It’s our pleasure to offer up this first part of a 10 Question interview with Tom Brodhead of 406 Fly Lines in Livingston, Montana.
We truly enjoy highlighting fly fishing’s smaller manufacturers and creators, and Tom Brodhead’s 406 Fly Lines was chartered in 2014 to offer an alternative to the lines available on the market today. The lines were designed using profiles from the 70s which were tweaked a bit and manufactured using the latest materials and coatings. They are ideal for older and newer glass, cane, and slow action rods and excel at delicate presentations for picky trout.
Short of calling the vision of 406 Fly Lines a stroke of genius in the first paragraph, I have to save we really connect with your vision of creating lines with vintage tapers married to modern materials. Please tell us a bit about how / why the concept came to be.
Well I started to switch over to glass rods when the newer graphite rods kept getting faster and faster and I had a hard time casting them with any kind of accuracy. All the lines I tried just wouldn’t cast right for me and I thought “wonder if I could make my own lines”? As it turned out that thought kept percolating in my head for at least a year before I decided to see how hard it be. If I had really thought about it I probably would have said “nobody makes their own lines” but luckily I didn’t listen to it. Researching some of the older lines, buying a bunch of lines on Ebay, gave me the incentive to realize it was possible. After playing around with the profiles I came up with several prototype lines they were sent to a couple of different fly line companies. Got a great response from Scientific Anglers and we made a number of sample lines which went out to a few trusted rod builders and Cameron Mortenson from The Fiberglass Manifesto. After getting positive reviews we decided to go into production with the whole line.
What was (were) the biggest challenge(s) in taking it from the ‘great idea’ stage to the ‘get it done’ reality?
I think the biggest challenge was actually believing it was possible. Once my thinking got to the point of researching the possibility of doing this the rest fell into place pretty easily. Of course there were days I wanted to throw my hands up and say”enough” but those passed fairly quickly and getting back on track was pretty simple.
I have to give credit to two people who were a tremendous help and inspiration. The first was Cameron Mortenson. I first discovered The Fiberglass Manifesto a couple of years ago and really loved it. I wrote to Cameron when I was first considering the idea and he was extremely helpful with encouragement and suggestions for the business. The other was Matt Cassell from Cliff Outdoors. I met Matt at last year’s Fly Fishing Federation Conclave in Livingston. I mentioned I was trying to start a fly line business and we talked for quite a while. He said to contact him anytime with questions or whatever and we have remained in touch. His best advice was to start small, don’t go in debt, and be true to your vision – good advice indeed.
We’re huge fans of Livingston; how’d the company come to locate there?
My wife Alexis and I had been coming out to Livingston for about 10 years before we both got a shot at early retirement for our jobs. We are originally from the Catskills in NY and decided NY was too expensive to live there anymore. Looking around Livingston was a logical choice as we had friends out here and loved MT. don’t get me wrong i love the Catskills. Our local YMCA had a summer camp with 6 miles of the east and west branches of the upper Neversink River. We had 27 people in the fly fishing club and 6 miles of the most beautiful water you’ve ever seen. It’s still some of the most hauntingly beautiful gin clear water I can recall.
What’s your favorite glass or classic rod or rods you reach for most days?
That’s a hard one. For the smaller creeks a Fred Paddock 7’6″ 4 weight, for spring creeks a T & T heirloom 8′ 4 weight, and for floating on the river a Greywolf 8′ 5/6 weight Steffen build. They all have their own personalities and quirks which I guess is why you need so many.
Living and working in Livingston you have some of the finest fly fishable water on the planet at your close reach; where are you fishing of late when you just have to take a day and get out?
This time of year I mostly fish the spring creeks like Depuys and Nelsons. i’m a diehard dry fly guy and you can always count on some Baetis or BWOs being on the water during the day. And who doesn’t like saying “Good Morning” to Betty and signing in at Depuys knowing some great fishing is just minutes away?
I love the Yellowstone and it’s time to drop the raft in the water which usually means big streamers and 8 weights rods. Not dry fly but it has it’s compensations (like BIG fish).
We’ll have the rest of the interview with Tom and the 406 Fly Lines team tomorrow.
