Michael Hackney
Michael, aka The Eclectic Angler, is an angling author, publisher, historian, fly tier, rod builder, line furler and braider, reelsmith... you get the idea, addicted to anything related to angling! On the water you might find him fishing seventeenth century loop rods and horsehair lines or bamboo rods, hand-crafted reels, silk fly lines, with flies tied on hand-made hooks - all constructed himself. Michael was an early advocate of tenkara in the US, recognizing its similarity to western loop rod fishing.
Michael is a life member of TU and has presented at countless TU chapter and state council events. He is an ardent supporter of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum in Livingston Manner, NY.
Michael offers Reelsmithing Workshops where participants assemble one of his fly reel kits in about three hours and is available for presentations on many topics including:
Michael, aka The Eclectic Angler, is an angling author, publisher, historian, fly tier, rod builder, line furler and braider, reelsmith... you get the idea, addicted to anything related to angling! On the water you might find him fishing seventeenth century loop rods and horsehair lines or bamboo rods, hand-crafted reels, silk fly lines, with flies tied on hand-made hooks - all constructed himself. Michael was an early advocate of tenkara in the US, recognizing its similarity to western loop rod fishing.
Michael is a life member of TU and has presented at countless TU chapter and state council events. He is an ardent supporter of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum in Livingston Manner, NY.
Michael offers Reelsmithing Workshops where participants assemble one of his fly reel kits in about three hours and is available for presentations on many topics including:
- A Reelsmithing Primer
- Fly Fishing in the 19th Century
- Everything you wanted to know about leaders, or Furled Again!
- Fixed Line Fly Fishing - West meets East
- Fly Lines - how to make them
Michael's Work
Books
- The Reelsmith's Primer, Limited Edition (sold out) and Softcover, November, 2010
- Reels & Making Them - Editor
- The History and Evolution of the Trout Fly - Part 1 - Photographer and Editor
Other Work
Michael writes the Reelflections column for the Old Reel Collector Association's (ORCA) Reel Times magazine. He has also contributed to PowerFibers magazine on hand-crafting fly reels and furling horse hair fly lines.
- Three Strand Furled Leaders
- It's Reel Preety Easy, PowerFibers Issue 37 with Peter Dallman
- Horsehair Fly Lines, PowerFibers Issue 36
- Reelsmithing - an overview of making reels by hand
- The Eclectic Angler Newsletter
