Fortitude Rod Co

Fortitude Rod Co is a materials supplier first, a workshop second. Founded by Jason Pereira, a fly rod builder of more than twenty years' experience, it describes itself as a one-stop shop for people building their own fly rods rather than a bespoke rod-making house.

The core of the business is blanks: their own FRC range, alongside blanks from Taniwha Rodworks, Gatti, Livingston and Diamondback. The FRC range covers the N-Tech X, Homewaters and Union Elite Nymphing models, plus an FRC Ogawa fibreglass blank. Alongside the blanks sits everything else a builder needs: guides, reel seats, thread, cork, adhesives, tools and finishing products, sold individually or bundled into complete build kits such as the FRC Homewaters kit, the FRC Union Elite ESN mono rig kit and an FRC N-Tech X 11' Trout Spey kit.

In their own workshop they handcraft cork grips and reel seat inserts, using responsibly sourced materials and traditional woodworking methods, sold as components for other people's builds. A commissions and custom-work service is also listed, though the site gives little detail on how it runs. Jason builds and fishes his own rods, and the site offers advice on component selection and compatibility for anyone working through a build.

No workshop location is published. Jason fishes the rivers of Staffordshire and the Derbyshire Dales, with regular trips to North Wales, Mid Wales, the River Eden and the Scottish Borders, though that is where he fishes rather than where the business is based.

Fortitude Rod Co suits anglers who want to build their own rod rather than commission a finished one: a source for blanks and components from several makers, with in-house cork work and some expertise on hand along the way.