GRAND FORKS -- In his quest for the perfect ice fishing rod, Brandon Greene says he never could find one he liked and that fit just right. So, he built one that did. And hooked a booming side venture ...

It was familiar fishing advice in an unusual setting. Because I wasn’t standing on a boat, but in the shop of Snake River Custom Rods owners Ricky and Goldie Prieto. And the line I was keeping tight ...

When it comes to making custom fishing rods, Barry Weaver employs many skills. Weaver alternates among being a woodworker, an engineer, a lathe operator, a technician and an assembler. And when it ...

If you’re the kind of person who dives headlong into hobbies, becomes obsessed, and enjoys the process of figuring out how to do things, Brady Syde is your kindred spirit. Syde is the proprietor and ...

It’s hard to comprehend how Becky Loyd of Iowa City can create the elaborate, artistic, and superbly functional fishing rods she does unless you see her in action. Or, unless you are an angler of ...

ARCHBALD – From Pittsburgh Steelers colors to a stack of skulls to match a client’s tattoos, Mike Kozlowski has decked out his goods to suit his customers’ tastes for years. But the work he does goes ...

BACK IN MAY, I drove to Yarmouth, Maine, to visit the Maine Fly Co. I was there to pick up a custom fly rod they’d made for me and to go fishing with owner and founder Jeff Davis. I expected to find a ...