The Home Rodmaker Book Building Saltwater, Bait Casting, and Fly Rods from Wood & Bamboo
In The Home Rodmaker, Stillman Taylor probably taught more people how to make fishing rods than any other writer of the 1900-1930 era. Yet today, he is virtually unknown even to the most advanced rod makers and fishing historians. How did someone so prominent in the field of rodmaking disappear so completely? The answer lies in the publications for which Taylor wrote. Unlike almost every other rodmaking writer known, Stillman Taylor did not target the fishing audience of sporting periodicals. Instead, he used his skills as one of the nation’s prominent “how-to” writers of the day to pen a number of rodmaking articles for Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, etc. These magazines had subscription bases that dwarfed even the most widely read sporting periodical, and moreover, were read by handymen and women of a mechanical bent for whom his writings would have been easy to follow. Without doubt, he convinced a number of these readers to make their first rods from scratch. In this volume — the 10th in the on-going series on classic and overlooked rodmaking writings — all known rodmaking articles by Stillman Taylor are collected for the first time into one handy volume. They include how to make a saltwater rod, one of the very few detailed articles on how to make a classic wooden saltwater rod ever published, as well as articles on making one, two, and three-piece rods, bamboo fly rods, and baitcasters from various woods. Dr. John Elder, noted rodmaker and former president of the Old Reel Collector’s Association, notes of this book: “Stillman Taylor was an excellent teacher and most everything in this book is clear and would be very helpful to anyone who wanted to make rods and get on the stream. I enjoyed it and found the instructions useful in making wood and bamboo rods.” With an introduction by Dr. Todd E.A. Larson, this volume will be a must for any contemporary rodmaker looking for inspiration and instruction on how to make rods from scratch!
To Purchase visit our sister site Whitefish Press: The Home Rodmaker Book
ABOUT THE FLY ANGLER’S DESKTOP LIBRARY
The Fly Angler’s Desktop Library is a return to the Golden Age of Books, when bigger was not necessarily better. It was a time when publishers like Borzoi Books lovingly crafted beautiful, compact volumes. Now, we can recapture the classic look and feel of these wonderful books in a new series dedicated to bringing out long forgotten treatises as well as new, original works on the art and beauty of fly angling. At a compact 4.5″ x 6.875″ size, these books are designed to be proudly displayed on the desktop, just like in the olden days. With learned and interesting introductions and appendices of additional materials, you won’t want to miss any of these little gems. Color coded hardcovers by subject. Red for rod making, fly tying and fly tackle; Blue for general fly angling; Green for history and biography.