Aurelio's rod and shop news
I’ve mentioned this before, but I have the best clients. I just finished building a rod for this guy named Aurelio. He and his wife MJ run the Costilla Creek Lodge in northern New Mexico in the land of Enchantment and cutthroat trout. Chances are you’ve heard of him. If not you should.
He wanted it a little more fancy than I usually do. But that’s ok, I’d do anything for him, even an agate stripping guide and hook keeper. I actually really enjoyed the added details including the 1000 extra tipping wraps. I kinda got lost in it and it was fun. All through the pre-design and build process up to this point brought me back a few years ago when I was at his place with a bunch of guys from the Fiberglass Fly Rod Forum. It was great to put names to faces and stories to make your own stories with them. I have been reminded of those stories throughout this whole build process. I was planning to go to his place with the same group of guys in a couple weeks. But those stars didn’t align this time around. Next time for sure. He’ll have his rod in time for the gathering though.
Here are a few pictures from the last time I was at his place.
Back to Aurelio himself, I met him first in St. Louis around 2014. That’s when I lived there and he was visiting family there. He used to live there and this one time he invited me over for wine and cheese. His address was in The Hill area which is an Italian district of town that is one of the most amazing places to drive through with your windows down on a cool spring evening to smell all the tasty food smells that you could handle. I was invited to his family’s home for wines, cheeses, salamis of all kinds, and pretty much pure family joy and dynamics. I was floored by the hospitality of him and his family. The conversation was genuine and humble. The food was truly amazing and memorable. That’s how visiting Aurelio at his home in NM is as well. Plus there’s incredible fishing. He has the knack of unusually good timing when he calls. Once he called after I’d been silent for a while and point blank asked ‘Chris, are you ok?’ He’s that kind of guy.
His rod is a 7’9” 5wt 5 piece ’Traveling General Practitioner’. It’s the second one I ‘ve built for him. He’s a picky dude too. When he ordered the first one I was amazed that I had a rod that suited him. It’s been a quiet goal of mine to create a rod that he’d want to use on a daily basis. I remember him loving it but then I got a call asking me to make another and I was floored.
Here it is. I’m really pleased with how it turned out too.
Shop news: I’m starting to take a few custom orders so please feel free to reach out. Lots of folks have asked about that over the last few months and I may or may not have said I’ll get back to you when I do start taking orders. But unfortunately, in my dynamic organizational prowess, I have lost track of those communications. So please feel free to ask about custom orders. However, that said, I want to disclose that I won’t be accepting all orders. Some will be outside my ability or even interest at this point. That doesn’t mean don’t ask, because it’s always a good idea to ask. Unless you ask about sparkles or tassels. I won’t do that. One guy did back a long time ago when I was first starting out. I declined. He said that he’ll tell his friends and that I’d never get anywhere in rod building. I was ok with that.
Also, check out my store to reserve a build or buy a fresh rod! I’ve got some rods ready to go including a 7’ 3wt rod with a brown dyed blank. It looks a lot like an old phenolic resin blank but it’s really my regular ‘mango’ colored blank that I’ve prepared, dyed, and sealed. Pretty and striking, if you ask me. I’ve got a regular 7’ 3wt ready for the door as well as an 8’ 4wt Parabolic and 7’9” 3wt Parabolic. Go check them out here: STORE
Thanks for all the support and for reading this far.
Good fishing,
Cb