My fishing buddy and graduate degree supervisor is retiring this spring and I'm thinking of building him a 5 piece 5wt pack rod as a gift. I've built him a variety of rods over the years on a variety of blanks (Dan Craft, Scott, All Star), but I want this one to be really special. I'm looking for a 5 wt, med fast rod in a 5 piece config that not only casts well, but is also finished nicely (by that I mean a great looking finish on the blank). We're both suckers for the Winston green finish to give you an example. No matt charcoal or black blanks please.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Troy

Real quick I can think of the brown Rainshadow RX7+, and the CTS blanks which you can custom section and color.

Troy, Take a look at the Sage SLT 590-5. Not Winston green but not matte grey either.

Andy Snedden

Winston does sell blanks.

Yeah, that's what I remember about grad school...having tons of extra money to give people $500 presents. Troy, if you can do it that's awesome and your advisor will be very happy. But, he'll be very happy anyway. It really is the thought that counts and you can build him a very nice rod for less money. If you can go down to 4pc. configuration, you'll have many more affordable alternatives in beautiful glossy green. Rainshadow RX7 and Rainforest and AmTak Matrix come to mind. You can splurge on beautiful handle components and still keep the overall cost something you can live with. In glossy brown, Tiger Eye blanks are gorgeous and look like very expensive rods if you finish them nicely.

My advisor at Clemson got something in a 6pc. configuration (aka six pack). I spent $7 and he seemed genuinely happy.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/31/2006 10:46AM by Steve Kartalia.

I should have said "former" graduate degree supervisor. I've long since left his lab (about 8 years ago), although we still fish together on trips 4-5 times per year and keep in close touch. I've been working the biotech arena for several years and money isn't the issue like it was back when I was a grad student (thankfully!). I had a hefty student loan from grad school, most of which was accumulated purchasing fly fishing gear! ;-)

Thanks for all of the suggestions everyone!

Cheers,
Troy

Your graduate degree supervisor may get over the dark charcoal color of the Rainshadow RX8+ if he has the opportunity to cast one. It is available in a five piece configuration. Dress it up with nice components and he'll be proud to fish it. It is somewhat fast, but not extremely fast.

Jeff Shafer

mmmmmm you could get him a pair of coloured sunglasses too then he can have what colour he wants