My tastes for rods is a bit “old school” cosmetically speaking, but I enjoys a crisp dry fly taper overall and the above mentioned rods makers fulfill that requirement very well. The younger rod makers are really doing some excellent work today and the level of detail and craftsmanship is outstanding as well as bringing back some older hardware details to present day like Clint Bova's rods (Baby Leonard style seat interpretation) as an example. I suppose in order to be successful at rod making today and stand out in the crowd you need a point of view and stick with it so that when people see your rods and cast them right away they know who's rod is who's. It was most evident back turn of the century, the styles and casting styles were quite distinctive, i.e. Leonard's, F.E. Thomas, Fred Divine, etc...
My buddy Sam and I once a year pull out some of our favorite oldies and do some “baby swapping” as we call it. Then hit our favorite WV stream with some silk line. I think Sam still has one of my old Leonards in his stash from years before, I have threatened him repeatedly that I will call out for an Amber Alert if he does not return it soon. Sam if you see me driving around in your vintage Cherokee in the next few weeks you'll know why!
Dave
