Saturday, Feb. 02, 2008

Spoil the rod holder, catch fish in style

By Kevin McCullen, Herald staff writer

Joe Kassuba crafts tools for the serious angler. In a small shop behind his Kennewick home, Kassuba creates custom fishing rods that his customers say are comparable or superior to high-end products made by premium rod manufacturers, and at less cost.

"If people tell me they can buy a rod for $25, I'll say to them, 'Yes, you can,'" Kassuba said, his right hand sweeping in the direction of a rack of specialty rods under construction or awaiting delivery to customers.

"I'm not trying to compete with the Wal-Marts or the big retail stores."

Tournament anglers, fishing guides and others who are dedicated to catching fish, however, have for years gravitated to Kassuba's business, HIS Rod Shop.

"I won't buy a rod off the shelf anymore because I can get one of similar or better quality from Joe," said Tim Demmon of Kennewick, a veteran bass tournament angler. "Joe fits it to your reel, your hand and your specifications. It's night and day above what you get off the shelf.

"Hands down, I am getting a lighter, more sensitive rod that I can fish with all day long," he said.

On average, Kassuba makes between 75 to 100 rods annually. He charges at least $12 a foot for any rod, with pricing varying on the materials used and time spent. He also repairs rods.

Fishing rods come in a range of lengths and weights to suit myriad specialized angling techniques. Name the species and the style of fishing, and the 69-year-old Kassuba can make a rod painstakingly tailored to a client's specificiations.

He interviews his clients at length to determine exactly what characteristics they want in a rod.

"As long as it is a fishing instrument, I'll make it," he said.

The most common rod he crafts is a 9 1/2- to 10 1/2-foot-long steelhead rod. Spinning rods comprise a majority of the rods he makes.

He's developed a high-value spey rod that he sells for about $550. He's also created a travel rod that's a combination 7 1/2-foot fly and spinning rod, which he plans to sell for around $350.

"It's a beautiful little casting rod," he said.

Under design is a medium-heavy rod for bank fishing for sturgeon. His most innovative creation, however, might be his Vibronic spinning rod.

The weight in a rod blank typically is in the center. But Kassuba designed the Vibronic so that the weight is at the angler's palm, with the reel directly attached to the handle. The result is an ultra-sensitive rod with minimal weight at the tip.

"When a fish bites, it puts a pulse in the rod that's transmitted down the blank and you feel it in your palm," Kassuba said, watching as a visitor lightly bounced the flexing rod tip against the ground. "You feel light biters like a walleye, which sucks bait into its mouth, or a steelhead."

Kassuba belongs to the Custom Rod Builders Guild, which has about 900 members worldwide, said Doug Weber, past president. Kassuba has led classes at national guild gatherings, and has taught rod-building courses to students at Jubilee Youth Ranch and Christian Academy near Prescott.

"Joe is soft-spoken, and he lets his work speak for itself," Weber said.

Kassuba built his first rod, a cane pole, as a child in Michigan. He made rods as a sideline during his years as an engineer for Boeing before retiring and moving to the Tri-Cities with his late wife, Bette, in 1995 to help start a church.

But after Bette died of cancer in 1997, he needed time to heal. He found comfort in prayer and in the company of other Christians at a retreat in Canada.

In time, he prayed he would meet someone again who "loved the Lord, loved kids, and loved fishing." He soon met Jane, who eventually became his wife.

"I am a doubly blessed man," he said.

He also began making rods in earnest, building his clientele in part through trade shows and word-of-mouth. He stays busy much of the year, taking a break in August to participate in a father/son Christian retreat that emphasizes fellowship and fishing.

"Joe has got to be the sweetest person I have ever met," Demmon said. "He's got a good heart, and he's a faithful individual. You are important to him, and he genuinely listens and takes interest in what you are saying."

The decor in his shop reflects his life's priorities: The Lord, his family, and fishing. On a recent afternoon, his 9-year-old grandson, Joshua Lembcke, of Othello, tied flies he will use this summer on a fishing trip to Lake Roosevelt with his grandfather.

A few feet away, Kassuba explained the properties of a sleek fly rod that gently twitched with each small flick of his wrist. He paused, and grinned.

"I'm doing something that's exciting, and fun."