ASHLAND — A simple desire to create fishing lures while watching ballgames has turned into a nearly full-time enterprise for Mark Hanni, whose hand-crafted tables are in demand by anglers around the world.

Hanni, 43, grew up with an enthusiasm for fishing which was handed down by his grandfather, who took him pan fishing in Indiana’s lakes and streams. The Ashland businessman said golf took over his life after college, but he got back into fly fishing six or seven years ago. Hanni said he enjoyed fishing local streams, as well as the Laurel Gorge in Elliott County, but grew frustrated with losing the lightweight flies he was using.

“I was buying flies and hanging them in trees. I lost $20 in flies on one day alone,” he said, shaking his head slightly. Hanni said he consulted with fellow fly fishermen among the Russell Rotary Club and soon had enough materiels to begin tying his own flies, although he was unable to find a fly-tying table which would let him work while watching sports on TV.

“I started looking and doing research and found there was nothing with legs on it,” he said, explaining there were many table-top models available.

Relying upon the woodworking and carpentry skills he learned from his father-in-law, Richard Isaacs, as well as the experience gained renovating an older home, Hanni came up with a design and built a fly-tying table to suit his own needs. “Before I married Kelly I could not drive a nail,” he said, citing his appreciation for his father-in-law’s guidance and second-hand tools.

Sensing her husband had something other anglers might appreciate, Hanni’s wife, Kelly, suggested he try selling his creation online.

“I put them on eBay and sold three in the first week,” he said, explaining he put the first one up for auction because he had no idea how much to sell it for. “It went for $160 and I went ‘Wow!’”

Inspired, Hanni immediately sought a patent through an online site and went to work marketing his creations, expanding the line and promoting the products on his creeknuts.com website. “It’s sort of blossomed,” he said, noting he now offers products including rod holders, cabinets for materials (as suggested by the wives of several customers), belts, lanyards, benches and more including trout, muskie and carp theme T-shirts created by Ashland’s Print My Threads shop. As a nod to some of this area’s fishing spots, Hanni named some of his fly-tying tables in honor of local waterways, including “The Paint Creek” and “East Fork” models.

“I think I have fished all of them ... back when I got to fish a lot,” he said with a chuckle, adding he still enjoys every chance he gets to pursue his favorite form of fishing — seeking out muskie with his fly rod. “That’s the only thing I fish for anymore.”

Hanni isn’t ready to quit his day job, although orders have been picking up and he can envision a day when he must decide between the office and he wood shop.

“I sold 69 last year and 80 so far this year,” he said, adding he is fascinated by the marketing of his products and the destinations he ships to.

“It is mesmerizing to see where they go. The second one I sold went to Latvia. A couple of them went to Moscow last year,” he said, noting the customer paid nearly as much for shipping as he charged for the unit. During a recent trip to Ireland, Hanni also enjoyed the personal fishing advice of a customer who had purchased one of his fly-tying tables the year before.

Hanni’s designs often incorporate the ideas of his customers, especially when it comes to paint schemes and depictions of their favorite fish. While he is planning to build a table from cedar for a customer in California, Hanni said he wants to continue using pine as his primary building wood.

“There is a lot of aristocracy in fly fishing and I wanted to do something everybody could afford,” he said.

While demand from online customers has been strong, Hanni says he can’t explain why his creations have been essentially ignored when displayed at retail shops in Virginia, Tennessee, Montana and Lexington.

“We have tried putting them in some fly shops and did not sell even one of them,” he said, adding the shop owners are equally surprised. “I have one at a shop in Lexington that is really cool looking ... can’t sell it.”

Hanni said he expects this year’s Christmas orders to keep him especially busy.

“By October, I’ll probably be out here until 9 or 10 every night. When Christmas gets here I’ll have to do whatever it takes,” he said, explaining he built 22 fly-tying tables last December when orders started coming in “all at once” at the end of November.

For more information about Hanni’s fishing-related creations, including pricing, visit creeknuts.com on the Internet.

TIM PRESTON can be reached at tpreston@dailyindependent.com.