I'm up in MN visiting family for Christmas. Of course, even though the Minnesota water is solid, I can't leave fly fishing behind. I had a couple of
fly shops I wanted to go to, I brought my vise and tying materials, and I wanted to meet the guy who will be building me my first bamboo rod, Dave Norling.
Dave lives in Minneapolis, about 45 minutes away from my folks. The reason I chose Dave due to the humor that came through in his e-mails on the subject, plus
I really liked that he was building rods to chase brookies in MN, and I'd be using the rod to chase brookies in mountain streams a thousand miles away.
After a couple of false starts, Dave agreed to allow me to come over Sunday morning. It was about -5 out, so my wife and I bundled up and headed over. We were greeted by Dave, his wife ("the brains of the outfit" sez Dave), and Dave's son ("I'm blessed to have a son who wants to learn to build rods") and the golden retriever Killer who took a shine to my wife immediately.
Dave was a bit perplexed at why I wanted to come over, but in truth I had a couple motives. First, I wanted to meet him and just see his rods and his shop. I've never dropped this kind of money on a fly rod before, and I guess I wanted to see the operation first hand. Also, my dad is a woodworker and I've dabbled a bit. Rodmaking is fascinating to me and I wanted to get a small glimpse into how it's done. Plus, shops area always neat places, and Dave's is no exception. I know guys with workshops 10 times his size that will never accomplish a fraction of what comes out of that basement.
Also I had not yet determined what kind of rod I wanted - whether a lightweight rod for chasing around small streams (which is only about 20% of my fishing), or a heavier all-rounder that could work for tailwaters. We discussed it for a while, and I got a dose of his humor - but the upshot was that Dave told me if he could only have one rod, it would be his 8' hollowbuilt 2pc 5wt. He showed me a number of his rods, both personal and built for customers. I was frankly amazed at just how beautiful the rods were. I've held some bamboo rods before (never cast one, though) - but these were amazing. He just happened to have one of the 5wts he was building for himself that was in finishing, which he demanded I take outside and cast. So my first cast with a bamboo rod was in the middle of Cleveland Street in Minneapolis, in -5 weather. Hilarious. But what a rod. Not nearly as heavy or sluggish as I was afraid bamboo might be. That's my rod. By going with the 5wt, I can bring it into the mountains to go after dinky little trouts, but I can also use it to do some midge and nymph dredging on my local tailwaters. This is a rod that will see some use.
I had also brought Dave a piece of wood. A friend of the family had given me a bunch of figured hardwood years ago, and I brought Dave a chunk of birdseye maple to build reel seats out of, hopefully one for my rod. Dave seemed appreciative, especially because maple matches his light-toned rods. I think he may get a few seats out of that piece of maple, and I hope they look good for the new owners. Dave went into some detail about discussion of aesthetics and how he likes his rods to match. That went to how he finishes his rods, and the things he's figured out on how to make a well-finished rod that doesn't suffer some of the problems of spar-varnish finishing.
I'd also brought him my favorite brookie nymph, a Sparkle Pheasant Tail. I've really enjoyed that fly over the past year and thought it might be something that would work up in MN. Dave wasn't expecting that, but immediately brought out a box of flies and an empty Pearsall's box, and gave me a bunch of his favorite, the Orange Scud. I can't wait to try them on my local waters.
Dave's the kind of person that only seems to grow in Minnesota. He was like my dad, grandpa, and my wife's grandpa rolled into one. We talked dogs, side-by-side shotguns (what else is a 'boo builder going to use but a side-by 16 gauge?) and fishing holes. I've got an initiation to come up and fish his favorite river this summer, even if I have to use graphite. This was one of the best hours I've ever spent anywhere, and I'm blessed that Dave allowed us to come over. As we were pulling away, my wife said "You picked the right guy to build it."
Yeah, I think I did.
After a couple of false starts, Dave agreed to allow me to come over Sunday morning. It was about -5 out, so my wife and I bundled up and headed over. We were greeted by Dave, his wife ("the brains of the outfit" sez Dave), and Dave's son ("I'm blessed to have a son who wants to learn to build rods") and the golden retriever Killer who took a shine to my wife immediately.
Dave was a bit perplexed at why I wanted to come over, but in truth I had a couple motives. First, I wanted to meet him and just see his rods and his shop. I've never dropped this kind of money on a fly rod before, and I guess I wanted to see the operation first hand. Also, my dad is a woodworker and I've dabbled a bit. Rodmaking is fascinating to me and I wanted to get a small glimpse into how it's done. Plus, shops area always neat places, and Dave's is no exception. I know guys with workshops 10 times his size that will never accomplish a fraction of what comes out of that basement.
Also I had not yet determined what kind of rod I wanted - whether a lightweight rod for chasing around small streams (which is only about 20% of my fishing), or a heavier all-rounder that could work for tailwaters. We discussed it for a while, and I got a dose of his humor - but the upshot was that Dave told me if he could only have one rod, it would be his 8' hollowbuilt 2pc 5wt. He showed me a number of his rods, both personal and built for customers. I was frankly amazed at just how beautiful the rods were. I've held some bamboo rods before (never cast one, though) - but these were amazing. He just happened to have one of the 5wts he was building for himself that was in finishing, which he demanded I take outside and cast. So my first cast with a bamboo rod was in the middle of Cleveland Street in Minneapolis, in -5 weather. Hilarious. But what a rod. Not nearly as heavy or sluggish as I was afraid bamboo might be. That's my rod. By going with the 5wt, I can bring it into the mountains to go after dinky little trouts, but I can also use it to do some midge and nymph dredging on my local tailwaters. This is a rod that will see some use.
I had also brought Dave a piece of wood. A friend of the family had given me a bunch of figured hardwood years ago, and I brought Dave a chunk of birdseye maple to build reel seats out of, hopefully one for my rod. Dave seemed appreciative, especially because maple matches his light-toned rods. I think he may get a few seats out of that piece of maple, and I hope they look good for the new owners. Dave went into some detail about discussion of aesthetics and how he likes his rods to match. That went to how he finishes his rods, and the things he's figured out on how to make a well-finished rod that doesn't suffer some of the problems of spar-varnish finishing.
I'd also brought him my favorite brookie nymph, a Sparkle Pheasant Tail. I've really enjoyed that fly over the past year and thought it might be something that would work up in MN. Dave wasn't expecting that, but immediately brought out a box of flies and an empty Pearsall's box, and gave me a bunch of his favorite, the Orange Scud. I can't wait to try them on my local waters.
Dave's the kind of person that only seems to grow in Minnesota. He was like my dad, grandpa, and my wife's grandpa rolled into one. We talked dogs, side-by-side shotguns (what else is a 'boo builder going to use but a side-by 16 gauge?) and fishing holes. I've got an initiation to come up and fish his favorite river this summer, even if I have to use graphite. This was one of the best hours I've ever spent anywhere, and I'm blessed that Dave allowed us to come over. As we were pulling away, my wife said "You picked the right guy to build it."
Yeah, I think I did.
