Hideto Ishida - Kagerow Rods

Hideto Ishida luckily lives on a trout steam in his home town of Hino County, Tottori. The closest airport is about 3 hours' drive, and the bright signage of Seven-Eleven is not to bee seen in 10km radius. He used to work as a firefighter for the local city government, but he soon became intrigued by the maze of fly rod design and crafting, and became a full time rodmaker more than 10 years ago. Without apprenticing to anyone, he silently and painstakingly honed his skills as a rodmaker, and an angler. In season he fishes every day.

He uses two materials for his rodmaking; one is tonkin bamboo, and the other is the indigenous madake (Phyllostachys bambusoides) which is lower modulus material. He selects and harvests madake bamboo in his backyard "bush farm."

He is a craftsman with eyes to detail. He learnt how to apply Japanese lacquer and color layering technic by himself, and added another traditional craft of gold flaking and shell inlay. His rods combines high-performance blanks developed through his personal fishing experience and gorgeous finish that is right on the Japanese tradition. He makes rods under the brand "Kagerow Rods."