Fairly new to the rod building craft, I built my first rod in May of 2006. Began with a couple of kits from Cabelas and was less than satisfied with the look of the cork included with the kit. It was great practice and gave me an idea of how to assemble a rod. I had turned a few pens and enjoyed wood turning and thought that wood had some possibilities for rod building. I really had no idea what I was doing and turned a couple of plain wooden grips, without segmenting or decorations.

After I learned of the Rod Guild and The RodCrafters Journal, I joined later that year. The first issue I received had an article on making wooden checkers by Bob Hasbrook. I thought that it was interesting and gave it a try. After that I was hooked. Fortunately several rod builders have taken me under their wing. Joe Emig introduced me to segmented turning and showed me a couple of techniques to make a better grip. I also came across Ron Walter and he gave me encouragement and has been very good about teaching me the proper way to assemble a rod. Billy Vivona befriended me and has been great about feeding me ideas and helping me find a way to build a better grip. There are many others that have helped me along the way, too many to list. I have never met a group that is as helpful and as caring as I have in this organization. I am learning every day and hope some day to be able to share what I have learned.