THE HOBBYIST - Rich Margiotta

One of the quietest builders on the Fiberglass Flyrodders board is Rich Margiotta, also known as eastprong, but his work is no less stunning.

Rich builds on various blanks and his work is seemingly flawless. I am especially intrigued with the thread colors he chooses since his wraps always compliment the blank that he building on.

Thomas and Thomas Heirloom 7'6" three weight blank which Rich considers the finest three weight that he has ever cast. The moss agate stripper guide is a perfect compliment to this build.




Kettle Creek 6'3" three/four weight blank build which is a good example of how thread colors can make a build striking.


McFarland Blank 8'6" six weight blank build. I could think of a lot of places to take this beautiful three piece fly rod out West.




If you are interested in talking with Rich Margiotta about a possible build he can be contacted through his email at rmargiotta@aol.com.

TEST DRIVE - Native Ultimate 12

Since last summer Kevin McGuire and I have been conversing through how fishing kayaks would open up new water for each of us. We are both surrounded by ponds, rivers, lakes, and can take short hops down to the coast as well.

We want kayaks. No...no...we NEED kayaks.


Last week Kevin and I spent a day test driving a couple Native Ultimate 12 kayaks on the salt creeks of Edisto Island to see if the Native's would live up to the hype. They do and then some. The Ultimate 12's are great, but we are both thinking 14.5 Tandem's will suit us better.

So now comes the saving (and scheming).

Wives, please don't be checking the bank accounts to closely. If you do, think of it as us taking an advance on Father's Day, birthday, Christmas, and whatever holiday we can think of to roll together to finish raising the funds for our "investments"...complete with a few needed accessories.

Dylan Fouste - Artist (and T.F.M. Printer)

When we first moved to South Carolina I met Dylan Fouste, who was still in school and just starting to get his name known off the walls of coffee shops and art shows. Ten years later Dylan works for a print shop (making T.F.M. decals when no one is looking) and spends evenings and weekends in a studio at his house in the woods.


Recently Dylan was given a cello by the South Carolina Philharmonic to transform it into a piece of art. At the end of this month it will be auctioned off along with several other pieces of instrument art which were done by other local artists. The completed pieces can be seen here.

A few weeks ago I stopped in at Dylan's "Old House" studio and took a few photos of the cello in progress. Dylan had canvases stacked everywhere and others on the walls of the house. His work is impressive. Dylan has sixteen pages of his past works and photos on his myspace page.




Thanks Dylan for the stacks (and stacks) of T.F.M. decals you've printed and I look forward to see what comes off your easel next.

T.F.M. Spotting - The Thompson's in N.Z.

Recently Deb and Joel Thompson returned from a two week fly fishing trip to New Zealand and came back with photos and a narrative that Joel posted on the Itinerant Angler forum.

I was excited to see the Thompson's both repping T.F.M. while they were chasing trout, drinking local wines, and meeting new friends in a fascinating part of the world.


Deb Thompson sporting her "Limited Edition" bubblegum pink T.F.M. t-shirt and holding up a brute that put her through the paces before coming to hand. That smile was well earned I hear.


Joel Thompson keeping his dome warm with his T.F.M. beanie while catching what he calls an "ugly rainbow trout". I think it looks great from here. Any rainbow of that size that sips dry flies in good in my book.

Great to hear that the two of you are home safe and sound. I bet Riley, the trout dog, was glad to see you both.

Sunday Cinema - The Urban Fly Fisher

One of the neat things about The Fiberglass Manifesto being on facebook has been meeting up with anglers from all over the world.

Mike Fitzgerald is a guide who lives in the Toronto area and fishes for anything that will chase a fly in his Canadian waters.

Mike recently started a series of "indie type" videos called, the Urban Fly Fisher Chronicles, that he'll add to as spring warms to summer with a camera in hand and a fly rod lashed to his backpack.



Off to fly waters my friend. I can't wait to see your next webisode.

The BUILDER Posts

Over the coming months The Fiberglass Manifesto will be bringing you an inside look to the custom fiberglass rod builders that you may or may not know. Some of these builders are full time while others spend their evenings and weekends completing orders in their spare time. These builders work out of shops, garages, basements, and spare bedrooms and the end products they produce are nothing less than art.


(Gypsy Rod Works and Leiderman Custom Fiberglass Builds)

Most of these builders are already listed on the right side of the blog under the "T.F.M. Approved Builders" list but there are still a few that don't maintain an online presence yet and this series of posts will be an opportunity to make their work known.

These BUILDER posts will tell each rod builder's story, what they offer as a custom shop, and then the aspects of their builds that may set them apart from others.

Finally, if you know of any custom fiberglass fly rod builders that should be included in this series of posts please send me an email to let me know. In the end I'd like these posts to be a complete reference for those interested in a custom fiberglass build.

T.F.M. Spotting - In A.D. Maddox's Studio

Between competitive online Scrabble matches, facebook quizzes, and checking over her shoulder for the fuzz while leaning through the winding canyons on her Ducati, A.D. Maddox knocks out enlightened canvases mixing the elements of trout and water in a style all her own.


I recently sent Amelia a few T.F.M. decals and it didn't take to long for her to email a few photos of her repping T.F.M. at the easel while working on a Brook Series canvas. She even brushed "TFM" on her puffy studio jacket. So cool!


The canvas is FINISHED! I am really excited about this since it will soon be hung over our son's crib who arrives in May.

Check out A.D. Maddox's website to see her online gallery, blog, and store. You can find her on facebook too!

Offer of the Month - Rowdy's Wallets

Marc Crapo a.k.a. "Rowdy" of www.flywallets.com sent me an email with a dozen or so of his favorite wallet designs from the past couple of months. I thought T.F.M. readers might get an idea or two for their own leather fly wallet after seeing a few of these. Click photo collage to view in a larger size.


If any of you have received the 2009 Patagonia Fly Fishing catalog you'll recognize where the inspiration came for this wallet. Marc took the image and created an unbelievable wallet cover for Tom Pask, the photographer of the catalog cover photo. Marc said that it took him about eight hours to get the artwork on this wallet done. Impressive.


Through the month of April, mention the THE FIBERGLASS MANIFESTO to Marc with your order, and you'll receive 40% OFF the retail price of your leather fly wallet.


You just may want to sleep with your custom fly wallet too!

For more information give Marc Crapo a shout at marc@flywallets.com or visit his website at www.flywallets.com.