Having always been a fisherman and someone heavily involved in the outdoors all of my life, I started Laurel Ridge Rods on the premise of delivering a quality performance crafted species specific fishing tool to the hands of my customers.   I have been chasing trout in Western PA since I was introduced to fly fishing at around 6 years old.  It never ceases to intrigue me or gets old chasing anything with fins.

I started building rods in my college years at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, during the early 2000’s.  Having
spent as much time fishing and in a Fly Fishing store as I did in class, I started to want more out of my fishing rods and found that making them myself was not only satisfying but challenging.  I strive to understand exactly how rods behave in certain conditions, and taking my knowledge to the building bench and projecting my ideas
onto rods is very rewarding.

Fishing is not the only facet of the outdoors
world I participate in.  It is my belief that to
be a total Outdoorsman you need to be well versed in multi species hunting, fishing, and fur harvesting.  All three I am heavily involved with.  My love for the outdoors has been
meshed with a great group of people I have
forged friendships with, Leatherwood Outdoors, where we can
show to the public outdoor adventures in Western Pennsylvania on our YouTube Channel.

I am not someone who makes excuses for time, energy or laziness. If
you work hard you can make the time to do anything you so wish and excel at it.  In addition to being so heavily involved in the outdoors, I also maintain a full time sales position, very active in fitness and lifting weights, along with other hobbies.  You can say I am rarely bored.

If you are looking to own a finely handcrafted rod built to perform to your needs with species specific capability, you have come to the right place.

Sincerely,