Levi,

You're getting a lot of opinions here so I may as well add my own. First off, ditch the fighting butt idea. It's just not necessary on trout rods and in the hands of a beginner will do more harm than good. I'd recommend a 8 1/2' or 9' in 5 weight, possibly 6. A four-piece is good for airline travel. Also don't use a metal rod case. Get one of the cordura clad PVC tubes. I'd recommend a ceramic stripping guide and regular snake guides.

Let's be realistic. Your friend has never fly fished. He is going to have a tough enough time as it is. Don't outfit him with a rod that's decorated like a pool cue and make him look ridiculous. Fly fisherman tend to be traditionalists. Most wouldn't be caught dead with the type of ornate crap that a lot of custom builders like to do. Do your best work but give him something he can use. If he gets to like flyfishing, someday he will thank you and not have to lie about using the rod you made him.

Rob, thanks for your post. I'm in the process of building a fly rod for a recently retired friend who hasn't fly fished in about 40 years (much like me). He's interested in taking up fly fishing again and lives in what is probably a good area - south-west Idaho, about 3 miles from @#$%&'s Canyon's rim along the Oregon state line. He's probably in a decent area for fly fishing.

I almost always build lightweight saltwater rods and have next to no experience building fly rods, having built only one. The rod handle I've built for him is of basswood cut cross-grained. Not nowing what I was doing -I also made a matching fighting butt about 1.5" long, but haven't glued the handle assembly yet, as I'm still trying out reelseat inserts of various woods to try to get a decent match for the basswood. I'll leave off the fighting butt. & just glue on the butt cap.

It's a 6-7 weight ,nine foot blank that I'm building on, but haven't CCS'd it yet. He doesn't have any idea of what he might need and neither do I. Your post was useful to me. Leave off the fighting butt. Stan

PS: I'll post a photo of the basswood handle assembly once I decide upon the reel seat insert.

Stan Gregory Wrote:
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>
> have any idea of what he might need and neither do
> I. Your post was useful to me. Leave off the
> fighting butt. Stan

OK, I got the part on the 40 years since last d-haul, etc. this time. However, alot has changed in 40 years and if the bug bites again for this fella with the fishing thing, he may be charmed by some of the new toys out there...namely large arbor reels.

I just have to implore you to reconsider and at least put the optional screw-in/removable fighting butt option in there. Many of these reels take up more space toward the butt and if one sets the rod butt down to fidget with the tip/line, the LA reel pretty much eats mud. They are also very compromised in function if one tucks them to the tummy on a running fish, some of the larger (6-8wt) LA's have a spool diam that will extend to if not beyond a typical reel seat. If they don't break off the fish, the spinning spool may burn a hole right through that gut fat!

Really, with LA reels so common now, there's an arguement out there for F-butts even down to the lower numbers on flyrods. Even the uplocking seats don't give enough functional clearance for many LA reels, a bit of extension is a good thing. Build with the fishing in mind.

American Tackle, Merrick Tackle, MudHole and many others listed to the left carry short 1.5 to 3" fighting butts that screw in and also have a nice O-ring snap-in end plug. For the reason above (large arbor reels) I will again opine that the fighting butt is a good idea. It's a nice, functional, option that costs very little in comparison to the other components and can be tucked into a wading vest with no problem.