Article 45: Built It / Fish It
Our first-ever “Build It / Fish It” rod building and fly fishing week at
On DeMark Lodge with Steve Hudson!
This trip will run Sunday, October 11 through Saturday, October 17, 2026. It includes the rod blanks and building supplies, 3 days of guided fishing on the Mighty Mo’ with On DeMark Lodge guides, lodging, plus the meals, beverages and hospitality that all guests experience at the lodge! The price for the package is $3800 per person based on double occupancy.
Leading the rod building portion of this exciting week in Montana will be fly fisher and rod builder Steve Hudson, an award-winning writer, teacher and lifelong fan of the outdoors.
Steve, who is the author of more than 30 fly fishing, outdoor and travel books, says he may have the best of all possible jobs – one that lets him share the excitement of fly fishing with others. He’s taught hundreds of fly fishers how to build their own fly rods, and he affirms that the excitement of catching a fish on a rod you’ve built yourself is rarely surpassed in the fly fishing world.
His credits include CHATTAHOOCHEE TROUT, the comprehensive 300-plus-page guide to world-class trout angling on the Chattahoochee River near Atlanta. This book, now in its second edition, has been called “the definitive work on fishing for trout in north Georgia’s acclaimed Chattahoochee River.”
Steve is also the author of the popular “101” series of introductory flyfishing guides. Launched with the award-winning FLYFISHING 101, this series includes volumes on nymphing, saltwater flyfishing, blue lining, fly tying, tenkara and more.
The latest entry in the “101” series, RODBUILDING 101, makes it easy for anyone to dive into the world of building and fishing personally crafted fly rods. This is the book we’ll use in our rod building workshop, and each participant will receive a copy signed by the author.
In addition to these books, Steve is also the creator of the acclaimed TIE IT & TRY IT series of fly tying kits. Each of these kits includes a detailed and fully illustrated 16- to 24-page tying book designed to teach you how to tie each pattern, along with materials to tie at least 20 flies too. In the evenings, we’ll be using some of these kits to tie flies for fishing on the Missouri and elsewhere in Montana.
Steve is editorial director of Chattahoochee Media, a publisher of fishing, hiking and travel guides. He also serves as editor-at-large for Fly Life Magazine (flylifemagazine.com) and is a regular contributor to On The Fly South Magazine (ontheflysouth.com) and other publications. He also writes a weekly outdoor column for the Appen Media group of newspapers (appenmedia.com) in Atlanta.
Steve especially enjoys teaching others and sharing his love of all things fishing. He has led fly fishing and fly tying seminars and workshops from Alaska to Florida, and he is a frequent speaker and seminar presenter for local and regional fly fishing groups and at major industry shows.
When not writing, Steve enjoys ham radio (he’s actually pretty good at Morse code). Some folks say he’s a fairly decent bass guitar player too.
He and his wife Trisha (who regularly out fishes him) live in Canton, Ga.
Steve can be reached via email at aa4bw@comcast.net or at (770) 329-7642, and you can visit Chattahoochee Media at flybooks.net
To reserve your spot for this special event, call or text (406) 402-2108 or email us at info@ondemarklodge.com
