CTF name: RayZCT
Real name: Ray Zarychta
Age: 66
Current city: Glastonbury, CT
Hometown: Woonsocket, RI
Family members: Wife, Judi; Daughter and Son-in Law, Kris and Bob Earle: Grandson Cameron and Granddaughter Johanna
Occupation: Senior IT Business Analyst (Insurance)

1. How and when did you get into rod building?
How do you make a long story short? Like most kids growing up in the 1950's I loved building plastic car, truck, airplane and boat models but none of us became glue sniffers. That hobby carried over to my adult years when I moved to Connecticut in 1966 where I built contest quality models and even had a commission to build truck models for a local Hartford transportation firm. When we moved to a rented house with a basement in the early '70's, I constructed an HO scale model car 4' X 16' raceway with over a mile of scale track, hundreds of handpainted fans, about seventy five cars and many buildings appropriate to the stock car racing scene. After moving into our current home in Glastonbury I began a twenty year avocation of model railroading, where I attempted to recreate my home town of Woonsocket, RI surrounded by model trains of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad. As you can guess, I like working with my hands.

Once I started fishing I began building lures and even sold some over the Internet which helped fund the new found fishing hobby. The book that is still my bible for lure building is C. Boyd Pfeiffer's "Modern Tackle Craft", a tome I would recommend to any lure builder. There is a section in that book on rod building which I found interesting and using the techniques outlined in the book, I built my first rod from a St. Croix AVID kit purchased from Jannsnetcraft. As they say, the rest is history.

2. About how many custom rods do you think you've built over the years?
I would estimate over 200 but that does not include the hundreds of repairs I have done which in turn, has proven to be a great way to learn about rod construction.

3. What are some of the most enjoyable aspects of rod building?
The look on my customer's face when they first see and hold their personalized custom rod. I suspect the second best time would be the look when they hook and battle that first fish with the new rod. And for me it's very similar, when I can step back and look at and flex the finished rod that started with my customer's design wishes and a bunch of strange looking parts.


Ray's rod room.

4. How long does it take to build the average custom rod?
I get asked this question frequently and can never come up with a good answer, as the rod build process is a collaborative effort between the client and me. We could spend quite a bit of time designing the rod, selecting the components and deciding on color schemes and personalization. I must then find all of the components from various suppliers, order them, check out received orders and perform any prep work prior to the actual rod construction. This is a hobby for me and my time spent is not an issue, thus I have never really kept track. Like most custom building, each job is unique and the time span for each will vary.

5. Is there a particular rod that you built that holds the most meaning for you?
Actually, I have two. Number one is the first surf rod I built with a split grip cork handle on a 10-foot St. Croix AVID blank rated for 3/4 to 4-ounce lure weights. Having virtually no experience in surf fishing, I didn't know how this rod stacked up against factory built rods. Fellow CTFer, George Buck was looking for a custom rod and came to Glastonbury for some test casting of the surf rod I had built. We went down to one of the local athletic fields and with a two ounce weight and 30-pound braid, George took his first cast and sent the lure flying 100 yards straight as an arrow. After another ten minutes of test casting where George achieved even greater distances, he turned around, smiled and said, "Make me one just like this". I new I had a winner.

The second rod is a result of a collaborative effort of another CTFer, Mike Briglia, Net handle Huskybass, one of the best and most well respected smallmouth anglers in the Northeast. We designed a rod around a St. Croix Legend Elite six foot, six inch, fast action, medium light power spinning blank, primarily used to cast light plastics like Super Fluke Jrs. and 1/8-oz jigs. We use it for targeting smallies and is a blast when catching these tough battlers.

6. What advantages does a custom rod offer an angler over a typical store-bought rod?
Simply put, you get what the factory cannot provide, a rod built to your personal specifications and from there a rod that that casts better, handles fighting fish better, lasts longer and looks better. There is also the ego trip that you own a one of a kind, quality made fishing tool that you were instrumental in designing.

7. How and when did you first get into fishing?
I'm pretty late in life to come onto the fishing scene. Like most, as a kid I fished with my dad a few times each year and in the late seventies a couple of times with an ex-brother-in-law who's idea of bass fishing was a bobber and shiner in the water by 5am and six pack finished by 6am.

In the early '90's my son-in-law invited me to his dad's annual 4th of July festivities on Upper Moodus Reservoir and he told me to bring my fishing tackle. My what? $40 later with rod and reel and a couple of plugs I was into the game and rediscovered how much I enjoyed being outdoors. I eventually gave up my twenty-year love affair with model trains and sold them in order to purchase a small boat and lots of new equipment. It's also about the time I started making lures and after a couple of years became a field reporter for the now defunct "The Connecticut Fisherman's Review" magazine. As I have a "tendency" to get into hobbies deeply, rod building followed.

8. Has the Internet changed the way you fish?
Very definitely, through knowledge, what, where, how and when, just a wealth of information from generous, experienced fishermen who are willing to share their expertise. I probably would have given up fishing a long ago if it hadn't been for those fellow anglers who shared the path to successful fishing. Just as important from the Internet, have been the people who I have eventually met face to face and who I have shared fishing trips with. Thanks to those individuals who shortened my fishing learning curve, some that have become off water friends.

The Internet, thanks to CTF, has also changed a segment of my social life through our CTF tournaments, annual dinners and swap meets. Just a great bunch of fishermen and women whose company is a joy.

9. How would you rate the fishery in CT now, compared to in the past? How do you think the fishery will be in the years to come?
I don't have much of a past to compare it to, but during the mid to late '90's, the DEP did a five year study of several lakes where they had introduced new slot and bag limits. Moodus was one of them and the lake where I did most of my fishing. Being a list maker, I logged in all of the fish I caught with relevant data like weight, length, time, etc. One year I logged in over 900 fish just from Moodus. According to my logs, my average size and rate of catches for large mouth bass increased over the same five-year period of the study and the study showed the same results.

It is difficult to judge from anecdotal stories by fishermen whether it has gotten better but to judge from the increase in the number of tournaments being held each year, something must be getting better.

Much of the future depends on us as fishermen being good stewards of the environment and supporting the programs put forth by the experts from the DEP.


Nighttime catfish on a spinner bait.

10. Tell us a funny or embarrassing story about fishing with a fellow CTF member.
I was fishing in Maine with a buddy on his brand new boat. Being new, all of the lockers were nice and tight. After docking the boat we all headed to the cottage for an ice-cold adult beverage and telling lies on the cottage deck. I went back to the boat to retrieve my camera from one of the lockers and proceed to pop open that sticky little sucker when all of a sudden I heard a scream from the deck "Ray, what the hell are you doing?" Seems the locker wasn't stuck, it was LOCKED! Southwest Airlines, need a ticket quick. Not sure if I have been forgiven yet.

11. What does your wife think of rod building, fishing with guys half your age and talking online about fishing?
Rod building keeps me out of the bars and attending meetings of the Tolland Bass Club so there are no issues from the distaff side on that account. She is fairly supportive of my fishing activity as she works on Saturdays when I do a lot of my fishing, Sundays are family days and I'll often take Monday vacation days to coincide with her regular work day off for day trips to her favorite destinations around Southern New England. In other words, she doesn't have much to complain about.

As far as on line activity goes, we have a nice arrangement. We live in a raised ranch, she lives upstairs, I live downstairs. We each have our own TV's, computers and bathrooms. See, there are ways to be compatibly married for over forty years.

12. You're put in charge of the CT DEP. What are some of the things you'd do?
Like many of the 20 questioners have indicated, more enforcement of DEP rules and regulations. The DEP does a great job on a very limited budget but more enforcement would accomplish a couple of things.

First, it would help protect our natural resources by reducing the number of individuals who create the most damage, the poachers who deplete the fish stocks and the miscreants who pollute the environment.

Second, it would help insure that programs established by the DEP for the benefit of all outdoorsmen have a better chance of success.

It would also help to change the public's perspective of the average fisherman or hunter who are truly members of the most conservation minded citizens of our state. Our clout or lack thereof, in the State House, is due to how the general public sees us and more enforcement will bolster that image, as it isn't going to be us getting arrested and paying the fines.

13. What can you tell the bass fisherman who has never fished in Maine?
You have to be there to believe it; our stories and recaps do not do it justice. Fishing in Maine is a vital industry to Maine's economy and they treat its client accordingly from the rental-booking agents to the launch owners to the state ramp facilities to the local chow halls. Then there is the fishing, hundreds of lakes with thousands of miles of productive shoreline for a multitude of species surrounded by grand views of hills, mountains and pristine waterways. We usually book our trips before the summer season and before tournaments are allowed which means we have 4,500 acre lakes all to ourselves. Just imagine that you and three of your buddies' boats had Candlewood all to yourselves from dawn 'til dusk on the best fishing day of the year with no homeowner harassment, in fact, they will even point out the fish to you. Doesn't get any better.


Maine smallies.

14. Do you have a dream fishing trip or destination you'd like to take?
Oh ya! A trip along the eastern seaboard, bass fishing all of the famous lakes from New York to Florida, hitting all the large southern impoundment lakes and finishing up with a return trip to Lake Okeechobee out of Roland Martin's old marina. We're talking three or four months here, making sure that we partake of generous portions of the local culinary delights; BBQ ribs, country fried chicken, conch fritters, hush puppies, etc. And after a month of rest in Key West, off to Texas and Southern California for a shot a really big fish.

15. What is one of the biggest hardships you've had to overcome in your life?
I understand how recalling such incidents can be inspiring and offer comfort for those who maybe faced with a similar situation but I personally don't feel that a fishing web site is the proper forum for this type of very personal information.

But I will offer something a little more positive which I believe has helped me greatly in my life: organized baseball!

I was a skinny little kid growing up but one thing I could do was play baseball. At eight years old I was playing stickball in the streets with the local teenagers and played organized ball right up until I got married. When I was on the diamond I took crap from no one, you were now on my turf.

More importantly, it taught me many life lessons. How hard work leads to success. How to accept defeat graciously and learn from your mistakes. How teamwork leads to accomplish more than you could on your own. How to interact with the "enemy" who is your best friend living in the house next door. How to overcome odds stacked against you. To be courageous. If this sounds too philosophical, just think back to your own sports experiences.

The baseball connections allowed me venues into other areas such as a sports writing, CYO youth activities and a partial college scholarship. It truly helped create in me intestinal fortitude to overcome the trials and tribulations we all must face during our lifetime.


Amos 5-pounder.

16. Is there a particular species you've never caught that you would really like to catch?
Not really, at my age I have no desire nor do I have the physical capabilities of fighting a 300 pound tuna or shark but what I would like is to catch fresh water species which so far have eluded my angling activities. In Maine I saw a huge salmon which would have been lots of fun on my custom smallie rod, I've only caught one small trout in my several years of fishing, still waiting to hook into a pike bigger than18 inches, I'd just like to check off some more species on my poster of North American game fish.

17. Out of all of the advances in tackle and lures during your lifetime, what are some of your favorites?
It would have to be the improvements in graphite rods for sensitivity and lightness. There is a huge difference in fishing with a 7 foot Ugly Stik versus a 7 foot St. Croix Legend Elite all day long; you won't come home feeling all beat up from the St. Croix. Baitcasting reels have greatly improved too, especially since they now have most models for left handed retrieves. I have a custom 7-foot baitcasting rod that can handle casting 1/8-oz lures but the reel I use, a Shimano Scorpion 101 is a vital part of that picture.

18. Do you have a favorite book?
Not one that you could call inspiring but I greatly enjoyed all the Tom Clancy and Dale Brown novels and I have a few mystery authors I prefer. As a teenager I liked reading about adventures to the North and South Poles and anything that related to the sea and still read that genre today. I'm fortunate that I get a chance to read most of the best sellers, the wife works at Barnes & Noble.

19. What is one of your most memorable fishing experiences?
I think you already read about it, our annual Maine small mouth fishing trip. The fishing is nothing short of fantastic, the camaraderie is super, the groups' culinary skills are legendary and you need hip boots for all the BS. Can't ask for anything more.

20. What is it about fishing that appeals to you and keeps you interested in each new trip?
If it were only to catch fish I would have quit after my first outing. Being in the great outdoors, cruising the waterways, matching wits with a witless prey, being away from the daily routines of work and family, facing the challenges of actually catching a fish and for me now, my first real bass boat. My new boat will now help expand my fishing to larger bodies of water, more actual fishing time due to greater speed and last but not least, improved creature comforts.

Gardner smallmouth.