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End of an era – Longtime craftsmen of fly rods leaving Winston Rod Co. over changes, clashes with management

“It’s the tragedy of the whole affair that I’m trying to come to terms with,” says master fly-rod builder Glenn Brackett, who, along with his crew, is leaving Winston Rod Co. http://www.winstonrods.com/ after a dispute with management. “What’s being given up. What’s being lost. It’s certainly a great loss.”

For more than 30 years, the door to Glenn Brackett’s home away from home was in a back alley just off Twin Bridge’s Main Street.

For decades it’s also been the entrance to a bit of nirvana for fly fishermen from around the globe – a living museum where everyone was welcome.

Inside that signless unassuming steel building, Brackett and a cadre of dedicated craftsmen built some of the finest bamboo rods in the world for the Winston Rod Co.
The walls inside the shop are lined with snapshots of fishermen and friends, children’s drawings and other odds and ends. Bamboo rods, some finished, some not, lean against one wall. Equipment, some dating back to Winston Rod’s beginning in San Francisco, is scattered about.

Today the phones are ringing. Fishermen from all over the country are calling to offer their condolences. They’ve heard the news.

By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/12/24/news/local/news02.txt

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Casting jobs overseas? – Former Winston Rod owner upset over possible outsourcing http://www.matr.net/article-10573.html

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