2020 Catskills Rodmakers Gathering

[Tom Smithwick]

Those of us who plan this event want to let everyone know that we are making plans to proceed with this year's gathering. Because of the uncertainty brought on by the COVID-19 outbreak, these plans must, of necessity, be tentative at present.
The event is planned as usual for the weekend after Labor Day, September 11th, 12th, and 13th at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center. We will not be taking registrations, deposits, announcing programs, etc. until it is clear that the event can be held.
Those of you who are building, or want to build rods for the Demarest Challenge should be aware of the following:
The rod this year is a one piece 7 foot 4 weight.
The rod shaft must be built from Tonkin Cane.
Length tolerance overall is 84" +/- 1 inch
Lines cast will be Royal Wulff triangle tapers
Casting will be done by 2 designated professional casters.
Each caster will make 3 distance casts, the longest cast will be scored in feet.
The accuracy round will consist of 5 targets spaced from 20 to 40 feet from the caster. Each caster starts with 100 points, and points are deducted for missed targets. This should result in a more or less 50/50 weighting between distance and accuracy.
In the event that the event cannot go forward this year, we will hold it next year so your efforts are not wasted.
Everyone take care, and be well!

[wiscoy]

Any updates?

Now is normally about the deadline to get reservations in and get a shirt


Can’t wait to see what art Kim can with a fly rod and a pandemic.

[Tom Smithwick]

Bear with us, we are working on it. All I can say right now is that the event won't be held in its usual form this year for obvious reasons. We all deeply regret that and are doing the best we can to get something together so we aren't completely cancelling. Lots of ideas being kicked around, and yes, there will be a theme that relates to the pandemic circumstances. More to come shortly. For myself, I can only say that this event has been the highlight of the year for the last 25 years, We will make the best out of it, but I am very disappointed

[Tom Smithwick]

We are now ready to announce what theCatskill gathering will look like this year. The organizers, especially Mike Canazon, have put together what I think is a stellar virtual program that makes the best out of this year's difficult conditions. The goals were to make the event as interesting as possible for the participants, and at the same time offer continued support to the Catskill Center in these challenging times. You can access the information here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/3614275 ... 1766860434
or alternatively, here:
www.catskillrodmakers.com

[Tom Smithwick]

As yet unresolved is the issue of this year's Demarest rodmakers challenge. Some of the organizers want to hold the event by having the entrants mail their rods to the Center for the competition, and then have the Center mail them back afterwards. Others have doubts about the risk and logistics involved in that. We are asking for input from the participants on that question. If you have a rod to enter, please let me know via PM how you feel about the issue. We will make a final determination shortly.

[Gnome]

Tom,

If you would like, I would be open to you sharing some of the clips from the GTRS documentary for filler or as a program? for your virtual gathering.

call me

Jeff

[Tom Smithwick]

Thanks very much Jeff. We will definitely take you up on this. I talked to Mike Canazon about the idea, and both of us will will work with you on putting something together.

[mikec]

the catskill rodmakers , thru the CFFCM.com website, is accepting registration for our virtual gathering.
this is going to be a great event. we've added a few more programs. harry boyd, bob nunley, and his gnomishness, jeff hatton have all joined in with a presentation. thank you!
mike

[Tom Smithwick]

As Mike indicated, the Catskill Center is now registering people for the online event. You can sign up here:
https://cffcm.rallyup.com/catskillrodmakersevent

Also, The Demarest challenge event has been postponed until next year's gathering. No one was comfortable mailing the one piece both ways, and in addition most of the entrants like to be there to see the rods cast. We regret doing this, but it seems like the best decision we could make at this time.

[Tom Smithwick]

I am very pleased to say that we have this year's program pretty well complete, although we might have a few more additions. You can check out the list of presenters at the Catskills Fly Fishing Center's website.
https://cffcm.rallyup.com/catskillrodmakersevent
If you are a rodmaker at any level, I think we have things that will interest you. The list of presenters speaks for itself. If you happen to be a Leonard Rod Company fan, rodmaker or not, we have something special for you. Hap Mills has agreed to do a presentation for us. I cannot begin to tell you how happy we are about that rare opportunity.

[penta-spey]

line-up /program looks very good !!
The availability of the content only until Sept 13 is a turn off.
.... would like to see the recorded content be available to paid attendees for much longer perhaps a month or more.
Any chance it could be longer?

[mikec]

some others who have registered for the gathering have also raised this question, and it is a good one. the content will be available online for those who register, for several months, probably into the new year. people can view it when they like and replay it if they want to see it again and again. at a later date we will decide what we will do with it.
mike

[Pentalux]

.

[mikec]

thanks for your support rob
mikec

[Pentalux]

.

[mikec]

i just want to let everyone know that i received the rod that Alan Kube so graciously donated to the catskill rodmakers to benefit the catskill fly fishing center and museum. all registrants to our virtual gathering will be entered into a drawing for this 7'6" 2 piece rod. all the oxidized components, reel seat hardware, ferrules, beautiful agate guide, are made in alan's shop. he also makes the rod tube and bag. i have no idea where he gets his guides. (they look like mike mccoy's).
i cast this rod today with a dt4 silk line and i was not surprised at all by how effortless the cast was. if you have ever cast one of his rods you know what i am talking about.
we will post pics soon on the cffcm's site and catskill rodmakers

mike

[Tom Smithwick]

Rob and others - The decision of what to charge for the gathering was nothing unilateral. It was made by the loose committee that organized the event, and there were differences of opinion that reflected the opinions expressed above. In the end, we did what we did for the sole purpose of supporting the museum, which needs all the help it can get in the current conditions. This is the 26th year for the gathering. Over those years, we have always supported the museum, and they, in turn, have added facilities that greatly enhanced their value to us as a venue for the event, especially the rod shop. The tour of the shop which is part of the gathering will amply demonstrate that. The museum has helped us put on the gathering in many ways over the years, but right now, it is they who need some help. That is the only motivation for what we are doing this year. A lot of work has been put in to give the people who sign up for the event some value for their money.

[Tom Smithwick]

As of right now, there are 93 people signed up to participate in the gathering. The program events are listed below, and are much more extensive than what we could do in person in two days. This content will be available online to registered participants as soon as the gathering date arrives, and will remain online for at least a few months, so that you can view it at your leisure. Participants will also be able to submit questions to the people giving the programs, and to the extent possible will be answered by them. Details on that still being worked out. This is all new ground for us, and we deeply appreciate the support we have received. We could use a few more items for the auction, so if you have an item you can spare, please consider sending it to the museum with the package marked for the rodmakers auction. Also special thanks to all who put the program together. The events are listed below:

Per Brandin will do a presentation on E.C. Powell’s rods. Powell’s taper concepts, cedar lamination, semi-hollow construction, distinctive node staggering, and other processes. Per will briefly cover how his early hollowing ideas evolved over time and greatly influenced modern bamboo rodmaking. These concepts are basically excerpts from his upcoming book, “A Fly Rod With a Soul; the bamboo fishing rods and life of E.C. Powell, Angler”.
Tim Abbott will do his program “The Art of Deflection”, a study of rod deflection and taper design. Tim’s mind, as ever, never rests. He has incorporated some new ideas in his program.
James Bond will be doing two programs from the wilds of Canada (Toronto). One is making NS reel seats from tube, the other is "simple ferrule fitting" showing how to fit a male female ferrule using 3M "wet or dry" papers. If you haven't seen his online videos, you should check out his Canebuilder youtube videos.
Tom Mason, legendary Catskill flytier and fisherman will be doing a fly tying program, focusing on Catskill style flies.
Hoagy Carmichael will give us a tour of the Garrison-Carmichael Rodshop. He will be available to answer all your questions regarding his life, Mr. Garrison, and some of the tools in the rodshop, many of which have never been seen by an entire generation of rodmakers.
Bob Summers, masterful rodmaker from Traverse City, will be doing a program on his beginnings with Paul Young and his influences in rodmaking, and possibly a visit to his shop.
Chet Croco, who has given so much to our craft and the Catskill Fly Fishing Center, will present the Bellinger Award to this year's recipient.
Jeff Hatton will visit us courtesy of his new dvd series on the GTRS, the Gnomes Traveling Rod Show, which traces the history of rodmaking from the mid 18th century to the present
Bob Nunley has been wrapping rattan grips for many years and may well be responsible for the resurgence in its use. if you are tired of dealing with low grade cork, this is the program for you.
Dave Rinker will do a program on drawing pocketed butt caps and another on electrochemical etching.
Troy Miller incredible caster and engineer, will do a program on the physics of the cast.
Gary Young will do a program on prepping metal surfaces for bonding, using chemical etching.
Hap Mills the former owner of H.L. Leonard Rod Company will do a program from his home in Florida.
Jerry Kutsich, rodmaker, author, and owner of Swretgrass Rods will join us talk to us about all things Bamboo.
Jerry Girard, one of the most esteemed historians of the bamboo community, will do a program on Unusual Fly-fishing Treasures.
Chris Bogart has led us on many expeditions into the mysteries of our craft. Now he shares with us his steps in Preparing Tapers for a CNC Mill, and part two, loading them on the mill and cutting strips.
Justin Johnson will do a program on the Beginners Guide to Wrapping With Silk.
Dana Fish will take us through the process of Making a Landing Net. You've tied the fly, built the rod. Now make the net to bring your trout in. Dana has a also done an amazing job on the artwork for this year's Gathering. Thank you Dana!
Tim Abbott has made another program for us. If you have ever seen one of Tim's rods, you were probably wondering what those little dots along the length of the rod were. We call them nodes. Tim will take you through the process of prepping strips using several different approaches to getting perfect strips for planing. This is a must see for newbies and old pros alike, and well worth the registration fee.

[lestrout1]

Wow Tom! Your friend and my cane consultant, the late Leon Gusiewicz, would have twisted my arm once again to partake of your marvelous program. I'm in the woulda-shoulda camp and had always been elsewhere when the last 26 Museum programs have happened. Being virtual takes the logistics component out of it, so now the stars align. I'm not a maker, and have only general interest in the details of the craft.

tl
les

[mikec]

i just viewed Carl Hueters interview with Bob Summers. absolutely incredible work. you feel as though you are right there in his yard and the shop. An hour plus video and probably a week or more of editing. Thank you carl for supporting the CFFCM and a wonderful video. and thank you Bob Summers!
mike