Casting For Recovery Fly Rod Raffle

For those of you who haven't met Zeb, know that first off, he's just a great guy. I've wanted to add one of his rods to my arsenal for years now but due to his full schedule and my lack of $$, it hasn't happened...yet. I've had the privilege of knowing Zeb for a few years now, and what you see here is what you get, a stand up guy looking out for the sport and some of the awesome causes behind it. 

An example of one of those causes is Casting for Recovery. CfR is an organization with "the mission of Casting for Recovery is to enhance the quality of life of women with breast cancer through a unique program that combines breast cancer education and peer support with the therapeutic sport of fly fishing. The retreats offer opportunities for women to find inspiration, discover renewed energy for life and experience healing connections with other women and nature. CfR’s retreats are open to breast cancer survivors of all ages, in all stages of treatment and recovery and are free to participants."

I've personally seen this organization act as a true foundation for healing. Its amazing what this sport can do when put into the right hands. With most of us affected indirectly by this terrible disease, I think CfR can resonate with almost all of us. Check out what Zeb and CfR of the Mid-Atlantic is doing...

Casting For Recovery Fly Rod Raffle Prize Details 1st Prize 8’4wt fiberglass rod in “raw” made by Zeb Tonkavitch of Snowman Custom Rods. 480 profile blank donated by Carl McNeil of Swift Fly Fishing Golden Witch Reel Seat of maple burl partly dyed with pink Pink agate stripping guide Purple-tipped wraps Snake guides Rod sock and tube 2nd Prize Custom fly rod, with inlaid abalone grip, extra details, and a CfR fly rod case; all donated by Bob Gartner 3rd Prize A "Casting for Recovery" Outfit TFO CfR 5 wt Rod w/FFB Deschutes Reel, Teeny CfR line and backing, CfR Rod Tube, Flies, Leaders, Tools, & Fly Boxes. Everything you need!! Boom...Morgan

Fly Product...Swift Fly Fishing's "Get an Epic"

I don't even know where to begin...this is one of the coolest things that has ever happened to the sport. Period.

Swift Fly Fishing has taken their Epic glass rod blanks to another level with their new custom build kit. Completely put together by you, assembled by you or them. There are three ways you can go about the process of an Epic custom build.

Via Swift Fly Fishing:

1. You build the rod after choosing your components and parts.

Building a great custom fly rod is no mean feat, selecting the correct matching components can be an intimidating exercise alone. Then there’s those wraps, the cork and glue..

Our Epic Ready to Wrap Rod Kit makes life easy - we’ve done much of the hard work for you. The kit contains all the components, glues, rod finish and instructions you’ll need to build your own unique custom Epic fly rod.

Snowman Custom Rod Works

Over the past few months, we've become friends with Zeb, owner of Snowman Custom Rod Works, via Instagram. Zeb displays some of the most amazing works of custom rod art we personally have ever seen. Some examples can be seen below.

With Instagram and word of mouth primarily being his source of advertising and getting work, it was time to get a site. After months of working on his site, it has finally gone live as of yesterday. Here's what Zeb has to say about the launch, who and what Snowman Custom Rod Works is, and what he's currently working on via his site...

"We are custom rod builders out of the southwestern Pennsylvania area. We fish what we build, everything from modern glass offerings, to two handed creations, and  the modern high modulus line bombers.

I will update this soon to include the build styles and our areas of concentration."

"Thank you for visiting Snowman Custom Rod Works. We are updating the site daily and will be fully loaded with content in the next couple weeks. In the meantime please feel free to check us out on Instagram and our Facebook Fan Page. We are currently hard at work getting ready for F3T in Columbus, and will be listing a few open builds for sale after the March 7th show in Columbus, OH."

For some absolutely breath taking custom rod art and to express interest in your very own Snowman Custom Rod, roll on over to the brand spankin' new www.snowmancustomrodworks.com and give it a looksy. Its not much right now since the launch just happened but definitely bookmark SCRW since updates will occur daily. Make sure you give Zeb some feedback as he perfects the site and definitely let him know the TLTFF Crew sent you. 

Boom...Morgan