karen Talbot is a fine fish artist who is displaying this work at her booth at the Sawdust festival in Laguna Beach, CA.

The Great American Wood Fishing Rod

This is the start of my documenting my long journey to making or should I say remaking of the wood fishing rod. It started many millenium ago and was refined through time unitl the what I hope was not the sunset marked by the greats such as Hemingway and Zane Grey. With a little work they will not be the our last. I have held these rods and admired them for their beauty and power. Many records were set with these sylvan wonder rods. And so let's get started.......