I had a great conversation with Dr. Tod and fishing for history. Kindred spirits. I am showing you some of the handles I made for my big game rods. They are copies of a rod owned by Hemmingway. A tai chi buddy of mine's father-in-law used to fish with him. He loaned the rod to me an I copied it, only I upgraded the wood from hickory to Koa, Aussie cypress, figured black walnut and maple. I also use koa in the rod laminations. It works wonderful if it isn't a little exspensive. It took me over 3 years to perfect the glueing and laminations so that it would achive the correct "spring" and remain straight and not warp. I have more than a few ? shaped prototypes. You can see the rod laminations ready to be glued up.