The Hobbyist - Dane Fuller

Over the course of the past few years I've watched Dane Fuller, aka beauglass, take up rod building in his down time and become totally captivated by every part of it. Recently Dane on his blog, The Dusty Fly, wrote that he's in development of his own line of glass blanks which would make him the first "The Hobbyist" turned "Glass Builder" that T.F.M. has highlighted.

I thought it would be interesting for Dane to write about his start in rod building and show off a few of his latest build photos.

I’m not like most of the builders that T.F.M. has spotlighted. I don’t have years of experience. Although I’ve fished all my life I really have only been into fly fishing for the past five or six years. Everything changed for me when I caught a bluegill on the fly at my local city park lake. I’ve been addicted to fly fishing and everything related to it ever since.


I first got interested in building rods when a good friend and rod builder, Barry Evans, showed me the steps he takes when building a rod. I was intrigued but just wasn’t sure I could do it. Another great friend and rod builder, Gene Bethea, is really the one to blame. He sent me one of his books on rod building and told me that I’d never know if I didn’t try. Both of these guys have taught me a lot.


Another person that I learned from is the late Dave Lewis. Dave was a master at the craft and, although we only corresponded thru emails, I count him as one of my mentors. His guidance helped me understand more about the way thread types and colors react with different finishes and probably shortened what would have been a costly trial and error learning curve. I miss him a great deal.


I don’t know that I have a style other than to say I try to make my builds look good without being too flashy. Personally, I don’t want to have a rod that I’d be afraid to fish. However, there is no reason it can’t look nice. The one thing that I find myself doing on every build is putting a spiral wrap on it. I suppose that’s as close to flashy as I get.


Like I said earlier, I don’t have a ton of experience doing this, but I love to work with my hands and have a very strong urge to create. I suppose that’s why I dove headlong into rod building. My dream is to one day build rods on blanks I design and roll myself. Mark Steffen is someone I admire a lot. If I could, I’d camp out on his porch until I learned everything he knows. Until I’m able to start rolling my own, I’ll be content to build rods on blanks made by other hands.


Dane, best wishes as you begin the process of having your own blanks produced. I will certainly be interested in how it all falls into place and D.F. Fly Rods is born.