Rod-Building System Reeling Them In

Wes Sullivan was forced to be creative, partly by deteriorating health and partly because his wife was running out of patience with the fishing rod building materials that cluttered her dining room.

In the early ‘80s, the Kettle Falls fly fisher developed a rack and tension system that would enable him to wrap thread flawlessly on rod blanks, despite the loss of motor control he was experiencing in his hands.

Other fly fishers encouraged him to market the device, primarily because they wanted one, said his wife, Alice.

The invention certainly had her seal of approval. The wrapping tools made the job quicker - and freed up the dining room for eating.

For nearly 15 years, Sullivan made only a few of the devices for friends and fund-raising auctions.

But after a hefty Thanksgiving dinner in 1994, he and his 21-year-old son-in-law, Chuck Lindquist, talked through the night about taking the Sully System to the nation.

Last March, Lindquist packed the system to a California trade show. A cottage industry was born.

“Wes was the creator, but I had the entrepreneur bone in my body that saw the opportunity,” said Lindquist, who had retail experience in his family’s shoe stores.

“The design was changed slightly to incorporate the feedback we got from other rod builders and to make the system more realistic for production.”

Leo Galli, a woodworker in Colville, Wash., cuts the hardwood pieces. Alice and Chuck gather in a shed near the Columbia River for assembly binges, while Wes, now disabled, continues to offer advise. “Each system takes about two hours to put together,” Lindquist said. The product is distributed out of Spokane to outlets ranging from local fly fishing shops to Cabela’s Tackle Craft catalog.

“We’ve had great response,” Lindquist said, noting that the system gives rod builders the ability to let go of a blank in middle of a wrap and back up to correct mistakes while providing constant tension on the wrapping of up to four threads.

The system comes with the only two-speed motor on the market for both finishing and drying, Lindquist said.

“I’m not quite 23 years old and I had no background in this sort of thing other than being a fly fisherman and talking to people who build rods,” Lindquist said.

Lindquist and Sullivan are hatching ideas for additions to the Sully System, including a dust-free rod drying box they hope to have developed in time for this week’s Big Horn Sports and Recreation Show at Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BIG HORN SHOW HOURS Following are hours for the Big Horn Sports and Recreation Show at Spokane Interstate Fairgrounds. Thursday, noon-9 p.m. Friday, noon-10 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday 10 a.m.-6 p.m.