When Cara Smith was a teenager growing up in the Traverse City region, she often spent time at her grandparents’ house on the Boardman River, sewing fishing rod bags with her grandmother and helping her grandfather tie thread around fly rods.
Smith’s grandfather, Bob Summers, isn’t your everyday fisherman, though. Summers is a legend in the world of fly fishing — the angler and craftsman behind the R.W. Summers company, maker of specialty bamboo fly rods.
So earlier this month, when Smith launched Summers & Co. — a line of fly fishing apparel designed specifically for women — the move was more than a natural outgrowth of memorable days spent along the river with her grandparents. It was a continuation of her family’s heritage.
“My love for this brand and this idea all started when I moved away to college; I would come home and miss my family, everyone was growing older,” Smith says. “You get curious about your grandparents’ lives and so that kind of just sparked this whole idea to carry on my grandfather’s legacy and brand.” ARTICLE
