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Dziadosz, David

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David "Dz" Dziadosz (pronounced Ja-dos, long "a" & long "o")
Polish American
Central Missouri

I've always had a fascination for fly fishing, but wouldn't/couldn't spend the cash for it. I had other addictions to feed. Those who know me, know what I was feeding. I just turned 58 on the 27th of November. In the fall of '93 I wanted/needed to get into some kind of hobby to occupy my time as a freshly divorced father. This was the time I decided to get into fly fishing. Rods seemed too expensive at the time. I bought a cheap 8’ plastic rod and already had a short glass rod. I fished them in the Missouri trout parks till around '96. I read a article about some one that bought old bamboo rods at antique malls and refinished/repaired/fished them. All I could find was long heavy weight rods. Back in the day there was more bass fishing than trout fishing in Missouri! GOOD IDEA!!! I didn't know it, but I was working with a man (the same Ole Fart that thought my initials should be "Dz"), that made bamboo rods while in high school in the fifties on a  Herter's form! He had sold all his stuff years ago when him and his new wife started having kids. We worked the Sunday shift at the state's chiller plant, just us. If the machinery was running good, we didn't have much to do. So, all we talked about was rod making and fly fishing! I really bugged an antique fishing dealer about finding a shorter bamboo rod, everything I could find was over eight foot. He finally told me that in order to get what I wanted, I'd have to make my own! GOOD IDEA!!!

I started on my own with the help of the "Old Man's" book from Heater's on bamboo rodmaking and Wayne's book in the summer of '98. I built my own metal forms. I'm probably the only one with an adjustable, metal starter form. I wanted to see if I could do it on something short. I didn't want to ruin a good piece of bamboo, so I started with a piece of bamboo from a Tiki yard torch. It was too short for a fly rod, so I decided on a spinning rod. In Herter's book it said to make a spinning rod, just chop off each end of a flyrod blank. So, I did! Talk about floppy, and the reel keeps coming loose with the slip ring reel seat.

I happened onto a subscription of the "Planing Form" and read about a gathering in Mountain Home. I had to go! That first gathering was cold, wet, and windy, but no one seemed to mind the foul weather! We were on a mission! Someone talked Wayne into heading up a beginners workshop. I really learned a lot! I received answers to questions I didn't even have yet!! Wayne made a statement that if you followed his book letter perfect, you'd probably never get a rod made! It's supposed to get you to thinking and do it the way that best suits you. I guess that's where, "Whatever works for you!" came from!

At the '98 SRG people kept talking about "the List". I didn't have a clue nor a computer! I didn't get that going until after the turn of the century. Been around ever since. I learned to like grits too. I like mine with a little bit of sugar free pancake syrup.

I've made a few over 50 rods. And I do have a closet full! One for darn near every occasion! I helped my oldest son make his rod for a trip with the Boy Scouts. I helped my youngest son with his first. A four foot one piece nodeless rod, he was eleven! My youngest has been to several SRG's and even conned Bob Norwood out of a taper for his "Li'l Bob Rod", he was thirteen at the time, (Davy not Bob) LOL!

I'm uneducated compared to most on this list. I have been to a tech school for marine mechanics and to "Cool School", (Refrigeration). I've worked for the State of Missouri for almost twenty years as a Refrigeration Mechanic. I've rewrote the sequence of operation and programmed the DDC controllers for the central chilled water system for the Capitol Complex. Now I mostly just troubleshoot our system and do special projects. My plan, in a few years,  is to take the early retirement and make rods, turkey calls, and tools, for others to make rods and turkey calls. I've been collecting tools and materials. I'm running out of room because of the lathes and milling machine and everything else! On the twelfth of this month I get to remarry the girl that divorced my drunken ass in '93! What a trip this whole rodmaking adventure has been, I hope it lasts a good while longer!!