John Voelker, son of Irish-German brewer and tavern owner Nick Voelker- his mother's maiden name was Traver- so that's the "nom de plume"- but never got to drink whiskey sours and fly fish at his "Frenchman's Pond" retreat. He came down (someone held a gun to his head the rumor has it) from his beloved U.P. and was guest speaker at a TU Banquet- I got to chat with him briefly- when I mentioned I had owned a Morris Kushner "Excelreme" dry fly rod once, he light right up- I have several of his lesser known books as well as Trout Madness-- Danny and the Boys and the book detailing his start in the legal profession as a P.A. with Judge Belden in the 1940's-quite a writer, even before Anatomy of a Murder--
I also met Bernard "Lefty" Kreh, Mel Kreiger and even Ernie Schweibert, all from being a TU member back then- all these gentlemen anglers are gone now-
IMO- the best story John Voelker wrote about fishing and his hard fisted harder headed father Nick was featured years ago in an early Gray's Sporting Journal- 1977-78 maybe-- "Fishermen at Night"-- I still use his father Nick's term for a double shot- a "Doubler" was what he called a two of anything apparently- even a double header in baseball. Believe my favorite story of all, "The Measure of Silent Spirits" by Art Lee also was featured in that issue- both are great reads and I highly recommend them.
Heddon rods were made in MI- Dowagiac and Heddon, like Granger- (both Goodwin and later W&M- and even Phillipson as well) all had various grades, the main differences were cosmetic- the wraps, blued ferrules, reel seats, bags and tubes--I still have a 8 foot 3/2 W&M Granger Aristocrat 5 wt- also a pre-fire Leonard 7 & 1/2 foot 3/2 49 4/5 wt. I am keeping- I love the Leonards, but the comparable Grangers and Heddons were their equals in casting, function and fish fighting abilities. I have never owned a bamboo steelhead or salmon rod however.
I have known Bob Summers, as most all MI fly fishermen seem to-his rods are equal to the great Paul Young rods, but Bob apprenticed at the Young Rod Co. in Detroit. Lyle Dickerson rods, from Bellaire area of MI (near Bob's location on the Boardman, South of TC- are also "Steinways" but like the Paynes, Gillums and Garrison sticks, you'll write a big check to get an original one of those=- and the Parker Loman Hawes--wow, so few made over such a short time frame, and made when only bamboo was used for fly rods, whether a South bend or a Garrison-- I wish you the best of luck in your search my friend.
