When it comes to making custom fishing rods, Barry Weaver employs many skills.

Do fly rod grips make a BIG difference in your casting? No, but the little difference it does make can equal that extra few feet that puts you in the fishes strike zone.

The cork grips you buy usually have to be custom-fitted to a rod. That’s done by “reaming and filing” the inside of the grip with a rounded, rat-tail file.

Dick Zrudsky will customize a fishing rod -- free -- for anyone who can catch a fish bigger than the one he caught in 1969. Zrudsky makes and designs custom fishing rods from his Englewood home ...