A couple of older Retrograph 9' 4wt builds. One made for freshwater, the other for ultra-light saltwater fly fishing.
Showing posts with label Graphite. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graphite. Show all posts
Monday, January 20, 2025
Wednesday, January 8, 2025
Saltwater Retrospective: Saltwater Fly Rods by Vladan Milenkovic
This is a small snippet of rods I built for saltwater flyfishing. Certainly very far from the complete list of my builds, but these are few of the creations I use and enjoy on daily basis. They are all a part of my current fly rod collection. Each rod has so many stories to tell...
Thursday, December 19, 2024
Completed New Saltwater 8wt Graphite Fly Rod
The new rod is completed. Slightly faster than my old trusty 8wt...(I made a side by side photo.) It will be a nice stick for stripers, bonito and albies!
Ritz composite/cork grip, Fuji seat, EVA butt, non-tangle black strippers and TiCH single foots. Carbon grey wraps with red silk tipping.
Friday, November 29, 2024
Ritz Handle on the 8wt Graphite Rod
Just taken off the bench for a quick photo. My latest graphite 8wt is in the works! Guide wrapping and finishing to follow. (My older 10wt is on the right, for comparison).
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Old rods revisited: HarborSky saltwater camo fly rods
I built these rods in 2012 and still use them regularly. They are 9' for #6 and #7 lines. Graphite blanks were made by G. Loomis, painted by myself with a non-gloss paint, for the stealthy camo look. Their moderate action is well suited for precise shots on the flats. I use the #6 most often for my local sight-casting. It loads quickly for shorter casts. The #7 (fishes like a #8) has more power...I like it for longer casts on pale bottom flats.
They are still fun rods to fish today, and they have held up very well, after many days in the saltwater environment! You can read about them in my original post.
Friday, March 26, 2021
Graphite 7'10" 6wt (Streamers and Sight-Casting)
The latest build: a shorter 6wt (7'10", 4pc) fly rod, built on a Diamondback graphite blank. I like a 6wt for my local flats fishing. This is a quick rod which loads easy for short and precise casts.
Monday, August 17, 2020
Friday, May 29, 2020
Saturday, May 23, 2020
Refurbishing the "Pink Panther" 868-4 from 2011
This rod has been one of my favorite rods, built back in August 2011. I caught some very nice striped bass on it. It needed its single foot guides replaced. The Fuji strippers were OK and also the tip top, so I left those unchanged, but rewrapped them. I put Pac Bay Minima single foots, so hopefully they can last another ten years or so...
Monday, May 11, 2020
Thursday, May 7, 2020
Syncork Grip Completed
Sunday, September 22, 2019
Retrospective
Current builds (on the left) vs old builds from twenty years ago (on the right.) Those were built in 1999, on G. Loomis Mega-taper saltwater fly rod blanks. Caught plenty of fish, but still in pretty good shape.
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
North Fork Gamma Beta F990-4
My most recent build, an allaround graphite fly rod for Northeast saltwater. An excellent choice for albacore fishing...
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Saltwater Graphites (part 3)
The last rod in this batch of builds is an extremely light and powerful 9' 9wt. The completed rod weighs only 3.6oz. Just like the previous salty builds, it sports Fuji and REC hardware. It will be put on test very soon!
Photo of all four rods (L to R: 7, 8, 9 and 10wt)
Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Saltwater Graphites (part 2)
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Saltwater Graphites (part 1)
Just completed...9' 7wt and 8wt. A departure from fiberglass rods, but I built these for my own use, since I fish saltwater a lot and enjoy casting and fishing rods made of all materials. The rods have some unique touches. A couple of more salty graphites will be coming up, so stay tuned.
