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The Jimmy Fund Rod

One rod a year,built by hand.

The most personal thing we make. Every season one is built by hand and given to the Harry A. Bateman Memorial Derby, which raffles it and sends the proceeds to The Jimmy Fund at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

One rod a year, built by hand

Every season a one-of-a-kind fishing rod is built and donated to the Harry A. Bateman Memorial Derby. The derby raffles it and gives the proceeds to The Jimmy Fund. It is the most personal thing we make, and it goes to someone who showed up for the cause.

The 2026 Jimmy Fund Rod winner holding his rod beside a lake at the Harry A. Bateman Memorial Fishing Derby
2026 winner · Harry A. Bateman Memorial Derby
The 2025 Jimmy Fund Rod winner holding his rod and a raffle flyer on an overcast day by the water
2025 winner · the first Jimmy Fund Rod

Why a rod

A rod is the thing my dad and I shared. I build custom rods on the side — BardeRodz — and every year one of them gets built for this instead of for a customer.

It is the most personal thing we make: the same bench, the same hours, put toward the promise instead. The rod is one of a kind and it is never sold. We give it to the Bateman derby, and the derby does the rest.