After reading the many threads regarding sold rods and rods as gifts I could never really empathize, but after today it will all be drastically different. Today I say good bye to my very first creation, a 3 wt to be precise (at cost), although it was not my finest creation, walking to work staring at it for the 20 minutes allowed me to contimplate it's beauty. Realizing the only imperfections could be seen through a professional craftsmans eyes I thought of turning and running, but that wouldn't work because my boss is buying it, so it was complicated. My only solace is he will enjoy it for the rest of his life as much as I enjoyed it that one season last year.

This may have been a little melodramatic, but hopefully you'll understand.

I love this forum, thanks everyone for your tips, you've helped me make some great rods. I'm hooked.

you sold your first child???? how COULD you??? ;-)

but seriously, your first was good enough that another would buy it? wow.

eric
fresno, ca.

Lord I wish I'd had this forum to help me with my first. When that ugly duckling broke, I rejoiced!!

Now make money on the next!!!

i alternately keep my first either behind a door, or out in the open while making another fly rod, as a reminder what NOT to do... :-)

eric
fresno, ca.
(continuing with number four right now)

i gave mine to my brother in houston and he likes it, the dummy! looks like crap.

I'm also really impressed that your first was good enough to sell. On my first the wraps ended up looking pretty crummy even though the rod was very functional and I loved fishing with it. That being said I sympathize with you. Don't think I could sell mine. I actually ended up removing the wraps this past weekend and redoing them. It looks great now.
Good luck selling more.
Greg

I still have my first rod - and I still fish with it ... but only after dark on deserted piers. It is "PIG UGLY" .

ken Is that like taking an ugly woman out after dark?? LOL

I also miss my first rod. I built a baitcasting rod from a GLoomis GL2 1023. It had cheap guides, and I know two of them weren't in perfect alignment. The wraps weren't consistent in length, and the finish on many of the guides was uneven. But it fished well. I brought in two 55 pound King Salmon within an hour of each other.

In the summer of 2000, I nearly lost it when I placed half-a@# in a rod tender and turned my back, but just for a second. My buddy tapped me on the shoulder and said "Hey, your rod just took off out of the back of the boat." I turned around in time to see a trail of bubbles where the Salmon was dragging my rod underwater. It looked like a torpedo moving under the water's surface.

Just as I was about to hang it all up, upriver, some kid in a big riverboat started whopping and jumping up and down, screaming "I caught a rod, I caught a rod."
I put the hammer down and and pointed my boat into the direction of the celebration. Just as I was about to crash into his boat, I full-reversed and stopped right along side of his boat.
As calm as I could I said, "That's my rod and I would like it back." He looked at me, look at the rod, and then back at his dad. I gently but firmly said that my name was right there on the rod, and I gently reached in and grabbed the rod. Pulling it toward me, I leaned over to my buddy and whispered "Let's get out of here before the shock wears off." And we did.
I later met up with both the kid and his dad and thanked him. I even offered one of my factory GLoomis's as a reward, but he declined to take it since someone had previously helped them get off a sandbar, the boy figured giving the rod back was payback.

Sadly to say, only a few weeks later, I lost my boat, tons of tackle, and that rod connected to a Shimano Calcutta 400 reel, when I sucked up rock into the jet, lost all power and control, and was sunk by a huge sweeper in the middle of Talkeetna River. I lost everything but was lucky to get away with my life. My life vest and the jacket I was wearing kept me insulated and bouyant until I could pull myself out of the water.
True story.

Patrick Vernacchio

Ken Preston Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I still have my first rod - and I still fish with
> it ... but only after dark on deserted piers. It
> is "PIG UGLY" .

Thanks for the laugh, Ken.

Fittingly my first was based on a Shakespeare Ugly Stick...and yes the name applied. After 5 or so more builds I refinished that entire Ugly Stick and now it's one of, if not the, best looking rods I've made. Don't think I'll be selling that one.

Jay