Talk about bandwidth getting used up. If every rod builder who has ever gained a skill or building hint due to the friendly and helpful sharing of Randy Putter, Mike Barkley and Tom Kirkman or if any of the kids who have recieved fishing rods because of the work or money raised by these positive human beings; if they posted just a 'Thankyou' and small explanation of how they were helped, room
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Thank You Tom.
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How soon can I put a second coat of TM regular on? I am a little pressed for time on a fly rod I am doing. Firrst coat has been on for an hour. Temp in the cave rodbuilding room is approx 70. Thanks
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Mike, I resemble that statement!
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Sean, moutain streams aren't the only ticket to good fly fishing. Waters where fish will at times hit on bugs or other smaller fish up on the surface are fly waters. Waters where fish will at times hit sinking bugs or below the surface worm, minnow imitations is also prime for fly fishing. Check with some locals..... fly guys are around, doing their thing.
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Ash, as hooked as you already sound, I have some fun advice. Whatever you choose and however you build it...... NEVER change or re-do it later! Keep it just as it is. Use it as a 'Marker Gauge' to measure your improvement. Wish I had not re-done my first fly rod. And I would love to see the first rods built by Doc Ski, Tom K, Putter, Terry Henson, Mike Barkley, Billy V, Jim Upton, Rich Forh
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Domenic, I can;t get through to your e-mail for some reason. Would like to get more info on those 'Trout Coins'. Thanks Steve
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I have one size 12 single foot 'high frame' spin guide, The ring is gold and the frame looks to be a gunsmoke. I need a few mor of these Do you know who makes them? I believe I got them originally from Neal but have not been able to get ahold of him. Thanks
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Ted, who is this rod for? What height is the person who will be using it? If it is for you, then you can easily come up with the stripper point by : A..... grabbing the rod by the handle in pre-cast position B..... rod parallel to the ground, elbow bent at your side and your EYES CLOSED ! C.....simulate a grab-line- back-casting-haul- motion (with eyes still closed) BUT instead of grab
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I have done several 'Princess Rods' for G-daughters and other little girls. Purple base wraps with Pink and Silver trim look very nice. You do need to use CP to maitain the true color.
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Because it is a sewing thread, I believe it has a bit of lubricant added to it so it will go through the machine more smoothly. This also is why it needs a CP to maintain its true color on a wrap. I think this lubricant may cause it to slide a little more than Gudebrod A, while wrapping. I have gotten used to it and often adjust the tension on it during a wrap, especially during a second t
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Tim, are you using the Poly Neon 40 wt?
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I started out just wanting to build my own rod, kinda like how enjoyable it was to catch a fish on my own flies. Due greatly to the peolple and info I garnered on this forum, I continued to improve. Function and fishability was the goal early on. The 'Artsie' side of this builing was and is such gravy and fun to the whole hobby. As I have evolved, I have concluded that the better I get at t
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When I am checking the 'balance / feel' on a spinning rod, I am not holding it with two hands. I am holding it with my casting hand. On medium size and smaller spin rods ( because of the size of the reel) your hand needs very little space to grip the rod. I can grip my Split Grip SC111 5'6 spin rod with my eyes closed and not feel the split grip. I caught hundreds of bluegill and farm pon
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Made a short weekend trip with some in-laws to Minneapolis. I have bought a few components (due to a rush for time) from Midwest Rod & Reel and have been very pleased with the service. Decided on Sat to run down to Prior Lake and visit the shop. Bill Pulk, one of the owners, was there that morning. He was very helpful, friendly and a good rod builder himself. The shop is small, organized
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I like to think of Iowa as the true heartland of the Midwest, how far might a corn boy be expected to come?
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My 'Cave" room (also rod building and fly tying) in the far back of the basement is also the catch-all for hunting boots and vests and clothes. My two dogs also love to lay down there and sleep when I'm working. Add some Permagloss, Andy's Gel, Feathers, Denatured to the whole mix and there are times I walk in there and the odor is rather strong. I spot vac it quite often and don't do fin
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About 4 years ago, I was doing an Orange and Black rod for a high school kid. These were his school colors and they were the Tigers. Someone on this board e-mailed me the suggestion to'Tiger Flec' it. To mark the orange thread, crossways, with sharp, short, small permanent black marker strokes. I did and have used it on several rods since then. It really looks good on Orange, Green and Red.
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For whatever reason I can't post a reply on my photo. The guide wrap photo with the black flec marks....... those are intentional. I use black permanent marker and make small, periodic marks on the spool of thread, prior to wrapping. Not too many of them! They then come out rather randomly on the wrap. Kinda has a interesting little camo affect. You have to re-touch up the thread spool every
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I did a feather inlay the other day and one yellow/black grizzly hackle feather was being very uncooperative. As I carefully looked it over it had a definite skew to one side. I fought it for a little bit and my mixture of the old original 811 with a little denatured just couldn't bring it around to the curve I needed. Finally I searced for a matching feather with a spline in the opposite dire
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Now I know the real reason we couldn't take the work van when we went out for pizza a couple of weeks ago. Tina is making you keep that nasty little puppy in the van isn't she? I can't wait 'til you start doing snake skin inlays. Keep us posted before PETA gets involved and what's his name?
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The first rod I ever built was a Cabelas FT 2 piece, 9 ft, 5/6 wt. I followed a simple manual that came with the kit from Cabelas. I must have spaced out the part about spine. I wrapped the guides on the two sections with abolutely no consideration of spine. Was estatic to simply build my own rod. My oldest adult son pointed out to me the significant curve to the right the top piece had whe
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Waterproof adhesive tape. I use it on all my own Tenn handles. Never had a problem with it.
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Came home late last night and went down to check TM lite first coat that had been drying for 6 hrs. A big ol gnat was gunked up in a wrap. I removed it as best I could with a thin needle. TM was still tacky. I cleaned the edges of the wrap with denatured. Thought about starting all over on that wrap but decided to cover it with a coat of TM regular and see how it turns out. I know this has
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Ray, remember that river that is close to you. Some big bows are going to be out there. Great place to re-focus as I recall!
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This being your second rod brings back a lot of memories for me when I was at that stage. The learning curve is still very steep and exciting. And there is always a new stage on the Rod Building horizon. It does become such a pleasant addiction. Small guides get your exacting attention very quickly. There are so many steps, skills and stages to go through 'till you begin to at lesst get com
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I have adapted my V-block building rigs in four areas that have greatly reduced movement problems and made wrapping easy, almost stress-free and a lot quicker. 1 ... using three V-blocks allows you to shorten the space on the blank being wrapped and therefore under pressure, reducing movement. 2 ....... I have cut lead weight plates that fit the base of my V-blocks. They are still quite po
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I usually put my hook keeper for a spin rods or fly rods directly in line with the guides. More out of habit than anything else. How do some of the rest of you do it and why? Thanks Steve
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Nathan, my two favorite back up rods are rebuilt rods from old (but nice blanks) rods. There is much good lerarning that comes from stripping old rods. Often the old guides are not the quality, size or color you want. Neither is the old thread and almost always the placement of your new guides will be different. (Especially if you go Concept Syle)......therefore the old guide wrap spots on the
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As I build and repair rods for more and more folks, they often ask what rods and style I personally use. Many are really shocked and surprised that my own bass, walleye, and pan fish rods have no reel seat. I tell them I have evolved to the simple, light and sensitive feel of the Custom Tenn. handle. Some think I am joking and showing them a prop rod 'til I point out to them that this is an SC
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