Palmetto Custom Rods

Finally was able to fish....

2010-06-17T09:56:00.000-07:00

Work and family have limited the fishing lately but it sure was nice to get out on the water.

Headed out with a friend of mine to do a little fishing. The plan was to hit some spots on the way to the flats as there was a flood tide later in the afternoon. Went 2 for 4 on the reds with a couple of really nice fish in the 8-10lb range.

The flats never materialized like it should of as the wind was out of the west. The water never made it........so neither did the fish! We saw a few and had a couple of shots but the fish stayed in the thick grass.

CCA Banquet 2010 - 9' 7wt 4 Piece

2010-05-06T13:07:00.001-07:00

Here is a rod I did for tonights CCA Banquet in Mt. Pleasant SC. These Matrix are great blanks for the money and have a nice fast action to them. I love the Fuji guides and the fly line will shoot right through them.

Blank: American Tackle Matrix 9' 7wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Stainless
Reel Seat: American Tackle Window
Grip: Regular, Red Burl and Burnt Cork
Thread Color: Garnet with Silver Trim

Thanks for looking,
Chris

Barry's SC State Flag Rod

2010-01-12T06:48:00.000-08:00

Here is a rod I built for a gentleman I met through a fly fishing forum. We eventually went fishing together and had a good time. He wanted a rod to commemorate the great state of South Carolina. He also happens to be a rabid USC Gamecock fan!! The alignment dots represent a stack of cannonballs that you would see on the battery in Charleston, SC. Imo.....the reel seat makes the rod. The palmetto tree and crescent moon were well done by Les. Here are the particulars:

Blank: American Tackle Matrix Black 9' 7wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji CLAG and wire guides
Reel Seat: Les Freidborg special
Grip: Regular and Blue Burl Cork
Thread: Dark blue with silver accents

Christmas Present for a friend

2009-12-21T13:40:00.000-08:00

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

2009-08-26T13:02:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-19T05:49:00.001-07:00

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

2009-08-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-02T18:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-30T19:33:00.001-07:00

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

2009-05-14T19:12:00.000-07:00

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.

Jeff's 7' 1wt Fly Rod - Finished

2009-05-01T12:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the details for this rod.

Blank: Dan Craft Sig III 7' 1wt 2 piece
Guides: Fuji Titanium Sics with Recoil Guides
Reel Seat: Black Ash Burl with Brushed Aluminum Hardware
Grip: combination of regular, burnt and burl cork.
Feathers: Blue with Peacock accent
Threads: Dark Grey wraps with a Dark Blue Twist

This is with out question the lightest rod I have ever built. Luckily, I was able to cast this rod on last weekend at Troutfest. Jeff and I met there several years ago where we first started talking about this rod....and what a sweet rod it is. It is so light that it takes a minute to get use to. I walked off the Elk River after casting my 5wt all day and I really had to stop and remind myself that this is not a 5wt. After that, it was a real pleasure to cast.

This is by no means a noodle rod. It has a medium fast to fast action....and we were casting a 2wt line. This rod could easily handle a 3wt line if you really wanted to work in close quarters. Here are a few pictures that Jeff sent me b/c I didn't have time to photograph it. To me, the show piece on this rod is the reel seat. It really brings this rod together. Les Freidborg did an excellent job with it. The black ash burl with the Adams Fly burnt in is just awesome. Thanks Les!!

This rod has just been added to my "must have" list.

The Gadsen Flag Rod - Part 1

2009-04-28T17:24:00.000-07:00

The next project is a 5wt rod that will have a theme of the Gadsen Flag. Will from Anderson, SC is the future owner of the rod and he wants to base the design on this flag.

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, burnt and burl cork. Wait to you see what I do with the strips of cork!
Feathers: to be determined
Inlays: Rattlesnake Skin - how cool is this!
Threads: Green, Black, White and Yellow will be mixed in. The guide wraps will be green with a black/white twist

I had to take a close up of this reel seat. How awesome is this!!

Will and I have been going back and forth on the thread design and I think we have come up with something really cool. It will be very unique. I have already started putting the pieces together and should have an update soon.

Elk River - Troutfest 2009

2009-04-27T10:00:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be able to go fish the Elk River in West Virginia this past weekend. It was tough fishing as there had been some rain earlier in the week and the river was still getting some snow runoff. This made the water a little murky and swift. It also made the holes a lot deeper as I found myself using a 15' leader just to get to try and get to the bottom. I was able to get 4 on Friday and 9 on Saturday. We fished the catch and release section the whole time and the most productive pattern was a size 12 bead-head pheasant tail with a quill gordon wet fly dropper. The pictures below are of the better fish. The last brown is probably the prettiest brown I have ever caught.

I was a great time as I got to see some friends and deliver Jeff's 1wt rod to him. I am kicking myself b/c I forgot to take pictures of it. I did get to cast it and that was a neat experience. The rod is so light that it takes some getting use too.....esp. when you have been throwing a 5wt all day into the wind. It is a nice little rod and Jeff got to break it in this weekend. I will try and get some pictures up.

Zac's 9' 8wt 4 piece Matrix

2009-04-11T19:38:00.000-07:00

I made this rod for a co-worker who wants to chase tailing redfish. Here are the particulars:

Blank: American Tackle Matrix 9' 8wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Stainless Steel Ceramic Inserts
Reel Seat: American Tackle AW12 Window with Burl Rosewood Insert
Grip: combination of regular, burnt and black burl cork
Feathers: combination of red turkey and grizzly hackle
Threads: light blue with red and silver accents

This was a fun rod to build b/c Zac was very involved in the design from the colors to the reel seat. The rod is fast action and we found this rod to cast better with a 9wt line. The blank has a really cool weave look to it. The real seat is also very unique and I thought it worked well with the colors chosen. This rod was also one of the first feather inlays I had ever attempted. I tried to combine all of the colors.

This blank with the ceramic insert guides can really shoot some line!!

Weekend in Bryson City

2009-03-23T20:35:00.001-07:00

Got the chance to spend the weekend in Bryson City with some friends of mine for a weekend of fly fishing. We hit the Nantahala, West Fork of the Pigeon, Deep Creek and the Tuckaseegee. We were fortunate to have great weather and great fishing. The hot flies for the weekend were a white woolly bugger and the Y2K. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Above is a brown that I caught on the Nantahala and below is the fish being released.

Here is Jacob with a nice brown on the Nantahala....it was a white woolly bugger weekend for Jacob as he caught almost all of his fish on it.

Here is a close-up of Jacob's fish and his WVU Rod that I built for him.

Here is Jeff's first fish on a fly rod....a special moment

Here is an action shot of Steve with a really nice brook trout on the Tuckaseegee.

Here is the brook trout. It was a nice fish and a fun fight to watch. He also caught a nice rainbow out of the same hole.

Was lucky enough to have some trout rising on the Tuck. Most of them were feeding on a small midge that I did not have in my box, but a few were kind enough to hit an adams for me. It was a great weekend overall and I look forward to going back.

Jeff's Grip and Guide Wrap

2009-03-05T18:30:00.000-08:00

I got the first coat of epoxy on Jeff's Rod and the grip has been turned. I will be gluing the grip and reel seat to the blank this weekend.

Jeff's 7' 1wt Fly Rod

2009-03-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures of my current build for a friend in West Virginia. He fishes a lot of small streams and needs a shorter. The blank is a Dan Craft Sig III 7' 1wt but Jeff is going to use a 2wt line to give it a little more bend for close up fishing. Check out the reel seat....(Thanks Les!) and guide wraps. I also added the cork grip before I turn it. I got a little creative with the grip.

Jason's First Fly Rod - Finished

2009-02-22T18:55:00.000-08:00

Well, here is Jason's rod and below are the particulars:

Blank: Sevier Tiger Eye 8'6" 5wt 4 piece
Guides: Fuji Alconites and Pac Bay Single Foot Wire
Reel Seat: American Tackle U5 Nickle Silver
Grip: combination of regular, burnt and black burl cork
Feathers: combination of Guinea, Peacock, Red Partridge and Grizzly Hackle
Threads: Garnet w/ Black accents

I tried to put a lot of feathers into this one to make this a special rod. There is nothing like the first fly rod. There is the combination of feathers in front of the grip as well as the rod alignment feathers (Peacock & Grizzly). This is definitely not the way to crank ir out, but it does make it unique which is what I try to do on every rod.

I did get it out to the side yard for a little casting and I was very happy with it. I would say that it has a medium action with a nice recovery to it. Perfect for someone just starting out. I really enjoyed it as the extra bend allowed me to pinpoint the fly to where I wanted it. Well, pinpoint might be a bit strong as I am not THAT good of a caster but hopefully you know what I mean.

One other thing, the pictures do not fully bring out the beauty of these blanks. They really pop in the sun light. I wanted to get pictures of it outside but time got away from me.

Jason....I hope you enjoy it as much as I did building it. All I want know is to see you with fly rod in one hand and a large trout in the other!

Thanks for looking!

Jason's First Fly Rod Part 5

2009-02-09T17:44:00.000-08:00

Finally got the chance to post a few pictures of Jason rods. The grip and real seat have been attached. I have also started the feather inlay in front of the grip. I still have to finish section 3 with guides.

Here is a quick....and rather blurry....photo of the alignment feathers. There will be corresponding feathers on the other sections.

Davidson River 1/23-1/25

2009-01-29T18:29:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-28T05:32:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-20T17:03:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-11T10:49:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

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

2009-01-04T20:07:00.000-08:00

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.

Davidson River Trip

2008-12-31T11:33:00.000-08:00

I was able to get out on the Davidson River this past Saturday and even though the fishing was slow and the river was VERY crowded, I was able to get this 17" Rainbow. Sorry for the poor picture...I only had a my cell phone. I hooked a larger one put he jumped and threw the hook. I was able to get a few other small trout but nothing near as nice as this one. Hard to fish when there is someone in every hole. Still...better than sitting on the couch!

I am still using a 5 wt Sage rod my wife gave me almost 10 years ago. I can't wait to build a 3 or 4 wt to fish with the Davidson. I definitely need another fly rod!!

Matrix (Green) 9' 8wt 4 Piece

2008-12-24T11:08:00.000-08:00

A buddy of mine from work asked me to build a rod so that he can chase tailing redfish. If you have never done this, you are missing out!!! After going back and forth on the blank, guides and colors....here is what we came up with:

Blank: American Tackle Matrix (Green) 9' 8wt 4 Piece
Guides: Fuji Stainless Steel w/ Ceramic Inserts
Reel Seat: Batson A8L2
Grip: combination of regular, rubberize and copano cork w/ blank accents
Thread: Garnet w/ no CP and silver accents

The garnet with the green blank really looks good and the silver gives it a nice pop. I think this blank is one of the best in its price range. It is on the faster side and has good power. I think you could easily over line this blank with a 9wt line. I am a fan of ceramic guides for this size rod. The line really shoots through these guides. Overall, I think this rod is a great way to get into saltwater fly fishing.

The WVU Rod

2008-12-20T04:05:00.000-08:00

This is a rod I did a year ago.

I received a call from the wife of a good friend of mine. She wanted to surprise her husband (Jacob) with a rod for his birthday. Jacob and I have done a lot of fishing together so I had a good idea of what he wanted. Being a WVU grad, I knew he would love a rod with WVU colors. Here are the particulars:

Blank: Gatti G4 9' 5wt 2 piece
Guides - Fuji Titanium Sic's
Reel Seat - Inserts by Les
Grip - combination of regular cork and blue burl cork
Feather - yellow Guinea feather inlay
Threads - Dark Blue and Yellow....of course!

I was really happy with the way this rod turned out. This was the first time I have used a Gatti G4 and I am very impressed!! I plan to build one for myself soon. It is very light but has a crisp feel to it. Plus, I love the Fuji's titaniums. These are my favorite guides and if you can afford them I say go for it. Not only do they look good but I think they offer some great performance. The Gatti with the titaniums is so smooth.

The reel seat was also the first time I have been able to use a Les Freidborg seat. I put a link to his site under my favorite links. I love his work and can't wait to use more. The pictures do not do this rod justice. It came out darker and closer to WVU colors than the pictures represent.

Now...if only I can convince my better half that I need another rod....hhmmm....need to work on that!'

Thanks for looking,

Chris

First Blog

2008-12-19T17:38:00.000-08:00

Hello....my name is Chris Donato and I have been building custom rods for several years now. It has become my passion. I strive to build the best rod possible for my friends and an occasional customer. I have built mostly fly rods but that is not to say I don't enjoy working with spinning, casting or even offshore rods.

I will be adding more to this page soon!

Thanks,
Chris