To me, these vintage reels and fiberglass rods we fish with and collect are little works of art and it's fun to match them with new and old rods and switch them around and daydream of all the really beautiful rods and reels that are out there, and then get out on the water and fish with them. I'm interested in collecting and fishing JW Young reels and others too. My rods so far are an old 6 1/2 ft Featherlight matched with an equally old Ocean City reel, a Shakespeare Wonderod matched with an old Shakespeare Purist reel, and a MF80 Phillipson Master (my treasure), matched with a Young Beaudex, and (so far) 3 Pridex reels waiting for rods, and also various graphites (Sage & Orvis) from my pre-enlightened era. I'm waiting now for my Gypsy build on a Lamiglass FL9043 blank (my treasure to come), which I'll match with a new Tibor Spring Creek reel. I have such tremendous respect for the rodmakers' work that I've seen, including Gypsy's work, McFarland, Scott and Steffen, just to mention a few. The artisery is just flat out inspiring to me and also the exquisite fly tiers and the stunning photographs. It's all very humbling to me. I think maybe I might concentrate my rod collection (and fishing) on vintage inexpensive rods that have been fished and that I fished as a kid and rods that have that wonderful patina and aura of history about them, like the stunning Phillipson Master I just found. I love those Wright & McGill rods too like the Featherlight and Sweetheart. And those Shakespeares too. And those English reels...well I'll stop now.

My other interests are old maps and old atlases, reading and collecting books, visiting art galleries and museums, traveling the world when my work permits, eating my wife's great cooking, good espresso, an occasional cigar, hiking with my sons and wife, baseball, Van Morrison's music and Dylan's and I better throw in John Lee Hooker too, and since I'm at it how about Hank Williams and Johnny Cash and what about Mozart's "Requiem Mass" too, old movies, especially westerns and foreign films too, and of course fly fishing on our little mountain streams for trout and fishing for bluegills with popper bugs, it's just plain fun!

To all my brothers of the angle: I wish you well and may peace be with you on the streams and rivers, ponds and lakes, the shores and bays, and out on the deep oceans.