Have been thinking about sharing a previous build.

This is the 6th and last rod I built during the winter of 2021. I had stumbled on a site that was selling blanks that were acquired by buying out the blank stock on hand in 1982 when an Abu Garcia / Conolon rod factory was shut down. I bought a casting blank, two light casting kits, and a 6 foot 6 wt blank that they were able to discern matched the characteristics of a 6 foot 6 wt one piece rod that was a favorite of Lee Wulff. I found it intriguing that a huge name in fly fishing would pick such a unique rod as his favorite. I did some research as to guides and spacings and built this. He caught 20 pound Atlantic salmon on such a rod which I can't imagine, I would be terrified. But I have caught a lot of grayling and a few rainbows on it and I like it just fine.

tobacco glass blank from abu / conolon
pac bay reel seat
generic agate guide
rec recoil snakes and tip top

The cigar grip came with the blank but it was a challenge to find a seat small enough to recess into it. The walls of the recess were very thin but it is still holding together after a couple of summers and one spell where it bounced around inside an unpadded rod tube with a casting rod I had built for a week of rough gravel roads and lots of bouncing about.



Back when I taped my glue ups...now I babysit them and push them together as needed so I can keep a close eye on all the joints and look for glue "shiners". I was also in "smoosh and wipe" mode with my epoxy at this time and with this build the epoxy squeezed into where the reel foot sits and I had a @#$%& of a time cleaning set epoxy out of the cavity.



Lighter for scale...



Wraps...











Epoxy...







Done and doner...













This rod was my introduction to fly rods and I built it on a whim never knowing the size and depth of the rabbit hole I was teetering on the edge of as far as fly fishing in general. Fast forward one season and I have 5 reels, 4 personal fly rods, much gear, gobs and gobs of casting, some catching and a serious addiction to fly fishing and building predominately fly rods.

Happy Friday to all....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/10/2023 04:08PM by Bob Foster.

Bob,

Beautiful rod and story, thank you. Some addictions are "wonderful".

T Bain
Benton, Ar
'NEVER GIVE UP"

Very Nice!

Btw Terry, you're just about 30 minutes from me (Sheridan).

Super cool rod! I love short fly rods - I wish there were more blanks to pick from for them. Nicely done!

Thanks all for the kind words,

It is a really fun little rod. Until I built this i hadn't touched a fly rod since i was a teen and even then did not exactly learn much about casting. So I more or less learned to cast on this rod. Joan Wulff made a comment during an interview that Lee taught her to cast the 6 foot rod using an oval cast. Eventually I managed to get the hang of it kinda sorta.

A very fun rod. As I type this I kind of think perhaps I should revisit lines for it as the Joan Wulff Signature 6 weight was a sort of shot in the dark really. I've tried a 4 weight intermediate line on it with a bit of success but the 6 weight Wulff line feels better.