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I know now there were, but 20 years ago, I didn't know there were any books about bamboo rodmaking... I didn't exactly live in "Flyfishing Heaven" ya know... so I started bugging people.

First, Gary Howells, who was very guarded at first, but opened up over the years to give me a few tidbits. I sent one of my early rods to Gary, probably my 20th rod or so. He was kind but critical, telling me that the rod was "OK", but nowhere near perfect, pointed out things I could do better, then told me to send him rod #100 and he'd tell me whether I'd "ever" be a rodmaker. Part of me was crushed... People on the river and in my flyfishing club had seen that rod, my best work to date, and thought it was amazing... perfect... flawless... a work of art... I was a little beaten down and discouraged, but that quickly turned into FIRE. I was determined that I woule build the perfect rod! Thus began my quest for the perfect finish, the perfect wraps, the perfect casing rods, the perfect everything (now I know there is no such thing as perfect in this business, but you can get close) A little farther down the road, I did send him another rod and he sent it back with a very kind note, basically saying that I'd made it... I cheated... It wasn't #100, but probably around the 80th or so. and looking back it at... it was a piece of $#%@ too, especially compared to the rods I make today, but just a much nicer piece of $#%@ than the first one I sent him!

Then there was Glenn Brackett. You know, Glenn is one of those guys that would talk to me and answer anything I asked, even though I doubt after all these years he would even remember who I am. Makes no difference... I still owe him... I was just one of those pesky guys that would call Glenn at Winston. He was never "there" when I'd call, but he'd always come across from the Boo shop and call me back. He answered questions, gave me tips and hints, sent materials for free... I once asked him about the duronze they used for ferrules and a week later got about 3 feet of it in the mail. I think I still have some of it lying around. Stuff is a BEAR to work with!!!

Then there was Tom Morgan. By the time I met Tom, he was already wheelchair bound, but still a great source of information AND friendship. For those that know Tom, he is an AMAZING man. Most of us would have thrown in the towel years ago. Tom continues to stride forward... At our first meeting, Tom looked at one of my rods, probably around the 300th or so by then, and said, "You don't charge enough". We talked about that for awhile and he basically said then I should be charging more than i charge NOW. It didn't make sense to me, but let me tell you, I couldn't wear a 55 gallon drum for a hat for the next month!!! Talk about a swollen head!!! Tom and Gerri have been on my short list of people I care deeply about for a lot of years, and to this day, if I run into a problem, I know I can call Tom Morgan and he'll either have the answer or find the answer. I learned a lot from Tom about both making rods and about the rodmaking business.

Then there was Ron Kusse. I learned a lot from all of these fine gentlemen, but, without a doubt, I've learned more from Ron Kusse over the last decade than I've learned from all the others combined. The first day Ron met, we hit it off. We fished together for a few hours and talked rodmaking for a few more (until well after midnight). Within a week of my return to Oklahoma, I knew I was going to have to get a better Cell Phone Plan! To this day, I don't have 10 or 15 minutes conversations with Ron. A short one will be an hour. We can stay on the phone discussing technique and flyfishing history for as long as 3 or 4 hours. I've been a guest in his home and in his shop. There are two points that I call "highlights of my rodmaking career. #1... Recently, Ron called me with a rodmaking problem and wanted my input. It just happened to be a problem that I had run into before and I COULD HELP HIM!!! (By the way, for the young or less experienced rodmakers, I've made close to 700 rods, Ron has made over 3400 rods... This was an obscure situation neither of us had come across in a combined 70 years of rodmaking until recently. What I'm saying is NONE of us will EVER know everything there is to know about rodmaking, and those that think they do, well, they just refuse to continue to gain knowledge) #2, and actually THIS IS the #1 thing, Ron and I have had some discussions of late about me moving to upstate New York and he and I making rods together. That, gentlemen is like a dream come true for me... unfortunately, I'm not in a position right now to take advantage of that. I wish I could, but family issues keep me in the mid South for the next few years. So here, I'll stay...

Anyways... I would venture to say there are at least a couple of dozen "secrets" that Ron taught me that aren't in ANY of the books or tutorials. Those are priceless... and as far as I'm concerned they'll never be written in any book. They are things that are the proprietary secrets of Ron's craft and he told me those things on my word of honor that I wouldn't tell anyone else, at least as long as he was still making rods.

In my 20 years, (since I found out people actually wrote books about this) I've owned about every book there is on rodmaking. I've read them, then sold them to someone that needs them. The only "rodmaking" books on my shelf now are historical books... books about Wes Jordan and Lyle Dickerson and such... I didn't find much added value in the other "how to" books, for me as a rodmaker. I guess before I ever saw a book, I had been influenced by the ideas of masters of this craft on how rods should be made and it really didn't match what I could find in the books... Plus, by the time I got the first book, I had developed an intuitive sense about rods, how they cast, how they can be improved and rodmaking in general. You can't learn that from a book. You can only learn that from 10,000 hours. There is a popular book on the market where a group of people who are glaring successes in their fields are ask how long it too to solve a certain task to perfection and the answer was... 10,000 hours. Well, at about 40 hours per rod, and ball park 680 rods, I'm 27,200 hours in, and I'm still learning... every chance I get, from everyone who will teach me.

I think before I hit that "Post" button, I'll say one more thing. Thanks Gary, Glenn, Tom and most of all Thanks Ron. I never got the chance to repay Gary for his kindness and advice, but I someday, in some way, I will the rest of you.

Bob