Dan Craft's the ONE [3 piece] is what you need. You could shorten up the butt if it has to be 6 foot. Dan has a 6 piece Sig IV in 0/1 that you could drop to 5 sections, but I tend to overline either configuration with a 2 weight Sylk for better castability. Like Lou, I tend to favor short rods for everything, as they are less strain on my ailing elbows. You will find that you need a very lig
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The Ritz reminds me of the Fenwick style and these are still made.
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Jann's carries a cork grip and reel seat with slide rings for $10. Cortland has aluminum cap and ring cork seats.
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Jeff do try a furled leader. A fellow named Quigley sells them from California. Put on a 7 foot furled leader and add 5 feet of 6x. It will land softly, even with your 4 weight line.
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I might add that you can indeed "load" the rod more with a different line design. A triangle taper or WF rated as a 3 weight might do the trick. Intermediate lines also seem heavier, perhaps because of the water haul effect. Of course you could switch to a oiled silk fly line and a furled leader and do it all, even if the silk is a true 4 weight. You might try Cortland's Sylk in a W
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Dan's slim line ferrules (all series?) have to be seen to be believed. If you put guides on the ferrules you would swear your rod was 1 piece. The blanks also tend to overline very well. And then there is the ridiculously low prices.
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Dan Craft has 1 weights and even 0 weights. As to the fast part, you would have to ask Dan. "Fast" is even more relative with a 1 weight rod, as you certainly are not going to put a lot of force into the cast. Oiled silk speeds things up considerably.
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Four piece. I really liked 3 piece blanks a few years ago, but increased traveling has sold me on the shorter sections. You can still get a guide on every ferrule of a 4 piece, which goes a long way towards making it look like a two piece. I particularly like Dan Craft's ultra thin ferrule designs.
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Hey Mo. I have found that 3/0 (#50) silk thread is the most practical. A nylon is the same as 1/0. Silk is also sold as 4/0 (#100) and 6/0 (Gossamer, the one they use for clear wraps). 4/0 works well on smaller tapered feet, but is a little tough to jump onto a thicker foot without leaving a gap. I have had some gudebrod 3/0 that frayed, so usually use YLI or Clover from Golden Witch. Gu
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Easy question. Dan Craft, if he has a 4 piece. I like to overload the blanks, so might recommend a 6 or a 5 for a 7 weight line.
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Guide foot adhesive pops free after you wrap if you need to adjust. I use adhesive about 99% of the time because the thread can push the guide with the other methods. I put the hot adhesive on the guide, smear the excess onto a paper plate, and then reheat the guide for a very thin film.
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Tennessee grips are much thinner than fly grips. You can cut off one end to shorten it up.
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Wood is much heavier, but with a 9 foot rod and a lightweight reel you can balance things. I like a much smaller diameter grip in wood with very little contour.
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Not enough working time with 5 minute epoxy. Rod bond allows you to fiddle. If you must, glue up insert and hardware and let that set before trying to center the unit on the rod. Big bug a boo is reversed hardware that you won't notice until too late with 5 minute epoxy.
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I agree with Jim. You may actually be done, although most of us have the exact opposite problem. Personally, I try to fish in as many places as possible and there is no perfect rod for everything. When I switched to ultralight I suddenly needed another dozen fly rods. When I switch to bamboo I will need a dozen more. And then there are the switch rods. And then the speys. Until you feel t
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I am curious as to why a reel seat needs to be fully supported at all. Why not an arbor on each end?
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To give you a little context, you can use a rod finish for both the blank and the wraps in two different operations. Permagloss can be used this way. Generally folks leave the blank bare or as finished by the factory. If you wish to color a blank, tinted permagloss is a good bet. Epoxy is used for the wraps only and is a different type of epoxy from the component glue.
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Of course you could use Klass Kote epoxy paint and get a pot life of about 3 hours.
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Phil. My lightest rod and reel comes in at 1 oz. and casts backing. In my experience, the lightest you can go is to get a multipiece Dan Craft and start dropping sections. My newest is a 5 of 6 piece from Dan. Weighs .9 oz (6' 10") and balances with the 1.6 oz. Forbes. Olaf Borge has some WF1 silk lines on sale, or you could try one of the Sage QTs. Of course, Dan's ONE is extremely ve
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I have used Stip-eeze from the hardward store. Takes several coats and takes the finish off down to the bare blank.
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Try the blocking wrap. You will like it.
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I don't own one, but it looks like the factory guides may have been wrapped with 6/0 silk to disappear, and that would be my suggestion.
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Thanks for the responses, especially the NC studies. I see now why the guides insist on keeping all the fish. I do use circle streamers, but it sounds like I should leave the fishies alone in the dead of summer.
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Jim. With a blocking wrap 4 to 5 turns ahead of the post you really can't help but to fill the tunnel, particularly if you put a drop of finish there first, before completing the wrap. A Forhan locking wrap and a blocking wrap on the first 2 guides, if you must. I always go just off the edge with the epoxy paint, but I don't think with the 840 this is necessary as it is very, very thin and wi
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I also do a lot of light fly rods. 1st coat is 840, then one thickened coat of Klass Kote epoxy paint. This is way less finish than you are describing. I would add a blocking wrap ahead of the foot as it creates a more uniform finish and added strength at the tunnel. I suspect that the 840 saturates the thread enough that no overlap onto the blank is actually required. Try the 840 as an unde
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Two friends of mine have taken separate charter boat trips on Lake Texoma. Both were told that all striped bass must be kept because of the high mortality rate if released. This sounds totally bogus to me. The boat comes in when a limit for all anglers is taken. The fish are mainly taken on top by following the birds to the schooling fish and catching them on conventional tackle. My friends
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I can't help adding that a blocking wrap ahead of a single foot guide goes a long way towards filling the tunnel and creating a uniform finish. I fill the tunnel entrance first, then finish the wrap. I am using 840 for my undercoat to get some CP.
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Gerry gives good advice on the 840. I am not a fan of epoxy that sets up before you can finish all the guides. Currently, I use one coat of 840 (mainly because it is easy, no smell, and has some CP qualities) followed by one coat of thickened Klass Kote.
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Add a guide and a casting reel and make a kite string outfit for a kid.
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Jann's has a pre-fab Tennessee handle with graphite slip rings that should work great. 1/4 bore.
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