Swing the Fly Issue 2.1 Summer 2014 | Page 123

...Fin-nors, his friend fished Hardy’s, and some of the other old guys had Bogdans. Well sitting around drinking with these old guys- they all came packing Scotch and Bourbon you see, and they shared a little with me too. I ask them about their reels. This is before I had any idea of making reels, I think I was 21 years old then. So Buzz told me about his Fin-nors, Warren raved about the Bogdans and Dick had only Hardy Perfects, they were the best in his opinion. They all sounded like reel salesmen. They all had learned the key words; bar stock aluminum, anodized, cork drag, delrin drag etc. etc. I was drinking too you know, and not as experienced and skilled at it as these old guys were. And I finally got to a point after drinking and listening to all of the bull that I blurted out "I can build a better reel than that"....

Yeah I did say that, and I said it loud. They all got momentarily quiet. Then Buzz barked "Kid-are you F....ing crazy? Do you know what the hell you are talking about". Well I was a budding mechanical design engineer at the time, a machinist to some degree too. But no- I was a little bit sauced, I hadn't the foggiest idea what I was talking about ! They all laughed their asses off and I was then the blunt of the jokes for the next few days in camp and what the hell, I earned it.

So when I got home I did in fact start designing a reel, as I said earlier based on Seamaster and Fin-nor designs. I bought a Cadillac engine lathe and a Bridgeport milling machine and stuck in my garage and started making a lot of scrap aluminum. But not long after that I was at the Sportsman's show in Seattle with my first reels on display in a very small and humble booth when Buzz showed up and a couple other guys from my first steelhead trip. They all bought reels from me. I remember Warren Wiley from Anchorage Alaska walked up to my booth and said " You actually did it kid , hell give me one of those things". That's how it happened. I still think sometimes- oh boy what did you get yourself into, as I did back then.

Who is your typical customer? Anyone famous?

My typical customer? Well-seasoned, Steelheader, Atlantic Salmon and Trout fisherman. Really in (most) cases very experienced and