Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 9, 1993 TAG: 9308090277
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran Outdoor Editor
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Something beefy enough to be unflinching when unrelenting waves, gray and angry, were crashing the beach, requiring him to cast heavy weight into the teeth of a gale.
Yet with enough finesse to throw lures long distances when a school of bluefish ripped the surface on a calm day, something they invariably seem to do just out of reach of the average caster.
Was there such a rod in the racks at the tackle shops of Nags Head and Buxton, where gleaming offerings reach to the ceiling behind banners that declare "Custom Made"?
"I thought about buying one, saving my money, but I said, `No, I don't want to do that,'" Trevilian said.
So he built his own.
"I was probably looking for more than you can expect from one rod. When I got into it, I learned that there really isn't any such thing [as an all-purpose rod.] There are some nice compromises."
Now when people talk to Trevilian, who lives in Roanoke, words like action, length, weight, power, delicacy, elegance, feel, accuracy and touch are likely to be heard. This is the language of a rod maker, something Trevilian has been for about three years. His Trevilian Custom Rod & Tackle business card promises "Everything from the smallest fly rod to the largest surf rod."
It is a cabin industry for him, secondary to his real job, a commercial photographer. No, it is more than that, adds Trevilian.
"It is an obsession."
Why would anyone want to pay for a custom rod when they can pick up a really fine factory-made job at Orvis in downtown Roanoke or can order one from a number of reliable suppliers?
"You don't make rods because you can do it cheaper," said Trevilian. "You build rods because you can build better rods. You start with better components. It is for somebody who wants something a little nicer than store bought, something more personal, a one of a kind."
For this reason, Trevilian seldom deals with a neophyte. His customers are sportsmen who know rods and know fishing, be it casting a dry fly to trout dimpling a pool in a mountain stream, going after river smallmouth bass with an ultra-light spinning outfit or heaving a metal lure into blitzing blues.
Harry Slone is an example of such an angler. Slone, a Roanoker, is the author of the successful book, "Virginia Trout Streams: A Guide to Fishing the Blue Ridge Watershed."
Trevilian is building Slone an 8-foot fly rod that will have a nickel-silver reel seat engraved with his name.
Is this something you take to a black tie affair or to the Jackson River?
"It's just a fishing rod," assures Trevilian.
A stout man with a black beard, Trevilian can be seen at Lakewood Park testing rods and wondering if people are saying, "There's that crazy guy with all the rods." Testing, shaping, molding, changing is a vital part of
custom rod making. "Every rod blank is going to have its little differences," said Trevilian. Sometimes just moving the guide two or three inches, or even an inch, will give it better weight distribution."
In the mind of a discriminating angler, all this can make the $300 or so price tag money well spent.
by CNB