Davidson River 1/23-1/25

I was very fortunate to get to spend the weekend on the river with a good friend of Jacob....see WVU rod below. Both of us were able to get a hall pass from the wives and headed up to Pisgah on Friday morning with rods and tent in hand.

Friday was a slow day. Not only was the stream crowded but we just couldn't get the fish to bite. I think we just needed to get back into the groove. Camped out in the Pisgah Campground and woke up bright and early for a long day of fishing.

Got to the hatchery and started fishing right away. We were able to get a few browns on grey wd40 and later on a black/olive woolly bugger. Was just down stream of a guy who was nailing big browns on a streamer....hhmmm....might need to head back to the strore. After a few hours, the hatchery filled up so we moved down stream a ways. After one unsuccessful stop we moved up to Coon Tree and started up stream. Was able to hook a nice brown along the bank on a pink san juan but he jumped off. Work up stream a ways without much luck so we head back to the C&R section. Spent the evening fishing to rising trout with every midge I had but was unable to get the fish to bite.

Sunday....we started at the hatchery throwing a big streamer.....where did we get that idea? The streamers where great but unfortunately they were too heavy and would sink to the bottom too fast. I quickly changed to a bugger and was able to pick up a couple of browns. Jacob stuck with the streamer and was getting a lot of lookers but no takers....then....he hooked a beast of a brown. She comes flying out of the water then crashing down like a tarpon....sort of.....and a couple of seconds later the line went slack. We took a moment to catch our breathes. Later on Jacob was able to get a nice brown on a pink san juan. I got lucky and got 2 rainbows on the grey wd40 size 20 and one was a personal best 19"....not big for the Davidson but big enough for me. Of course, she slipped out of my hands before the picture was taken.

I hope to have a picture of one of the browns soon....right Jacob?

All in all is was a great weekend with a great friend.

Jason's First Fly Rod Part 4

I got back from a weekend on the Davidson....more on that later...and was able to turn the grip for Jason's rod. Here is the before on my "lathe"..ha


And here is the after....


If you notice in the background, there is a piece of paper with the dimensions of the grip. This is the kind of information you can find at rodbuildingforum.com which is linked to the right. It is a great site for those interesting in building rods.

I hope to post more soon as I add the grip and reel seat to the rod.

Jason's First Fly Rod Part 3

Here is the handle glued up and getting ready to be turned. This is a combination of regular, black burl and burnt cork.


Here is one of the first guides that I have had the chance to epoxy. You can see how the look changes once the epoxy is applied. I will try to get a picture of it in the sun as it looks a lot better.
I hope to have more guide pictures and the handle turned in the next few days.

Chris

Jason's First Fly Rod Part 2

Finally got some guides and ferrule wrap on section three. I really like the garnet with the black accent. This will really look great when the epoxy is applied. I do not plan to use color preserver so the color will change slightly. I should have some pictures of the cork handle process soon.

William's Clemson Spin Rod

First and foremost, I am a die-hard and loyal University of South Carolina Gamecock!! But I am not perfect and do consort with the enemy. For those that do not know, USC and clemson are bitter rivals in everything from football to....well...any sport you can imagine. I have a lot of friends who have graduated from that school in the northern part of the state and William is one of them. He is a huge clemson fan, loves to fish and I was very happy when he wanted a rod. I love theme rods and this is clearly a clemson theme.

Here are the specs:

Blank: Batson IP903 7'6" 6-14 lbs
Guides: Fuji Stainless with Alconite Inserts
Reel Seat: Fuji DNPSD Deluxe
Grip: Bamboo Burl Cork
Thread: Orange with purple and white...of course!
Insert: Clemson Pendant in handle

William really wanted something that no one else has or can get. So, I had to get creative. You can not buy bamboo burl cork rings so I got two bamboo burl full wells fly grips and cut them down to build both front and rear grips. I love the look of this cork. It has a lot of grain and character.

My second creative feature is the clemson pendant in the butt. I cored out the bottom of the rear grip and epoxied in the pendant.

The third feature is the "tiger wrap" just above the front grip. This was a real challenge. I made it with orange, purple and white thread. Not only is working with the three threads difficult but finishing a long wrap like this is tough. I think I did it at least 5 times before I was happy with it. I would either screw up the wrap or the epoxy. This was definitely a learning experience.

This rod will be used for stalking the tailing reds on the flats and I think it is a great blank for that purpose. It has a nice soft tip to cast small lures but plenty of backbone when you need it. I love this Fuji reel seat. It is very comfortable as it fits in the palm of your hand. My only problem now is that I don't have one!! Of course, I will have to choose a different theme.

Thanks for looking....Chris

Jason's First Fly Rod - Part 1

Jason is a friend of mine who wants to start fly fishing....and what better way to start than with a custom fly rod!!

I am really excited about this rod. I am using a Sevier Blank for the first time. I have heard about how nice they look and what a great value they are. I haven't cast it yet, but they really do look great. It doesn't show up well in the pictures but they have a nice brown / yellowish hue to them that looks great in the sun. Here is a break down of the parts.

Blank: Sevier Tiger Eye 8'6" 5wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Clags and Pac Bay Single Foot Wire
Real Seat: American Tackle U5 w/ Rosewood Insert
Grip: Combination of natural, burl and burnt cork
Feathers: ??? don't know yet...but I got some ideas
Thread: Garnet?? Brown??? Green??? I will do some test wraps and let Jason pick

I can't wait to get started and I will post updates during the build.

Ellison's Christmas Present

Here is a rod that I completed for a local lawyer that I have met through work. He is an accomplished fly angler and I was excited when he asked me to build him a rod. The moment he test cast my Dan Craft FT 8wt he said he had to have one. Here are the particulars:

Blank: Dan Craft 9' 8wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Titanium Sics
Reel Seat: Batson ALPS Triangular Saltwater Reel Seat
Grip: combination of regular, burnt and green burl cork
Feathers: combination of turkey, pheasant tail and jungle cock
Threads: Olive with accents of dark brown and pale gold

If you like a fast action rod, I don't believe there is one out there faster than the Dan Craft FT. It is an absolute cannon!!! I over-line mine with a 9wt line and you could easily use a 10wt if you wanted.

As in the previous post, the Fuji Titanium Sics are just awesome. They are very light (not that it would matter much on this blank) and very slick. The fly line just glides through them. The ALPS triangular is one of my favorite reel seats for two reasons. 1) it has two o-rings to lock the reel in place & 2) they look very different and very cool. Not something you will see everyday....which is the whole point of a custom rod!

Turning the grip is one of my favorite aspects of rod building. I used the green burl to help tie in the other colors of the rod. I plan to detail how I turn my grips in a future post. I also had a fun time with the feather inlay and I was happy with the way it came out. There is a guy in California name Terry Henson who is the man when it comes to feather inlays...here is his site http://hensonrods.org/ . I love looking at his work.

I am getting ready to start a couple of new rods and I plan to post updates of these rods as I build them so that the future owners can see the process.