Of course, time is a factor. There are more than 1,400 separate operations and inspections that go into the making of each rod, all of which are done here in my shop. Since each rod is going to end up on a lake or river somewhere with my name on it, I don't hurry or cut corners.

Over the years I've looked into different ways to increase my production, but there's just no way to make rods faster and while maintaining the quality. I produce around 40 rods a year. As a result, the delivery time for a rod is presently between four and five years.

But experience has shown that a customer's satisfaction with his rod is more important than quick delivery. If anything goes wrong during the building of a rod, I destroy it and start again.

When a rod is finished, I put it through a series of casting tests, checking for line size, delicacy, accuracy and casting range. Should a rod fail any of these tests, I break it and start a new one.