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The Original The OriginalAbout 54 years ago I made the first rods I sold. They were very simple, light cane, swelled butt, bright fittings, black guides,small graceful cigar-shaped grips, and butternut or maple reelseats. They were wound with transparent silk so fine the guide feet could be seen through the silk. Even the grain of the cane was apparent. No fancy colored silk, no fancy winds, just simple.
In the late 1950's my uncle and I often visited Jim Payne at his shop in Highland Mills, New York. On one of these visits I asked, "Mr. Payne, should I make my rods fancier?" He got a very serious look in his eyes and said, "Ron, your rods are elegant because they are simple and pure. Don't change anything." A few years later I became Vice President of H.L. Leonard Rod Company and made Leonard Rods for many years. I left H.L. Leonard Rod Co. in 1981 and again made rods under my own name. The rods I made were a little fancier than my original rods. This I thought was what people wanted. The Ron Kusse Standard, Catskill, Catskill Special, Beaverkill Special, Light Rods, Flamed Rods and Quad Rods; all were nice rods but my favorite rods are the simply pure fly rods that I made so many years ago.
 The rods that Jim Payne called elegantly simple.
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These were delicate looking fly rods with medium fast actions, rods
meant to fish with. Just pure and simple traditional fly rods to be used
for a lifetime.
