A Glass Fly Rod Gift

A couple of weeks ago I received a detailed email and photographs from Sam Snyder about a custom fly rod build his cousin, Ben Casarez, had built and then gifted to him. I asked if Sam Snyder would mind if I shared his email along with several photographs of the build with the T.F.M. readers since I felt there were many truths written within the lines of his email that others would enjoy.

(Sam Snyder giving the build a bend on a Michigan stream.)

Greetings Cameron

I am writing to you about a rod that my cousin Ben Casarez built for me. Ben, in case he did not tell you, is not only my cousin, but my best friend and best fishing buddy. He is the first person I call to talk fishing and he is the first person I go to when I am working through ideas about fishing, fishing history, and conservation. You see, he built that rod for me as a present for completing my PhD. My dissertation examined the history of fly fishing and conservation/restoration ethics and grassroots environmental politics. I am going to continue this research in the Spring 2010 at the National Sporting Library as the John Daniels Fellow.


But enough on me and back to this rod. It truly is a work of art. I recently acquired a Thomas and Thomas four weight glass rod. Until I received this beauty from Ben, I thought the Thomas and Thomas was one of the most ethereal rods I had ever cast. It still is. But something about the McFarland blank is so exquisite. It is soft and subtle, yet has an amazing amount backbone and delicacy even at a distance. I have only fished this rod briefly, I am looking forward to fishing with it in three weeks on the Conejos River, Colorado.


This river is Ben and my favorite river. It seems to be the standard by which we evaluate all rivers, which anglers do, right? As Geirach has said, every angler (despite love of new waters and famed watersheds) loves their own personal streams. This is the nature of fishing, we love places where we feel most at home. The Conejos River is one such river. Rarely fished by many, yet contains tons of wild brown and rainbow trout.


To fish with this new glass rod, on the Conejos River, seems the perfect way to christen a rod like this. David James Duncan has said that with rod in hand we become more than tourists on rivers. "A rod extends the fly fisher’s being as surely as do imagination, empathy, or prayer. Within the eithty or so foot radius of our cast we gain this crazy ability to pierce the river’s power of concealment, bringing life that would otherwise remain hidden right up into our hands.” I feel that this rod (and the more I cast them, glass rods more generally), might be quite adept and helping us to more subtly pierce the river's power of concealment and bring life into our hands.


Keep up the good work on your blog. It is a pleasure to read.

Cheers

Samuel Snyder, PhD
Visiting Faculty
Environmental Studies
Kalamazoo College
Kalamazoo, MI


Thank you Sam and Ben for the email and photographs. I can't wait to hear how the trip to the Conejos River went and your thoughts on this rod after you've put a few fish on it.