Izzy Hutnak Builds Fly Rods That Are Works Of Art From The Colorful Blank to the Custom Grip to the Finished Reel Seat

“I build rods for Maine Fly Company and I definitely fell out of touch with the outdoor industry through my late teenage years. Now that I've kind of settled down in Maine for a while and have a passion for fly fishing, I really wanted to get back into that community,” said Izzy Hutnak, rod smith for Maine Fly Company.Izzy grew up fly fishing as she was taught by her father and had gone across Maine to many ponds, rivers, and oceans to fish different types of fish. “I'm the oldest and my Dad lost the battle when I was born. I say that I am technically Isabelle Machias. But I am also grateful enough to actually have the middle name Meehan, which is my mother's maiden name. But my other two siblings, their middle names are actually bodies of water in Maine where my Dad has caught his largest fish. So my sister is Abigail Eddington and my brother is Matthew Magalloway,” said Izzy.Izzy caught on to the craft of fly rod building quickly as the process seems mindless and meditative. It’s the perfect part-time job while attending college where she is studying outdoor education. “We have our stations in the studio room, which overlooks the river. That's where we're going to be taking the blanks and gluing on the reel seats and the handles. Right there, I'm looking over the river. So you can just imagine the calm presence that I have while doing this and from there, those guides that I talked about those eyelets we're going to use a Dremel to sort of build this ramp so that when we wrap the thread on that the thread just builds up and there's not like a harsh line between the blank and the guide. After that, you're going to wrap all your guides with whatever color thread your customer wants. When all of those are wrapped on, the whole rod gets moved to the cleanroom where the rods will get two coats of epoxy that each spin for eight hours. Your first coat of epoxy is going to be just a clean cover the thread spent for eight hours, the second coat is going to be where the beauty happens and you make like bulbous glossy, covering,” said Izzy.Tune in to learn more about Izzy’s journey of being a rod smith with Maine Fly Company, how it is being a female in the fly fishing industry, and what advice she gives on being a new rod smith, fly fishing angler, and maker. If you enjoyed this Makers of the USA episode, please leave a rating and review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or Facebook. Please check out Makers of the USA's YouTube channel, Facebook and Instagram. Thank you all and stay safe and healthy.