Marc Aroner of Conway, Massachusetts, is at the head of the list. His workmanship is undoubtedly the most admired when you discuss bamboo with other makers and dealers. His exquisite, fine-tipped rods approach the zenith in light, dry-fly design.

Aroner has been a full-time professional rodmaker since 1973, when he began working at Thomas & Thomas under Tom Dorsey and Tom Maxwell, two of the most respected makers of the modern era. Six years later he joined the famous H.L. Leonard Rod Company in Central Valley, New York, where he again worked with Tom Maxwell. Two years later he began producing rods under his own name.

Aroner’s rods reflect a Leonard influence. He cuts his tapers on the old Leonard beveled which he now owns. His Hunt Pattern Series Features rods that are beautifully flame-tempered. Nodes (growth rings in the bamboo) are hand-filed and pressed, and tips are "book matched" so they will be identical. Finish, as on all his rods, is a flawless glassy spar varnish. Models range from the three-piece 6’ for #3 line to an 8’ for #6. The tip of the 6-footer is an incredible.046 thick (that’s six pieces of tapered bamboo glued together into a perfect hexagon!) His Spring Creek Series is a blonde version of the Hunt pattern and is wrapped in a lovely green-olive silk, with a mortised reel seat of figured maple. If there is a more beautiful rod I have yet to see it.