BOOK REVIEW - A WISP IN THE WIND
By Jerry Kustich with illustrations by Al Hassall. West River Publishing.
This is not a recent work and I stumbled on it by lucky chance. My guess is that it was published around 2004/ 2005 because, unusually, the publisher records no date of publication.
Part 1 of the book takes you straight into the engine room of bamboo rod making with famous ‘Boo Boy’ names like Glenn Brackett, Wayne Maca and Jeff Walker. Kustich describes the workings of the R L Winston rod shop in a small town with unquestionable resonance in bamboo circles, Twin Bridges in Montana. It is a beautifully written account of the step by step, painstakingly demanding team work needed to construct bamboo fly rods, all couched in terms that make the various procedures understandable and interesting, both in their scientific content and in their revealing elements of artistry. It is a story very personally told. I could smell the glue and the varnish, hear the swish of the high speed cutters and milling machines, the suck of vacuums, feel the razor sharp edges of new cut cane and the warmth of the Montana sunlight flooding the workroom floor.
Initially I thought Kustich might be guilty of painting a too homely, too cosy, too romantic picture of the whole set up at Twin Bridges, but once you are into the chapters, his deep passion and respect for bamboo rods, their makers, the fishing of them, their symbolic and material values, become transparently sincere. I was also intrigued to learn there are no trade secrets here; that their doors are open all day to anyone who cares to call in, for whatever reason. This feeds into Glenn Brackett’s statement in the book that it’s not talent or skill, or any special knowledge that has brought them acclaim, as much as their unrelenting commitment to perfection, an attribute, incidentally, I have heard ascribed to the likes of the Edward Bader Rod Company in the UK, to Homer Jennings in the USA, to Steve Boshoff and Steve Dugmore here at home and to the great Australian rod maker, Nick Taransky.
To me this part of the book was as interesting to read as if Cézanne himself had sat down and written a personal account of the Impressionist movement as he lived it day by day among his fellow artists.
Part 11 of the book is also interesting, but in its own way, and perhaps too laced with nostalgia and pathos for my personal liking. Kustich’s describes a little of his life history, dabbles briefly in thoughts of retirement and touches on fishing, particularly for steelhead and elusive bull trout, the endangered Rockies sub-species of Dolly Varden. Interestingly, while fishing the Bulkley River in BC Canada, he tells of trying to catch a steelhead for Tom Morgan, Glenn Brackett’s former partner and one time co-owner of the R L Winston Co who had to retire from fishing and rod making due to illness. For me the highlight of the second part was Kustich’s intriguing account of how he at last captures his most elusive quarry, a very large bull trout.
If you love bamboo, you will love this book. It will resonate well anywhere that ‘high-bamboo’ is spoken.
(Kustich’s other book is At the River's Edge: Lessons Learned in a Life of Fly Fishing.)