We are lucky to have some very talented and generous members in our organization. One in particular is Lewis Barringer who I met several years ago as he showed me around the river. I had a great time and really enjoyed our time together on the LMF. Lewis now builds some beautiful bamboo fly rods by hand right here in the southwest.

Tickets are available at Three Rivers Fly Shop, the tickets are $10 each. These rods are normally $1100 retail, but you might win this rod with just a $10 investment! Or buy 20 or 30 tickets and you are still getting a screaming deal on a handmade bamboo fly rod!!

Lewis has hand built a bamboo fly rod and given it to the LMFRF to raffle off to help us keep working hard on making the LMF a world class trout stream. In Lewis’ own words:

My name is Lewis Barringer.  I’ve been fly fishing most of my 50 years.  I grew up in California where Rainbows and Browns were common and during the summer I would backpack to the high country for Golden Trout.  My father built rods but passed away when I was young, so I learned to build rods on my own with the help of many websites.  Having only been building for the last 2 years, I feel I’ve made good headway and I build a good rod.  I build all my rods by hand and I don’t see any reason to ever change.  It seems that hand crafting is becoming a lost art.  Some things should never fade away.

I fish the Lower Mountain Fork often because it’s close to home and the fishing is great.  The Foundation has done a lot for the fishery and I’m proud to be a part of it and always look forward to new projects.  There are so many things that we, as a group, can do to improve the river and I know that in time we’ll get many, many things done.  Enjoy this rod.  It’s made to be fished, as are all my rods.

Lewis Barringer