I see on the CCS Data Site that Steve Kartalia has posted the results for Temple Fork rod blanks with a note that they are available as of May 1/05. So far I've been unable to find a supplier who stocks them - does anyone know who carries these blanks? I have a few of their factory rods and I love the action - but hate the hardware (guides and reel seats etc.) they use.
Thanks

Hi Gary. Rick Pope, president of TFO, provided those blanks to me for testing and posting. He told me that their blank program would start May 1 - that's getting it straight from the horse's mouth. He indicated that they would be priced at approximately 50% of the retail price of the finished rods and would come with the same warranty as the rods. If none of the sponsors here speak up that they carry them, go to TFO website and look at their dealer listing. I am building the TiCr 905-4 for myself as we speak! Gonna use a beautiful juniper full wells grip turned by our own Stan Grace and a set of ceramic guides. I have never held a TFO finished rod before but I am very impressed with the blanks. As you'll notice from the data, it's a uniformaly fast action line of blanks with nice range of power. The consistency of the series is noteworthy I think. My understanding is that for now only the models I tested will be offered as blanks.

Hope this helps - feel free to e-mail me if you want to chat about the blanks.

I was wondering how long it would take for some one to spot those blanks! Contact TFO to see who's stocking the blanks.

- Bob

Great to here that TFO will now be offering blanks!

I have several factory rods and have been quite impressed with them over the years,plus,their customer service has been second to none with incredibly fast turnaround times for warranty work.I got my first one,a 2pc 9ft 8wt IM6 when they first started up business(long before Lefty got on board with them) and that rod has been exceptional.Even though I have numerous high end sticks,I still fish this rod as much as any other rod I have come salmon season.The 4pc 9ft 10wt and 4pc 9ft 11wts are also very good rods,in fact,I preferred the 4pc 10wt over almost every other 10wt rod I compared it to in the $400 and under range.The only model I've tried and didn't like was the 4pc 9ft 8wt(which is slower,more "whippy",and has much less power than the 2pc model)

To be honest,I find the lighter line weight TFO factory rods a bit on the heavy side(there are quite a few other brands of blanks out there that I prefer in the lighter line weights over the TFO's) so I'm not sure they would be my first choice for a lighter trout rod(although the 3pc 8ft 2wt Professional is quite nice),but if I was looking for a heavier,salt water rod,these would DEFINITELY be in the running.

The 9wt and higher IM6 models(Pro,Saltwater,Ti,etc) are very nice casting,comfortable rods,and the TiCR and TiCRX models are flat out rockets,with HUGE lifting power and fast actions.Not my idea of a nice trout rod for most fishing conditions,but a great distance casting or salt water stick that has built up a huge following(including some extremely experienced anglers like Dan Blanton).I sure wouldn't mind having a couple of TiCR or TiCRX blanks for salmon and steelheading.I hear the 7wt TiCR is quite impressive.