TDF: Mark thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions. Let’s start with a little bit of background.
Q: Are you originally from Maine?
Mark: No, I guess you could say I'm originally from Virginia because I lived the 1st four years of my life there but we lived in Connecticut until I was a freshman in High school and then upstate New York until my early twenties. I then moved out West and worked on boats in Alaska until I eventually got married and our first daughter was born. After we had our second daughter we wanted to live closer to my family on the East Coast so we packed everything up and moved to Maine. If you like the outdoors and fishing Maine is a great place to live and raise a family.
TDF: My earliest memories of fishing are with my Grandpa going after bass with minnows dangling below cork bobbers.
Q: What is your earliest memory of fishing?
Mark: My earliest fishing memory is fishing Burke Lake in Fairfax county Virginia when I was 3 with my father...bobber and worm fishing for Crappie.
TDF: I didn’t start fly fishing until I was in my 30’s. But, it quickly became an obsession.
Q: How long have you been fly fishing and why?
Q: How long have you been fly fishing and why?
Mark: I've been using a fly rod to fish for brook trout and bass for as long as I can remember but as a kid I mostly used the long rod to fish live grasshoppers and pan fish poppers on farm ponds and cool brook trout streams in the NW corner of Connecticut. The Captain of a boat I was working on in Alaska was an avid fly fisherman; his stories of dry fly fishing for trout in Idaho got me interested in fly fishing the traditional way. So to answer your question I've been a serious fly fisherman since my mid-twenties.
TDF: Here in Texas, trout fishing is a fairly rare pursuit. Most of us target warmwater species much of the time.
Q: What is your favorite species to target?
Mark: When we lived in Oregon my passion was fishing for steelhead. We were fortunate enough to live close to a good steelhead river and I could fish for an hour or two before going to work. Here in Maine fly fishing for native brook trout is what I like best; they are great fun to catch on dries. If God made a prettier fish he kept it for himself.
TDF: Okay, now for the meat of this Q & A session.
Q: How long have you been building rods?
Mark: I started building rods for myself shortly after out 1st daughter was born, my wife wasn't hip to me buying expensive fly rods anymore.
Q: How long have you been building rods?
Mark: I started building rods for myself shortly after out 1st daughter was born, my wife wasn't hip to me buying expensive fly rods anymore.
Q: When did you decide to start a custom rod business and why?
Mark: I suppose my entry into the rod building business was similar to a lot of other rod builders. I started building rods for myself then friends and family, then friends of friends. After a few years of doing that I figured I would do the right thing and become legal and start paying taxes on the rods I was selling.
Mark: I suppose my entry into the rod building business was similar to a lot of other rod builders. I started building rods for myself then friends and family, then friends of friends. After a few years of doing that I figured I would do the right thing and become legal and start paying taxes on the rods I was selling.
TDF: You build stunning fly rods that have an artistic flare. To a lot of us, you are one of the masters of the craft.
Q: I get the sense that you think of your fly rods as fishing tools first. Am I correct?
Mark: Thanks. Making a better fishing rod than what can be bought from the factories is what rod building is all about to me.
TDF: Your attention to detail is amazing and your choice of materials make your builds look as if they were made specifically for each other.
Q: Is there any process you go thru when choosing hardware and guide wrap colors?
Mark: LOL, yeah trial and error. I've re-built/wrapped more rods than I care admit in my quest to find thread colors, grip shapes and hardware that go well with the blank.
Q: Do you have a vision of the completed product before you begin?
Mark: Usually I have a pretty good idea of how I want the rod to look when I'm done. Certain colors will work with a blank and some colors won't. So first I rule out the colors that won't work and then I experiment with color combinations that will work. This is the creative side of rod building that I really enjoy. I like to try something different on every rod I build. Most times the changes are so small that the rod buyer will never notice the difference. But, when I see a pic of a rod built I'll think to myself; “That's the rod I tucked the tag ends under the guide feet so they wouldn't be visible." or some other small change I made to my normal rod building procedure. It keeps the process interesting.
Mark: Usually I have a pretty good idea of how I want the rod to look when I'm done. Certain colors will work with a blank and some colors won't. So first I rule out the colors that won't work and then I experiment with color combinations that will work. This is the creative side of rod building that I really enjoy. I like to try something different on every rod I build. Most times the changes are so small that the rod buyer will never notice the difference. But, when I see a pic of a rod built I'll think to myself; “That's the rod I tucked the tag ends under the guide feet so they wouldn't be visible." or some other small change I made to my normal rod building procedure. It keeps the process interesting.
TDF: Of the rods of yours I’ve see, my favorite has to be the build you did on a McFarland blank that was showcased on The Fiberglass Manifesto.
Q: Out of all the rods you’ve built, do you have a favorite?
Mark: The McFarland I built turned out nice, not exactly what I had envisioned but pretty close. It sounds like a copout but my favorite rod is the one I'm working on at the time. I just wrapped a Steffen with Antique Gold silk and it turned out really nice; nicer than I had hoped for. But what's really cool is while wrapping the blank I stumbled upon a couple of tricks that will improve the way the guide wraps look. So next time I wrap a brown blank with silk the guide wraps will look even better.
Mark: The McFarland I built turned out nice, not exactly what I had envisioned but pretty close. It sounds like a copout but my favorite rod is the one I'm working on at the time. I just wrapped a Steffen with Antique Gold silk and it turned out really nice; nicer than I had hoped for. But what's really cool is while wrapping the blank I stumbled upon a couple of tricks that will improve the way the guide wraps look. So next time I wrap a brown blank with silk the guide wraps will look even better.
Q: What is your favorite blank to work with and why? Mark: The Lamiglas "honeys" are my favorite to wrap because so many thread colors look great on that blank. They also make a pretty good dry fly rod in the 3 & 4 wt sizes.TDF: I’ve got one final question for you. We both love to fish with fiberglass fly rods and we’ve come to know each other thru The Fiberglass Flyrodders message board. Q: What is it about fiberglass that makes it so special? Mark: I think Mark Liu/Yuhina said it best "when you hook a fish on a fiberglass rod the fun has just begun".
Mark thanks again for taking the time to answer these questions. You’ve had an interesting life and build some great rods. I am already thinking of a follow-up to learn more about your time in Alaska. If you’d like to see more of Mark’s amazing work, go to Gypsy Rod Works or click the permanent link I’ve installed on the left of the screen.
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