The Fiberglass Manifesto

Saturday, August 1, 2026

SMITHEY - Everyone Travels with a Favorite Cast Iron Skillet, Right?

I've been thinking about Alaska a lot this week since our daughter is up there visiting friends before she heads back to college later this month. During Hadley's week and a half visit, she's spending time at some of the same places that we visited together a couple of years ago as she winding up a year of living in Palmer. Before Hadley packed up to come home, my wife flew up to spend a week with her, camping and hiking all over, and then I flew up to spend a week where we spent time in Homer fishing with friends (Part 1 and Part 2), floated the Kenai River with Outgoing Angling, and then off to Seward for hiking and exploring. We came home with a 50 pound fish box and so many memories. Alaska is tough to beat even though I feel like we saw just a small fraction of it over the week that I was there.

Of my wife's handful of superpowers, finding top tier campsites and Airbnb spots is her forte. For Hadley and my trip, she arranged a wonderful dry cabin outside of Homer and a small yurt in Seward for our stays. Knowing that over the two weeks of travel with Hadley that we'd be cooking for ourselves quite a bit, my wife flew to Alaska with our Smithey No. 8 Chef Skillet and then I brought it back at the end of my trip. As Hadley was packing provisions for our week on the road, she grabbed a dozen local eggs, rhubarb jam from a roadside stand, and a loaf of sourdough bread that we made toast, breakfast sandwiches, and grilled cheese with.

As much as I enjoy Airbnb's, they typically have dreadful cookware, knives, and kitchen tools. Having our own cast iron skillet and slotted spatula made camp and kitchen meals so easy and I can't imagine a trip like this where we won't travel with at least one (if not several) of our favorite pans and kitchen tools. In fact, I'm working on a custom knife/tool roll that will have everything from knives, spatula, tongs, digital meat thermometer, wood cook spoon, and more, just to be fully prepared.

Here's a few snaps from the cabin, kitchen, yurt camp, and on our forest to ocean hike. Everything tasted as good as it looks and I can't wait to get back someday.

We cook almost exclusively with Smithey pans and the quality cannot be beat. The four pans that everyone should own include the No. 8 Chef Skillet, No. 10 Skillet, Carbon Steel Farmhouse Skillet, and one of the Dutch Ovens. That covers all the bases and though these fall squarely into the category of "Buy Once, Cry Once" each will be passed down to your children (and their children) with proper care.

What kitchen gear can't you live without on a trip? Let me know with an email.

BOB WHITE STUDIO - On Painting Bristol Bay

Artist Bob White is a favorite online follow and when he posted this group of images of recent paintings that he completed during several weeks in Bristol Bay, Alaska earlier this year, I figured sharing them would be a nice way for the T.F.M. readership to ease into the weekend.

Slow scroll and enjoy. I know that I did...

Bob wrote... "After 42 seasons, Alaska has a very special place in my heart and soul. Every spring, I'm fortunate enough to travel there and spend a couple of weeks painting. This year I painted at both Bristol Bay and Tikchik Narrows Lodge, and over the course of my stay, completed five 24 x 20 inch panels and finished three others started the year before.

Additionally, I'll spend another week this fall at Royal Coachman Lodge, painting what I love most. So, more to come!

Enjoy the work, and if you're interested in the original artwork or fine art prints... give me a shout!"

Visit the Bob White Studio website for more and follow along with the latest travel and studio news on Facebook and Instagram.

Wednesday, July 29, 2026

J.P. ROSS FLY RODS & CO. - A "Love Letter" of Sorts

It's hard for me to believe that T.F.M. has been around for almost eighteen years. When I think back to the beginnings of the Fiberglass Fly Rod Makers page, there was maybe a dozen or so builders, blank makers, and fly rod companies who worked with fiberglass. JP Ross Fly Rods & Company was on the list then, and remains so now as it features over 100 builders from all over the world.

Through all those years, Jordan, aka JP, has been a great supporter of what happens here, got a lot out of me on his podcast, continues to innovate with new glass tapers and fly rod series, a focus on conservation, and surrounds himself with artisans that both elevate his work while he exposes others to their talents.

A few weeks back, JP posted something on his social media pages that I felt deserved a share here. He wrote this right before a demo if his latest fiberglass fly rod, the 8' 8-weight Phat Glass, arrived on my doorstep to take with me to Beaver Island.

JP, thank you for the kind words and support through all the years. Thanks for everything.

"Dear The Fiberglass Manifesto,

From my research it looks like you made your first post on T.F.M. in 2008. I believe we started to chat around 2010, and by 2012 I was a regular advertiser and we have been pals ever since. We have come a long way. I remember one of the first rods we made was the Eagle Creek Special, a blank made by Mcfarland Rod Company. Shortly after that we released our first totally designed glass rod called the MUIR. It was a 7 foot 3-weight 5-piece and is still in production today.

I got news from you that you are going on a trip, and that trip sounds like a place that our new Phat Glass could be a great tool for you. I shipped you this rod on Thursday. Tracking looks like it should get to you Monday. Hopefully just in time. This is an early prototype Phat Glass made right before we went to full production. I made this rod for myself and put on a J.S. Kimball smallmouth bass reel seat. I was also playing with ideas to either rib or sand the blank and have chosen to leave the blanks sanded and gloss.

You may notice the rod is a little dirty, and that is because Panfish On The Fly just got done using this rod in Maine.

I hope you enjoy the rod, and perhaps decide to get one for yourself. Enjoy your trip and thank you Cameron for all the memories and support thru the years."

And, enjoy the trip to Beaver Island I did. There will be more on this trip soon with a full pictorial post but I took one morning to walk into a area off Garden Island with the Phat Glass to tangle with a few smallmouth bass who couldn't say no to a white Kraft's Baitfish. The dart and stop retrieve of the fly was met with a pounce and pull of a few strong willed smallmouth. A fun way to start a morning and perfect place to put the smallmouth themed Phat Glass through its paces.

I have a known soft spot for short 8-weights and this has quickly come to be a favorite. So much so, JP Ross is working on a carp themed Phat Glass build that I'll soon call my own. More on that later but in the meantime know that this progressive 8-weight taper is wonderful and its evident the time and design work that JP put into this taper. While it may be a departure from the "trout weight" blanks he's designed in the past, he's proud of his work and should be.

Visit the JP Ross Fly Rods & Company website, check out the new Phat Glass fly rod, and keep up with the latest shop news on Facebook and Instagram.

FLY COUNTRY - Episode 1: Montana

The R.L. Winston Rod Company Fly Country series continues with a visit to Twin Bridges, Montana.

Look for future episodes of Fly County here and on the Winston YouTube channel.

Wednesday, July 22, 2026

A Float with Favorite Folks

These early summer trips back home to Michigan for a week (or even two) have been a tradition now for twenty-something years. Ten years ago, Danny Reed of Crooked Creek Holler came over to Beaver Island with me and now time in Michigan has become an annual ritual for him as well. As our trips were nearing, we compared notes of where we'd be and when and realized that he had a float planned with Captain Steve Martinez of STM Outfitters on the Muskegon River on a day that I didn't have anything planned. I may have invited myself along to balance out the drift boat by taking the backseat but couldn't help it as Danny and Steve fall high on the list of "Favorite Folks" to spend time on the water with.

Steve has made a few changes to his life and guide program choosing to stick closer to home. He's taken over the family farm, opened a roadside stand, baking breads with his mom, plays in a band once or twice a week, and limiting his guiding to a handful of local rivers. After years of months away guiding for days on end on Beaver Island and in the Louisiana marsh, he's prioritizing himself and his family.

Twenty-something year old me would be scratching my head. Fifty-something year old me gets it.

I pulled into Newaygo to find that Danny and Steve were waiting on me. I ran through a quick checklist of fly rods and gear to move over to Steve's drift boat and we were off to the river. I wouldn't say that fishing was lights out but we caught a few smallmouth and a pike, talked shit and had some laughs, enjoyed a top shelf on the river lunch, and were off the water by mid-afternoon.

A highlight for the day was casting towards the bank, upstream of a downed tree, and watched as a hefty smallmouth emerged from the pile to rise up to the fly, inspecting it, and then soft slurped it in. It all worked out like it was supposed to.

Here's a few snaps from the day...

I don't think there is a more "fishy" guide than Captain Steve Martinez. I've caught my largest lake run rainbow trout, carp, smallmouth, black drum, and redfish with him and cherish all the years that we've fished together. He invited me over to fish with him on Beaver Island in 2011, and that sparked a friendship with us fishing together a few days to a couple of weeks each year. If you want to catch smallmouth, salmon, steelhead, or trout on the west side of the state, he's the one. His website is down right now but he's easy to reach through Facebook or Instagram.

Support Danny by checking out Crooked Creek Holler and scheduling a session at Hot Stuff Tattoo.

Thanks boys for the stellar time. I'm always happy to take the backseat.