Creator/Owner of Pine Island Customs

Stanley Schaefer

Growing up in the rural setting of the piney woods of Southeast Texas, it was a natural fit for me to develop a love for the great outdoors. As a kid, I spent most of my time scouting around the woods and fishing the small ponds scattered around my home. This was the beginning of a love for not only catching fish, but for collecting tackle. Bass fishing was the passion, and I collected all the tackle I could get my hands on. Not having the money to buy what I needed, I’d scrounge and trade and bargain for my equipment. Most of the time, the rods and reels were either hand-me-downs or broken throw aways, so I had to learn to work on pretty much everything. This was the beginning of my passion for collecting and restoring tackle. And I wasn’t too bad at catching those big bass either! During that time of learning to tinker with my equipment, I made friends with one of my neighbor’s older sons that introduced me to the rod building hobby. He taught me to do the thread work for re-wrapping the guides and he knew how to do decorative wraps. This was an awesome discovery for me! We spent hours in the evenings working at his mom’s kitchen table. I was off and running!!

Over time, the fishing ponds changed to world class bass lakes like Sam Rayburn and Toledo Bend, and I also learned to fish the inshore saltwater areas of the Sabine Lake system. Catching bass, speckled trout, redfish, and flounder on my own custom-built rods always motivated me to advance my craft. I went from working at the kitchen table using a stack of catalogs to hold tension on the wrapping thread, to converting my garage to a full-fledged rod building shop stocked with specialty tools and equipment. As time went on and I developed more skills and knowledge, I began to build advanced rods that featured upper-end components, beautiful thread work, and intricate inlaid grips.

Today, that old garage shop is a thing of the past and my workspace is now a state-of-the-art, professionally outfitted facility. Creating traditional foam and cork rod grip components has now advanced to custom cast acrylic and wood handles, trim pieces, and inserts. Learning and perfecting my work with acrylics and stabilized wood has also led me into other exciting endeavors! In addition to custom-built specialty rods, I’m now offering one-of-a-kind writing pens!! Each pen features top quality components with a choice of beautifully crafted acrylic, exotic wood, or a hybrid mix of both. I’m also proud to offer other artistic and beautiful lathe creations like exotic wood bowls, bottle stoppers and openers, keychains, salt and pepper shakers, and other personal and household customizations. Every item I make is a beautiful and unique creation that’ll be cherished, whether it’s a gift for a friend or loved one, or a personal heirloom crafted especially for you.

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