Christmas Present for a friend

It has been a while since I have had the chance to post. Here is a rod that the wife of a friend ordered for Christmas. Here are the specs.

Blank: Dan Craft FT 9' 8wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Titanium Sic
Reel Seat: American Tackle AW12 w/ Coralwood
Grip: Regular and Green Burl Cork
Thread: Olive with Tan
Feathers: Guinea, Turkey and Jungle Cock

Wading the Flats 9-20-09

I got to get out with a friend of mine last Wednesday for an evening of flood tide fishing.

We had been talking about it for sometime as both of us love to fly fish. The day started rather slow and the sun was still high in the sky. The first flat didn't show any tails so we moved to the next spot where we were rewarded with waving tails. I shut the engine off about 50 yards away from the flat and pole up to it. The whole time you could see 4 or 5 fish working the air. I dropped my buddy off and moved the boat to where we would end up.

Both of us had our chances but the fish were not very cooperative. I haven't seen reds with lock jaw like this before. We had good presentations but the fish didn't seem interested. My friend had a fish take the fly but it proceeded to spit it right back out. Very strange as I have not seen to many reds do this. Oh well...I was able to get this one picture. The tides should be good in about a week and I plan on hitting the flats again.

Redfish on the Flats

Finally got to head out for some tailing redfish. With the tide and weather were just right, I was so excited that I left all of my flies in the car. No big deal...my plan was to go out and just look for fish. I am taking a friend out in a couple of days and just want to make sure I put him on something.

Well, the best laid plans can sometimes go awry. After seeing several really nice reds go cruising by, I couldn't take it anymore. An average size red came swimming by and I decided to give it a shot. He was starting to go away from me and I made the cast of my life. I dropped the fly right where it needed to be and on the first strip....BAM...he slammed it!

What I thought was an average redfish turned out to be a really nice one and he proceeded to make a strong run and break me off. There went my only fly and I spent the rest of the time executing the original plan which was finding fish and taking pictures. Here are a few of them.

The Gadsen Rod - Finished

It took me a lot longer that I usually spend on a rod. With changes in my day job and changes in the design of the rod, I didn't get this one out like I usually do.

Below are the parts for this rod. Here is the list:

Blank: Dan Craft Sig V 9' 5wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Titanium Sics
Reel Seat: Amboyna Burl with Gatti Nickel Silver Hardware
Grip: combination of regular and burnt cork with a twist.
Feathers: Grizzly Hackle for guide alignment
Inlays: Rattlesnake Skin
Threads: Green, Black, White for the guide wraps. Yellow to border the snakeskin.




I have spent some time casting this rod and I really like. It has a nice, light feel to it and like all Sig V's it has a great recovery. Even though this rod took awhile, it was a lot of fun to build. Doing the snakeskin and the black/white twist on the guides really sets this one apart from any other rod. I also think the Gadsen Flag theme really makes a nice looking rod. Now all we need to do is get some fish slime on it!

The Gadsen Flag Rod - Part 3

Here is the grip and reel seat attached to the blank. I used regular and burnt cork and did a pattern with the burnt so that it would wrap around the grip......kind of like a snake! The reel seat is Nickle Silver with an Amboyna Burl wood insert.

The Clemson Rod - Revisited

William sent me this picture of this red he recently caught using the "Clemson Rod". It measure over 30" and 10lbs. That is a nice redfish!!

The Gadsen Flag Rod - Part 2

Below are a couple of pictures of the wraps and the the feather that I will be using guide alignment. The black and white thread twisting around the green represents the snake in the flag.


I hope to have the reel seat and grip posted soon.