It was familiar fishing advice in an unusual setting. Because I wasn’t standing on a boat, but in the shop of Snake River Custom Rods owners Ricky and Goldie Prieto. And the line I was keeping tight ...

When it comes to making custom fishing rods, Barry Weaver employs many skills. Weaver alternates among being a woodworker, an engineer, a lathe operator, a technician and an assembler. And when it ...

Chet Kiekhafer’s business requires the accuracy of an engineer, the steady hands of a surgeon, the creativity of an artist, and the mastery of an avid angler. Kiekhafer of Hutchinson incorporates each ...

Dick Zrudsky will customize a fishing rod -- free -- for anyone who can catch a fish bigger than the one he caught in 1969. Zrudsky makes and designs custom fishing rods from his Englewood home. He ...

Mauston fishing enthusiasts looking for a custom fishing rod don’t have to travel far. Mike Taake makes custom fishing rods from his basement workshop in Mauston, a craft he’s refined for 35 years.

Does a fish really care how cool your fishing rod looks when it's fighting to get off the hook? It suffices to say, it doesn't. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't fish with some style while out on ...

Finding your passion in life is everyone’s goal and if you’re lucky enough, you can sometimes figure it out at a young age. For Christian Bueter, he discovered that building and wrapping fishing rods ...

Getting a custom-built rod from Wayne Fowlkes always came with a bonus. Fishing stories. Fowlkes loved to hear them, loved to tell them. “I remember the day I met him at his shop to have two rods ...

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Pop-up ads can be a real annoyance. But for Kevin Landry of Green Bay, a pop-up ad led him to start his business, Big Bear Custom Rods. “I started building rods about 10 years ago," he said. "Even ...