Custom Tackle And Rod Building

Some readers may know that for many years, I owned a business that made custom built fishing rods.  Not all of my clients wanted fly rods, so I learned as much as I could about everything possible, bought fishing rod blanks from various manufacturers and tested them, went on custom rod building seminars, and one day, I hoped that maybe I could build custom rods full time.

Well life has some funny twists and turns.

Back in about 1997, I had one of the first custom rod building websites on the Internet, and I knew nothing about the Internet! But I was convinced that this new medium was the wave of the future and along with rod building, I did my best to learn more about Internet Marketing.  Back then, it was all about newsgroups and being found in a search engine called “Web Crawler.”  Altavista didn’t exist, Google was probably not even a thought in anyone’s mind, but I was fascinated with the fact I was getting inquiries from all over the world.  I should see if I can find a copy of my first website for Wishbone Custom Rods.

Then I learned about domains, and started to register some. One of the ones I registered was “customtackle.com.”  A bit later, I decided to try to get into the business of doing web development – many were still nervous about the whole “Internet Thing,” so I ended up leasing that domain to a business that was in the same niche.  I had thought that someday, I might want to get back into custom rod building and it would be a good domain for me.  In the meantime, we were all dipping our toes into the waters of the Internet to see where it would go.

Those were fun days!  I met Tom Greek, the Founder of The Custom Rod Buider’s Guild, and Tom and I spent many hours together in person and on the phone coming up with the original website for the Guild.  And then I met Tom Kirkman who founded and still owns RodMaker Magazine and does a fantastic job of administering the RodBuilding.org website.   I even spoke at the very first Custom Rod Builders Guild conclave, on “The Internet Opportunity.”  I was nervous  – I’m no public speaker! By the way, you can read an interview with Tom Kirkman here.

My how time can change some things! Since those early days, I haven’t built a custom fishing rod at all, although my interest remains high in the area. I’ve been too busy assisting clients with project planning and organizing new and redeveloping old websites, and learning more about fly fishing.  But perhaps now I have an opportunity to get back into the custom tackle niche and we’ll see how it goes.

I want to build Colleen a fly rod someday. I wonder if my son Colin would like to learn.. I think he would.  That would be cool!

And I know my “wee man,” David, would be thrilled to learn how to build a custom fishing rod.  Maybe a winter project ahead of me.

Sadly, Custom Tackle Supply no longer exists – they were my first choice for my custom rod building components, and I always felt much loyalty to Bob McKamey,  so much so that we created and maintained his site and tried to help him along.  But there are still some great retailers and distributors of custom tackle around.