Shaped by a Life on the Water

Born into a family of fishermen, Ben Casarez was immersed in the art of angling from a young age. By age ten, he was spending his summer days chasing bass and bluegill with a fly rod on the ponds and streams of his family's ranch in Blanco County, Texas. His passion for fly fishing progressed rapidly from mastering the basic cast to intricate fly tying, and eventually to custom rod building. Ben constructed his first rod, a Sage RPLX +, in 1997 in preparation for a fishing trip to Yellowstone’s Slough Creek.

What began as a self-taught pursuit over several years gained significant refinement when he connected with master rod builder Mike Munoz, owner of Rodmakers of Chile. Under Mike’s watchful eye and guidance, Ben learned the finer technical details, structural nuances, and cosmetic precision that elevate a rod from custom to truly exceptional.

In 2009, Ben moved to Rio Rancho, New Mexico to chase the high-country trout in the streams of the Southern Rockies. After working as a professional fly fishing guide for The Reel Life, he established Flat Creek Rods in 2011 to pursue his passion of hand-crafting custom fly rods.

Today, Ben operates as a single builder whose attention to detail and quality remain second to none. His decades of real-world experience on the water give him the expert knowledge required to help every angler select the ideal blanks and components, whether designing a delicate 7-foot 3-weight fiberglass rod or a heavy 12-weight blue water setup built to last a lifetime.