A couple of older Retrograph 9' 4wt builds. One made for freshwater, the other for ultra-light saltwater fly fishi...
Showing posts with label Saltwater. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Saltwater. 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... &nb...
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 tippi...
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 compariso...
Friday, November 22, 2024
Fiberglass 6wt - Streamer Special
Just completed... This is an 8'6" 6wt streamer and sight-casting fiberglass rod. Medium-fast taper, S glass, 4-piece. Light in the hand, with excellent power in the butt. Downlocking saltwater aluminum body/composite hood seat, Struble rubber button, black EVA Wells grip and tiered check. Single foot...
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...
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...
Sunday, May 17, 2020
Monday, May 11, 2020
Retrograph "Sightcast" 906-4
Fresh off the bench...the black rod! The blank was made by CD rods. Stealthy looking streamer rod, medium fast action, syncork grip, Fuji seat, Pac Bay TiCH guides. Built for rugged use in saltwater. It will make a nice sight-casting fly rod for schoolie stripers near my house.
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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.
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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...
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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)
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Tuesday, September 4, 2018
Saltwater Graphites (part 2)
A one piece 8'10" 10wt stick, excellent for long hours on the jetty, when you are tired and don't have to worry about rod sections coming apart. Also, a nice boat rod. (The reel seat insert is red, but it turned out pinkish in the photos.) The rod wears REC Recoil snakes and Minima Titanium strip...
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...