Tuesday, September 4, 2018

Saltwater Graphites (part 2)

Written by flyfishingunlimited on 11:58 AM in Graphite, Saltwater with No comments

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 strippers.

Saltwater Graphites (part 1)

Written by flyfishingunlimited on 7:55 PM in Graphite, Saltwater with No comments

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.

CTS Quartz 7'6" 3wt 3pc "Seaweed"

Written by flyfishingunlimited on 7:47 PM in CTS Quartz, S-Glass with No comments

Just completed... The build features bronzed NS/tiger maple cap and ring seat, blued Snake Brand Universal guides with the matching blued yellow agate stripper, all wrapped in golden-olive silk. Signature wrap, stripper inlays and the tip-top wraps are sunburst thread, while the ferrule wraps are done in transparent silk, so that white aligning marks are not obscured. Garrison-inspired 6" flor cork grip. Aluminum rod tube and custom tailored rod cloth round out the package.

Metal Patina on Fountain Pens

Written by flyfishingunlimited on 1:01 AM in Fountain Pens with 2 comments

Small distraction from fly fishing and rod building...:-) I have a small collection of fountain pens, which I use in my everyday work. These two were stripped and refinished, with patina finish carefully applied.

Kaneglass-Flavored Short S-Glass 6'6" 4wt Fly Rod

Written by flyfishingunlimited on 11:31 AM in S-Glass with No comments

I just completed this build on an imported 6'6" S-glass blank, since I was looking for a fast tapered blank for fishing particular streams. The resulting rod is quite quick for fiberglass and is perfect for confined places which hold larger trout. It features bronzed nickel silver hardware and guides, phenolic-glass reel seat insert, rust wraps with chestnut accents and short, Powell-inspired grip. After finishing the rod, I realized that it's got a bit of a T&T Kaneglass vibe going, even though it wasn't my original intention (most likely a subconscious thing :-)).

Milenkovic 813-5 DF: Phenolic/S-glass Hybrid 8'1" 3wt 5pc

Written by flyfishingunlimited on 9:07 AM in 5 piece, Dry Fly Taper, Phenolic/S Hybrid, S-Glass with 3 comments

This is my latest build, a Hybrid-construction 5pc pack rod, which utilizes phenolic fiberglass butt section and S-glass for the rest of the rod. Using this approach, I was able to significantly slim down the butt section (thicker walls), and achieve linear to regressive taper in the butt: something you don't see very often among contemporary glass rods. The rod has a very fine tip (under 4/64ths), while thin butt section transmits the feel into the casting hand really well. The color among blank sections was adjusted to achieve a flamed-cane look and blend well together.

The rods dampens as good as any glass of modern construction or better, as any "dry fly" designated taper should! I used the tip-over ferrules for lightest possible weight. Thin wire blued snakes, blued Mildrum Belmar-style stripper, Powell-inspired flor handle and reel seat w/figured maple spacer. The thread wraps are in brown silk with tan accents.