Anyone know of a rod builder named Behler? M H Behler?

[gwold]

I have two rods that were built by an "MH Behler" and am wondering if anyone knew (knows) him, or about him. Both are built on GLoomis IMX blanks; one is a 10' #8, the other a 9' 6" #4. Maybe from the Palmerton/Lehighton area?

 

[kbobb]

I do not know of this person but I will throw this out there - sometimes hobby builders will put their name on a rod they made - so this person may not have been a pro builder, but I do not know that for certain.
I know my name or initials are on the rods I made.

 

[gwold]

I do not know of this person but I will throw this out there - sometimes hobby builders will put their name on a rod they made - so this person may not have been a pro builder, but I do not know that for certain.
I know my name or initials are on the rods I made.

You may well be correct, that's a good possibility. I do know that the rods I have were built by Behler for another gentleman, as it's inscribed on the rods. Also, the person I got the rods from says he bought them from the original owner's son. That doesn't mean Behler sold custom rods.

I'm also intrigued by this, the only reference I've found so far in a web search:

It's a hit on an older (don't know what age) FB post by someone looking buy yet another rod built by the same person. I know it's "another" because mine are a 9'6" #4 and a 10' #8. Both of mine are built on G Loomis IMX blanks--IMX, not IMX Pro.

Edit: I've tried following the FB link, and it's been wiped, so the above's all I have. Not even the way-back machine has that page archived (maybe FB blocks way-back's web crawler?).

 

[ROVERT]

I have an uncle (married to my mom's sister) with that last name who lives in Lehighton. He's a big bass fisherman but not a fly fisherman. I'll see if I can find out if he has/had any relatives who built fly rods.

 

[gwold]

Thanks, @ROVERT. He likely would've been building some time ago, maybe in the '80s/'90s? From what I've been able to find the blanks are pretty old, and these rods had older reels on them as well. The #4 carried a Hardy LRH Lightweight and the #8 had an Orivs DXR Anti-reverse 9/10. On both reels (and their spare spools as well) the mounted fly line had dry-rotted pretty significantly.

 

[ROVERT]

Nothing definitive but it sounds like it may have been his second cousin, Matt Behler. He apparently was a serious fly fisherman and had a shop called Pocono Gateway Outfitters in Lehighton.

 

[ROVERT]

I found this:

THEY OFFER ONLY THE BEST IN FLY FISHING

Two area men have combined their talents to provide fly fishermen with an exclusive service for custom crafted equipment. Matt Behler of Bowmanstown, a member of the worldwide Rodcrafters Assn., an…

www.mcall.com

 

[gwold]

That's fantastic, @ROVERT ! Thanks for your help in this!