A Gift for Fishermen made by Terry Cowen
What is the perfect gift for fishermen? Is it a new fishing rod and reel? Rods and reels are great but how about something that brings back memories of days out on the water? Terry Cowden makes unique homemade wooden reel ornaments. What makes this fisherman’s gift even more meaningful is that it is made by an avid fisherman with an interesting story.
Terry Cowden was injured in a motorcycle accident in 2003, and used eBay as a welcome addition, financially, to supplement his “meager income” as he describes it. So needless to say, he will really appreciate any exposure of his craft. I asked Terry to describe his outstanding gift for fishermen and here is what he said.
I have a passion for all things fishing related. I was disassembling an old ocean city fishing reel one day, and marveling at how basic the construction of these old reels were. This happened to be last year around this time, and my wife was involved in a holiday, craft related show. I’m always looking for something to keep me busy, and out of my wife’s hair, so I decided to take some stock wood I had laying around, and replicate this old fishing reel as a ornament, designed to catch the eye of the avid fisherman, as something unique, to hang on the Christmas tree. These are totally handmade, except for the line spool, which is an old, wooden, sewing thread spool. (My wife’s donation to the project).
My original inspiration was to incorporate a wooden fishing pole of some kind, to be used as display for old fishing lures, my major passion, and of course searching for a marketable item to supplement our income. I kind of dropped the pole idea, at least temporarily, because my wife thought they were pretty cool the way they were, and thought they would sell as an ornament, hence the handmade hook, and extra line. I worked construction for over 24 years, and like to think I’m relatively mechanical, so defiantly enjoy hands on work. Specifically, the sheet metal field of construction, I unfortunately had to take an early retirement, after 24 years as a Union sheet metal worker.
I can not add a thing to this story, but I can encourage you to purchase a reel or two to give as gifts or keep for yourself. If you are a fisherman you will appreciate the quality of this oustanding handmade fishing reel. Very nice work Terry, I wish you the best and can’t wait to give a few of these to friends and family! Here is Terry’s eBay store, which allows you to contact him if he doesn’t have any items currently displayed.
