I had owed Jim Downes a visit since last June when I wrangled his little 7 ½-foot Garrison 206 away from him at PA Fly Fishing Heritage Day. That rod has a beautiful, smooth, full-flexing action very ...

I'm getting anxious now. Tom Smithwick, who moved to Shippensburg several years ago, builds bamboo fly rods. A couple weeks ago, he found three bamboo rod blanks and offered to help me build out a fly ...

Central New York is full of die-hard, trout and salmon anglers who tie their own artificial flies. Ever consider making your own fly rod? Don’t be intimidated. It’s not as difficult or expensive as ...

ESKO -- When Phil Johnson was in college, making $3 an hour working summers at the paper mill in Cloquet, he saved enough to buy himself a bamboo fly rod. "I bought an Orvis Battenkill," says Johnson, ...