Well, here we are near the end of August, and I hope to get some quality time on the water this Fall... fishing for landlocked salmon and brook trout.  Before leaving on fishing trips, I wanted to list some vintage fly rods and other tackle for sale under the  "Offerings" section.  Many of these rods came to me from a family in the Catskill mountains of N.Y.  This family has some gems, including one of only 15 limited edition T & T "Catskill Legends" bamboo fly rods.  It is in mint condition.  Another web site listed a 25th T & T Anniversary Edition recently for $4850 and there were more rods of that edition than the Catskill Legends model...!  Ours is priced lower and represents an excellent investment value.  In addition to this collection from N.Y., I am selling a few chosen rods from my personal collection.  I've got more rods than I can fish, so it's time to share some of them with others who appreciate fine vintage tackle.  I hope you all get some quality time on the water- making memories with fine bamboo in your hands!!!

Our next show is the Annual Eldredge Brothers Fly Expo on March 30th.
This show attracts a lot of fly fishers and we will have our booth there this year, with a display of new rods and perhaps a few vintage rods for sale...  Some of our rods will be available to cast too.  This event is held no matter what the weather does: rain, snow, sleet, or sunshine, it is always a fun show.  And the friendly staff at Eldredge Brothers can help you find the right fly line, flies, and tying materials too.  Hope to see our old friends and make new ones too.  It's located on Rt. 1 in Cape Neddeck, Maine.  See you there!

Hello Friends:
We plan to have a table at The American Museum of Fly Fishing's Annual Festival Weekend.  This event is held on the Museum's lawn, next to the Orvis store on Rt. 7 in Manchester, VT.  We'll have  Fred's new rods for you to see as well as some vintage bamboo rods for sale.  This show is more like a family reunion for us.  We get to visit with friends, some of whom we met back in the mid 1990's.  And we always meet new folks as well.  Fred will also be available to appraise your tackle, based on his 30+ yrs. of making/restoring/fishing bamboo.  So please bring your tackle (especially cane rods) in for an appraisal.  Also bring any bamboo rods you have that might need some repairs.  Since 2004, Fred has been the sole rod appraiser for Lang's Antique Tackle Auction, so he has handled thousands of rods over the years.  More information on this Festival Weekend can be found on the web site for the AMFF.  There will be activities for kids of all ages  Hope to see you there!

Nearly mid-Summer, our shop is as busy as ever... both new rod builds and catching up on repair/restoration projects.   We've also managed to catch a few stripers locally and some fat shad.  Using a 6-wt. 2-handed bamboo rod is a lot of fun. In addition, our rod-building workshops are very popular, again, and we are nearly filled up for this year.  We even have one student from the U.K. who booked a week in April 2024. If you want to build your own cane rod this year, please don't hesitate to contact us.  
Our next show will be August 12th at the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, VT.  This is their annual Festival Weekend, and we will have a table there with a display of our new rods as well as some vintage bamboo rods for sale too.  
Remember, "Friends don't let friends fish graphite"... Fish Bamboo!
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Well, now that  COVID appears to be running out of steam, it's time for an update on what we've been doing.  We are just ending a long vacation in Florida- escaping the harshness of Maine Winter for the first time.  Although we enjoyed our time here (fishing for bass in the ponds on the golf courses, dodging alligators, and hitting a few golf balls), it's time to get back into the shop and fill new rod orders,  continue with our professional repair and restoration work, etc.  We also have a number of nice vintage rods to sell, include some shorter Orvis rods with very low serial numbers!  The market for cane rods, classic reels, and related tackle is as strong as ever.  Because we have a backlog of new rods to build, we have to be selective as to how much repair/restoration work we take into our shop.  So as always, please contact us if you need a rod repaired and we can discuss your situation.
We've also had an inquiry recently about whether we might consider offering a special rod model to celebrate our 30th year in making  bamboo rods.  While we have not made any committment in that direction, who knows what might happen later this year...  
We also hope to spend more time on the water this year.  We have led groups of fly fishers to Iceland the past 2 yrs., but will skip doing so in 2023.  The fishing for 3-6 lb. browns there is incredible, and the accomodations are top notch, so perhaps in 2024 we may lead another group of friends there to taste the culture and spectacular fishing that is only found in Iceland.   
As a reminder, our shop is only open by prior appointment.
Tight lines to all our friends and customers.

 

As of late July, we are announcing that we have time to do some limited project rods (REPAIRS and RESTORATIONS).  We continue to assist our many existing customers and friends, and now will accept a few more rods that need some work.  Please contact us if you need our assistance.

ICELAND UPDATE:
I (Fred) had another very successful trip to Iceland in late June and early July.  Five friends also joined me for the trip-of-a-lifetime, chasing browns and arctic char.  We had days where the browns were feeding steadily on dry flies.  When they were not rising, nymphs and streamers brought fish to the net.  The larger browns were in the 5-6 lb. range.  We also had a few Atlantic Salmon around- one even chased someone's fly but missed it !  It looks like this trip will be an annual event.  The outfitter is fantastic, the food so delicious, scenery spectacular, and people so friendly.  We are beginning to plan next year's trip- which should be around the same time as this year's.  The lodge is limited to 8 guests, and we typically fish 4 full days.  If you would like to consider joining me, please inquire.  BTW- this is not for those who are "competitive fishers"... We only want folks who love to fish and share good times with others in a spectacular setting.  Also, I used exclusively my 7 1/2' 3-piece 5-wt. rod bamboo rod and it was a perfect rod for this trip... 

 

Well, here we are in a new year, and still dealing the effects of covid.  While we have been fully vaccinated and boosted, a few customers and clients have not, so we are only allowing fully vaccinated people into our shop.  
A number of folks have asked whether we will be attending any Fly Fishing Shows this year, and the answer is that we may do a small show or two-outdoors venues only.  There is too much risk for covid at the larger indoor shows.  If Eldredge Brothers  host their annual Fly Expo in late March, we will be there.  We are also considering the American Museum of Fly Fishings annual Festival Weekend in August.  More details  will be forthcoming, so please check back here regularly.

In regards to repairs and restoration work, one of my steady customers said he could understand why I wasn't accepting new projects, and he put it this way:  "Fred, you should be making Ferrari's, not changing oil in Chevy's!"  I like his analogy on the situation.   We continue to build the highest quality rods available, and enjoy a backlog of steady new rod orders.  Please contact us if you would like to discuss have a hand-crafted bamboo fly rod!  They make excellent gifts....

Hello Friends:
As we enter the second Winter during this Covid Pandemic, it's time to recap this year and let you know how we are doing. First, we hope everyone is well and avoiding covid.  This year, we restricted visitors from our shop until June, when we started hosting students for our workshops again.  Each student must be vaccinated and this has protected us from becoming infected.  We had some great folks in our workshops and have more scheduled for next year.  
In addition, the orders for new Kretchman fly rods has been very strong- the best year yet!  The backlog of orders has not been less than 7-8 months.  In the coming year, we will be adding new models so stay tuned.
Also, after 29 years of repairing and restoring rods, we have decided to not accept additional rods for repair.  This will free up our time to develop new rod tapers/models, which is our passion.  
Last June, my wife and I organized a trip to Iceland, where I fished for Browns and Char, while Bonnie golfed and toured.  It was the trip of a lifetime, and I will be repeating that adventure in June/July of 2022.  7 friends of ours will join me  and we anticipate more fantastic fishing!  For example, I spent a half day on the famous Laxa River, and landed 9 browns, all between 3-6 lbs.  On another day, I hooked 2 char, the largest of which gave me a 10 minute fight, coming close to the net at least 3 times before the hook came out.  It appeared to be in the 14 lb. range- about 2 lbs larger than the biggest sea-run brown of that morning.  
Finally, we continue to accept limited higher quality vintage tackle for resale. And we are the only outlet for Dr. Paul Hermann's fantastic fly reels.  Feel free to contact us if you have tackle to sell and/or if you find something you like on our site.  
Be well and in touch.

 

We have posted NEW HOURS of operation effective September 2020.  We are open Monday through Thursday,
9 AM - 5 PM.  This change is not because of lack of work (we are backlogged in orders), but this will give us more time to enjoy life together.  This Summer has been the busiest in our history, as more people have contacted us regarding repair and restoration work on their family hierloom rods, and placed orders for our new rods.  This was unexpected due to the Covid-19 virus pandemic, and we welcome the chance to bring older rods back to life for their owners.  But my wife and I have many things on our 'bucket list' and we need time away from the shop to accomplish these.

Also, we have re-started our Rod Making Workshops again, and are practicing appropriate measures to conduct classes and avoid the Covid -19 Virus.  Feel free to contact us if you are interested in taking our one-on-one bamboo rod making workshops.