Northwest Reel Life April 2024 Volume 3 Issue 7 - Flipbook - Page 8
gear
When we first start angling,
we take baby steps, buying
our first rod and reel and
other gear. It most likely
was something we found at
Walmart and figured “That
should work”. And it does,
to a point. If the fishing
bug infects us though, we
soon begin to show further
signs of our illness. One
rod and reel soon morph
into twelve, because, well,
different types of fishing
require different setups.
From there your illness
moves in the direction
of not only quantity and
function but also quality.
Suddenly, that Walmart
special is being replaced
by rods and reels found in
legitimate tackle stores.
Knockoff brands turn into
name brands. Prices go
up and you find yourself
entering the realm of
“guest rods”.
Those old rods are given
to friends who are casual
anglers fishing a day here
or there with you. Because
watching a beginner rear
back on a delicate fishing
rod can bring new levels of
anxiety to fishing!
In short, fishing rods can
very quickly become an
addiction.
Early on I told myself that
I would never spend the
vast amounts of money
that some of the higherend fishing rods can cost.
The key was to find a happy
medium between quality
and cost. Enter a new
source of fishing rods, the
small business rod builder.
I first met Dave Calhoun
many years ago at Ed
Iman’s Fish Camp, a
yearly gathering of Pacific
Northwest outdoor gear
manufacturers, guides,
and media representatives.
Dave was there promoting
his small business,
NWRods, which he started
in 2004. His passion and
enthusiasm for the sport
were evident as he excitedly
talked about the rods he
was building, sharing their
features and quality of
build. I ended up getting
a beautiful float rod from
him that year, which I used
over the following years to
catch numerous steelhead
and salmon. I really enjoyed
that fishing rod and it
performed flawlessly. It had
a real attention to detail,
and I’d not owned a rod of
such quality before.
Fast forward to this year’s
Big Horn Sportsman Show
in Spokane, Washington.
We had our media booth
at the show, and as I was
taking in the sights of all
the vendors a familiar voice
boomed out “Hey Mike,
how’s it going?”.
