When your Mom, wife, sister-in-law and others all give you the same advice, it’s probably wise to take note. The advice given was that I should begin writing a blog to promote my business and share my love of the outdoors. So, here we are! I hope you enjoy.
My business is B&B Custom Outdoors. I build hand-made fishing rods, animal calls, outdoors accessories and other curiosities. As you might suspect, I came to this business through a series of thoughts and events, but first was the love of fishing and the outdoors. I have loved fishing for literally as long as I can remember. In my youngest days, dad would take me and my siblings out once or twice a summer. It was a rite of passage in a way: our reward for learning to tie our shoes was our very own rod and reel! As I grew, so did the love of fishing. By the time I was 16 and driving, a lot of my free time was spent at this pond or that, catching bluegill, shellcrackers, crappie and bass.
While I was attending college, my brother was given an old fly rod by my grandfather. Before long he was very excited about fly fishing and sharing that excitement with me and so, of course, I asked for a fly rod for Christmas. I must have been good that year because I got one.
Now this is where we really get into the genesis of B&B Custom Outdoors! It didn’t take long, after I received my first fly rod, for me to want to tie my own flies. I had 2 reasons: I was in south east Georgia, where trout do not exist and flies were expensive. I needed to have flies that were appealing to bass and bream and I needed them cheap! I practiced the craft of fly tying for a number of years, getting a great rush every time I caught a fish on one of my creations. It got me to thinking…
“I wonder what else I can make for myself?”
Somewhere in the early 2000’s, I was struck with a notion: “I wonder if folks build their own rods?” I don’t remember if I had seen something in a magazine or online, or if it just came to me, but once the thought was there, I couldn’t let it go. As I began to look into it more seriously, I discovered, much to my delight, that the basics of rod building were the same as fly tying! Basically, in both cases you use thread to wrap objects onto a cylinder. In flies you are wrapping bits of fur and feather onto a hook. With rods, you’re wrapping guides onto the rod blank. This was all of the convincing I needed. Before long, I had my very first rod kit. Not long after, I had a 6 foot spinning rod that served well for a number of years.
A while after this, I found myself at a rod builder’s gathering. I don’t remember if it was the old Duck River gathering that was held in Shelbyville, Tn. by Bob Makamey or the International Custom Rod Builder’s Exhibition in NC held by Tom Kirkman. In any case, there was a guy there by the name of Andy Dear who gave a talk and demonstration on the uses of a lathe in fishing rod building. I’m pretty sure that I had made up my mind that I had to have one before the seminar ended. So taken was I with this idea, that I built my first lathe out of an old treadle sewing machine!
Moving the story along, we moved from the Savannah area to middle Georgia. I was not entirely happy with this move, so I demanded a bribe from my wife. The price was permission for me to acquire an electric lathe. She agreed, and after prowling eBay for a time, I had possession of a very nice, used Jet mini lathe. I taught myself to use the machine just by fooling around and turning this and that. Pretty soon, I was able to bend the wood to my will.
By this point, the die was cast. I found I really enjoyed all of these creative outlets and I had managed to create a few pretty rods. I had begun to turn pens as well as rod parts. I also began turning animal calls for deer and duck hunting. I received enough positive feedback to lead me to believe folks who prefer the hand made to the mass produced might like to buy some of the things I was making. I began taking my merchandise to the public via small arts and craft shows. For a long while, I just did 1 or 2 a year.
About 2 years ago, my family decided it was time for a change. My wife wanted new opportunities and better public education for the kids and I wanted to be closer to my mom and dad. We were given the opportunity to live in the house where I grew up in Calhoun Ga. Upon moving to Calhoun a year ago, I gave up my teaching job to pursue B&B Custom Outdoors full time. Our first year has been what you would expect: a lot of ups and downs, a lot of struggle and a lot of hopeful signs. In spite of the struggles, I love what I’m doing! We are participating in more, bigger and better shows. My business name is becoming known to people. The future is not certain, but I believe that with hard work, success is the probable outcome. I’m loving this new life, and just think: It all started with fishing!
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