Its great Mike. But it is really lousy in some ways. All day, every day, I am either working on a bamboo, tying flies or hanging at the fly shop and getting to talk to folks of all levels of fly fishing expertise.
It gets worse with Ken. In February, I built a bamboo rod in the fly shop as a way to drive traffic during a slow month. Ken, his father and brother were there every minute of it and Ken sat right in front of my wrapper most of the time. The guy I was building the rod for was there too. It was a partridge blank (8' 2/1 5 wt) and we did transparent wraps on it using white Gossamer. Ken was fascinated by the way the thread seemed to disappear when the varnish went on them.
After I did maybe 6 wraps, I looked at little Ken and asked him if he was ready to try wrapping. He very shyly said that he wasn't, and Mark, the guy I was building the rod for told Ken that he would be honored if he would do a wrap on the rod.
Ken came around behind me and stood looking over my shoulder while I did another wrap on one of the guides, then when I finished I got up and he sat down in the drivers seat. It did take him a while longer than me but big deal. His first wrap was absolutely flawless, no tag end showing, nice and tight wrap, the whole nine yards. He even burnished it perfectly when he finished it. We put a green agate stripper on the rod too and then did green accent wraps. After I did several accent wraps, Ken did a couple of them too and they, too, were perfect. Ken didn't get to see the finished rod because I finished it at home, so he will get to see another surprise on Saturday hopefully. Mark and I agreed that Kens name should be on the rod too, so we put it on there along with mine. Kens Father knows about it but wants Ken to see it without telling him about it.
I guess one of the greatest satisfactions God has ever given me is to get to work with and help a young man like this to learn and to grow in what he really likes to do. He is, no doubt, a prodigy and there is also little doubt in my mind that one day, he will definitely be someone we are all reading about and looking at his work in books and magazines. I am working with a few vendors now seeking some support for him and some sponsorships so he can get a lot more knowledge than I could ever give him. About all I can do with my limited knowledge of tying skills is to help point him in the right direction. My tying skills are limited to a soft hackle, midges and nymphs, and a few streamers but nothing like what he ties.
Reply With Quote