Please join us for what has been in the past a very popular presentation by Fred Kretchman, the well-known bamboo rod maker.  Using some of the actual equipment from his shop, Fred will demonstrate how bamboo rods are made and will touch on the history and development of bamboo fly rods.

If you own a bamboo fly rod and have any questions about it, you are welcome to bring it to the meeting.  Fred has generously offered to stay after his presentation to help identify rods and provide some background information on them.

Fred Kretchman

Fred Kretchman has been handcrafting split bamboo fly rods since 1993.  He uses Tom Morgan’s Hand-Mill to create fishing rods that are precisely tapered to within a 1-2 thousandths of an inch. Fred strives to achieve both an esthetically beautiful work of art that is also the most wonderful casting rod you’ll ever have the pleasure to hold in your hand.  The process of splitting bamboo into strips, planing them into specific tapered sections, gluing, straightening, varnishing, attaching guides, etc. were techniques that he learned from a book: A Master’s Guide to Building a Bamboo Flyrod by Everett Garrison and Hoagy B. Carmichael.  Mr. Kretchman was able to combine woodworking skills that he learned from his father, with a passion for fly fishing to create the F. D. Kretchman Rod Company.  He searched the country to obtain the finest quality components for these rods, including hand-selecting the Tonkin cane from the importer’s stock.  His fly rods are created one-at-a-time in the classic tradition, resembling those made by master craftsmen of generations past. Each rod represents about 45-50 hours of labor, but it is a labor of love which is fulfilled each time the new owner receives their rod and takes it fishing on a favorite stream. Fred’s backlog of orders has varied from about 6-8 months to over 2 years, but the resulting fly rods will be enjoyed for a lifetime and handed down to the next generation.

Mr. Kretchman was chosen as an artisan to represent the State of New Hampshire at the Smithsonian Institution’s Folk Life Festival in Washington, D.C. in 1999. There he displayed his rod building talents for 2 weeks before an estimated crowd of 1.5 million visitors.  He has also demonstrated his skills at various museums including the American Museum of Fly Fishing in Manchester, Vermont, and the Fuller Museum of Art in Brockton, Mass.  In April 2002, Fred received a lifetime achievement award from New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen.  Mr. Kretchman has developed a strong appreciation for the history of bamboo rod making and his knowledge in this field led him to be chosen as the official rod appraiser for Lang’s Antique Tackle Auctions (the nation’s largest tackle auction house) since 2006.  Mr. Kretchman is now crafting his classic bamboo rods as a full-time professional in his Kittery Point, Maine, workshop.   He also enjoys educating the public in how bamboo rods are made and their history.  His presentations have been popular with Museums, local Trout Unlimited clubs, The Boston Fly Fishers, and many other organizations. In addition to crafting his own bamboo fly rods, Fred also conducts rod-making workshops where his students craft their own rods.