My daughter working on "staying low" as she fishes on one of my favorite streams. This was her first dedicated fishing trip with Daddy to break in her new rod.
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I had an "M" engraved on the butt cap. I plan on building 3 more rods for my kids as they get old enough to handle them. So I thought that putting their first initial on the rod would would be a simple way to individualize their rods.
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My 8 year old daughter has been asking for her own rod for about a year. I finally worked up enough nerve to take her fishing with me and hence built her a rod of her own. The rod is a Batson F763-2 that I fitted out with a Cherry handle and along with an elliptical in the reel seat.
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I put an elliptical in the reel seat. The blank is African Stinkwood, and the inlay is mahogany and wild olive.
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Soapstone finished with CA
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I found some Ponderosa Bark while on vacation in Montana. I really like the texture of the bark. The reel seat is soapstone finished with CA.
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I could have my parents pick up something at Wal-mart and hand carry it to me out here when they come to visit at Christmas, but I would rather build something for the kids. Well, I was really hoping that some of you guys were aware of some blanks that I had missed as I look for an appropriate blank for the kids rods. Anyways, thanks for the input as I really do appreciate it. Rodney
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Hey Guys, good points on the value of a longer rod. I guess the reason that i shy away from them is how much brush there is stream side. As it is, they have a hard time just getting along the stream, so I figured that a shorter rod would help out in that aspect. Also, it seems that it would be easier to manage the line with out so much rod out there. Is that a correct assumption? I have used
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Hey Guys, I need some ideas on blanks for kids rods. I need them to be durable and would really prefer that they be short, something between 6' and 6'6" would be ideal. I intend to build them as fly rods that will be going for small trout. My other criteria is that they be travel blanks, each piece being under 30". What are my options? I am thinking about the Batson 662-4, but
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I'll see if I can post a picture. I do carry a local version of a machete, and I use it often!
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A good many places that I fish have no trails along the streams and have heavy undergrowth of one type or another and include a bush-wacking hike to get to the water. Even with short sectioned pack rods, it seemed that I was forever getting my rod tube hung up on undergrowth as I concentrated on getting my rod (and myself) through the stream side brush. I tried carrying it over my shoulder on a
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Can someone fill me in on the difference between a SP 841 and a SB841-3? I realize that the -3 denotes a 3 piece and that is why I am interested. I am overseas and getting a 7' one piece out here is highly unlikely.
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I am looking for some ideas/ recommendations for a fly rod. I know this has been covered already, but I could not find it... The setting is a moderately deep trout reservoir. The most productive end of the lake is shore to shore weeds, but where the old stream bed wound through is clear of weeds but full of snags from the trees that were not logged off when the dam was built. So you have th
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I did the ponderosa bark grip that Mike linked to. I really enjoyed that and it feels great in the hand. I finished it with tru-oil. Rodney
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Hey Guys, Thanks for all of the advice and tips. I really appreciate it. Rodney
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Hey Guys, For those of you that do rod building classes for students, what choices do you offer in terms of style of rod and components? Do you require them to make selections before you start the class, or do you make the selections and they all build the same thing for the first rod? Or do you have some sort of compromise between these two extremes? Rodney
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Good options all. Thanks so much for your input and comments on your experience teaching young kids to fish. I am getting into a new part of parenting here... Rodney
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Roger and Ken, You two are pretty much summing up the debate I am having with myself. When you two sort it out, let me know and tell me what to do! Ken, I have been half leaning towards what you are saying and that is probably what I'll do. I'll still build them fly rods, just not now. Thanks for the input and helping to clarify things in my mind. If you ever find yourself on this sid
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Thanks for the input. I was wondering if I was going too universal, but was hoping to pull it off. The box store is not really an option as I am in Kenya. Whatever route I go, I will have to have relatives ship everything out to me. Also, my 7 year old is starting to wonder when Daddy is going to build a rod for her and take her fishing... I really can't pass up an opportunity like that.
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Hey Guys, I am planning on building some rods for my kids. The oldest is just about 7 and the youngest won't be fishing for some time, but I just wanted to do them all at once. Has anyone used these blanks? I am hoping to make these a multi-purpose rod buy doing a reel seat similar to the fellow over on the worried shrimp website. Can I use this rod for a spinning rod as well as
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Thanks for the input. This will be a 9wt rod, but I am still not about to chuck it up in the lathe I have available to me. Nor do I have steady rests available. Can't wait to get this one built. Rodney
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I am with Greg on this. I built that same rod and love it. I fish for small browns and rainbows on tight little streams that are overgrown, perfect rod for these situations. After I got it built I actually spooled a reel with an old five weight line, but in reverse. So the belly of the line is near the arbor. I know this is unorthodox, but I was just playing with it while I decided what line
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Mike, putting a nice blank in a lathe is one of my fears . At one of the expo's I got to looking at some of Micheal Taylor's handles and I was amazed at how there were no glue lines to speak of in his burl cork handles. His method was to glue it up on the blank and really "crush" the burl cork together with clamps as he was gluing it up. By doing this there were no apparent glue
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I have been contemplating putting together one of my next handles on a scrap from a fiberglass blank that matches the butt of my rod that I am building. When all is done, I would then simply slip this over the new blank and epoxy in place. I have had reservations about this as I have yet to see anyone else do this. However, today I see Andrew Metzger do something along those lines in this
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If you are using a matt blank already and the only glossy areas is the finish on the wraps, then you simply go very thin on the finish. What I have done on my small stream rod was put on a fair amount of finish and allow it to saturate the threads and then using a brush, took off as much as possible. The threads are locked in place and the final appearance looks like wet thread. Minimum weight
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Hey Doc, Thanks for the info, that is a starting point. Not sure if you meant to say "plank" or "blank", but plank is not a bad description for this rod. This type of rod is a whole new animal for me as all of my rods to date have been fly rods and almost all of my fishing has been freshwater. As far as the action of the blank is concerned, long before I can get to the 1/3
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This is a timely post as I was just given a rod in ill-repair with no identifying marks except the Varmac reel seat(Varmac RS-3). However from the pictures posted it looks to be very similar. It has two reel seat/grips, one with a gimbal and one with a rubber butt cap. The overall length is 77", the tip diameter is about 3/8th of an inch and the butt of the rod measured in front of the co
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LOL The thought crossed my mind....briefly.
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