Wayne Cattanach

Hi . .I am Wayne . .and I am a flyfishing addict . .
.Wow . .where does one start . . .At 13 my mother
was battling cancer so my cousins . .who was my
parents age took me for a few weeks during that
summer . .he walk to his closet and came back with a
bamboo fly rod that he had and then took me to the
stream and taught me how to use it . .he and my dad
had guided on the Muskegon River during the 20 and 30
and he was given the rod . .he claimed it was too
short . .a couple year later I lost both my mother
and grandmother within a couple months of each other
. .and I escaped to the flyfishing perhaps as a way
to sort it all out on a trout stream or just a place
I felt I could see God clearer . . then 29 years ago
I was fishing with a group of friends when I set the
rod on the topper of my truck while fishing the upper
Jordan river and then went off with my friend a
CO(Conservation Officer) to help him in an
investigation ..when I returned the group was packed
and ready to head to the upper Manistee to fish the
next day there . In the confusion I forgot the rod
thinking it somehow had gotten packed away . .the
next morning I learned it hadn't . . the lose was of
great intrinsic value but later I learned it was of
great cash value as well . .the rod was a Leonard 36
. . .not having the resources to replace the rod and
being the DIYer I am I pursed making my own . .The
book at the time was the Master's Guide . .and so
step by step I walked through the process . .making
the needed tooling as I went . .planing forms .
.binder . .and an oven of my own design . .a year
and a half later I had completed my first rod . . and
I was drawn . .by now I had started to talk to
other rodmakers that were hidden across the country .
.and it wasn't until I went to see Ernie Conover that
an idea sprung up that started to link the makers
socially . .Ernie suggested a newsletter . .and thus
.The Planing Form . . at first I did alot of the
articles just to pass along thoughts and Ideas I
evolved to while making my rods . .then the idea was
to see if there was interest in forming a gathering .
similar to what was happening in Canada(the Merrit
BC) . .so we linked up with Barry Servantie and
rented a room at the Embers (Carlisle, PA) where
Barry did his annual 4th of July Book Sale and so the
start of many gatherings . .they then moved to
Boiling Springs for a few times . .and then I met
Lisa Lyons from the Catskill FlyFishing Center . .and
plans were forged to creat another gathering there.
.I remember walking to the covered bridge on the
upper Willowemac with lisa and my daughter Lyndi and
seeing this extremely deep crystal clear pool and the
fish that occupied it . .

I suspect that a real turning point for me was the
time Barry called and said he had sold his last copy
of the Master's Guide and there were no more anywhere
to be had . .from that came this bindered book that
was printed on heavy paper so that there was
information for those that did want to make there own
. .and then . a video series . .and teaching classes
. .and an internet email repeater . . and more
gatherings . .wow what an adventure for myself and
the kids as they grew. . .if I were asked the how and
why of it all I would have to simply say . .it was
the great people that I met that encouraged and
assisted in all the above . . the list gets long . .
well now many years later the kids are grown and onto
other adventures . .and I have slowed a bit .
.perhaps realizing that there are other great people
involved now and it is their turn . . .meanwhile ..
I again fish with a bamboo fly rod on my favored
Section 13 Creek of the Jordan . . and there is the
fabled Hex Hatch on the upper Manistee where I now
have a shed in the woods . . and I have the memories
and good friends that share the enthusiasm of making
and fishing bamboo . . .