Chet Kiekhafer’s business requires the accuracy of an engineer, the steady hands of a surgeon, the creativity of an artist, and the mastery of an avid angler. Kiekhafer of Hutchinson incorporates each ...

Neil Faulkner used to watch his father assemble fishing rods using baby food jars and a dictionary. The old man would put thread in the jars and feed it through the big book of words toward the rod, ...

Wintertime can be frustrating for many anglers as they wait for spring. For other anglers, it is time to get gear repaired and prepped for the next season. Garry Land is a long-time rod builder who ...

CHISHOLM — If there’s ever a tornado warning for this Iron Range town, Mike Lesch will likely be safe. That’s because he already spends a lot of time in his basement shop, where he turns drab sticks ...

Building fishing rods is a productive way to spend winter evenings. A few hours of work will result in a rod better than anything you can buy off the rack. Of course it will take you a few rods of ...

Interested local residents can soon go fishing with a professional-grade fishing rod that they made themselves. The Winnebago County Conservation Board will be offering a fishing rod building class to ...

Mel Dickie, of Rochester, is a longtime, well-respected craftsman of custom fishing rods. The retired insurance agent and World War II veteran spends his weekdays at Wild Goose Sports on North ...

REEDSPORT — In a small, cramped storefront, lined wall to wall with fishing rods, Ken Silva glues a new tip onto a 45-year-old fishing rod. As the owner of Rod & Reel Repair, Silva opened his repair ...

That’s one of the things about fly-fishing, and rod-building and fly-tying: It requires, and teaches, patience. It’s one of the values Puettman, founder of Joey’s Fly Fishing Foundation, hopes to help ...

POP Projects is a collection of new and classic projects from more than a century of Popular Mechanics. Master skills, get tool recommendations, and, most importantly, build something of your very own ...