Andy Dear | Sunday, 21 June 2020
A few months ago, my family and I moved into a new (to us) house. It's a great place, not only because it sits on a small piece of acreage, but also because it is less than a half a mile from the Guadalupe River, The only problem is that is doesn't have a separate building for a rod building/fly tying workshop!
The week before last I had a 300 square foot building custom built and delivered for a new all-purpose angling workshop. Jack and I have spent the last two days sheathing the inside walls and installing flooring to get it functional as quickly as possible. Since we moved down here to the new place in March, I have had to decline invitations for at least six fishing trips, for the simple reason that most of my gear is still packed away and inaccessible!
Over the last 25 years, I have amassed a sizeable stash of rod building and fly tying gear, that still seems to grow exponentially every season. Back in 2012 I sold a ton of stuff, including my beloved collection of AllStar Austin flyrod blanks in hopes of breaking the cycle of my angling hoarding habit, and to be honest, I've regretted it ever since. So much of the equipment that was made 25 or more years ago was superior to what is available now, and often is manufactured any more.....case in point my Austin fly rod blanks!
This is not the first angling related workshop I've built, but so far it is by far the best. In addition to having much higher ceilings than my previous space, it is better insulated to do battle against the summer heat here in Texas. The last one I had was all metal, and even though ti was insulated, it was no match for our climate down here. Sometimes in my old shop during the summer it would be almost to warm to work in there, even with the air conditioner on full blast. The irony though was that some of the absolute best epoxy finish jobs I ever did came out of those blistering days. Epoxy guide wrap finish just loved those higher temps and would level out like mirrored glass.
As nice as it will be to have a dedicated spot to immerse ourselves in our tackle craft, equally as important is that as the COVID 19 lockdowns here in Texas begin to ease, it's time to start fishing again....and the only way to do that is to have a centralized location that is well organized and readily accessible for all our gear.
I hope your all having a great week!
Andy