"Antiquary Edition" Unstructured Fiberglass 835-4 (#4/5)

  

This is my latest build which rounds up the original Unstructured Fiberglass batch of blanks, made to my specifications. Out of the three tapers I offered in the past, this is my favorite taper to fish - a true allaround trout rod, which feels light and crisp with a 4wt line. If you like deeper, semi-para feel, you can use a 5wt line on it. 

The "Antiquary Edition" features hand stripped, polished and patinated brass reel seat (NOS US made), a German agate guide oxidized to match the seat, blued Snake Brand guides, Powell-style grip (flor 1/4" rings), and caramel YLI silk guide wraps with subdued details. A custom made rod sock and aluminum rod tube are included. The rod is available for sale.

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Matching Patina

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"The French Edition" Unstructured Glass 804-4

I have just completed a rod for a customer in France. It is my standard build with a Powell-style flor grip, blued Snake Brand snakes, and Midrum Belmar-type carbide stripping guide. The reel seat is a dual sliding band with walnut burl spacer, oxidized to match the guides. The guide wraps are chocolate brown, to match the wood burl... The ferrule/accent wraps are olive YLI silk.

I am currently out of 804-4 blanks. If you are interested in 8'3" 4/5wt, I still have some blanks left.

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Driftless Fishing and Paradox 734

Little para taper boo-glass hybrid proved itself again in Driftless. It was raining quite a bit and streams were discolored. I had to search for fishable water, but was rewarded with beautiful wild browns. Paradox 734 handled them with aplomb and I ended up fishing it exclusively. I posted few more pics from the trip in my other blog.

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Big Guns-Conquistador Glass Fly Rods

The saltwater season in New England is under full swing and it is time to dust off the big guns. Conquistador Glass tapers (L to R): 9' 10wt, 9' 9wt, 8'6" 8/9wt. I am contemplating building another batch of Conquistadors, so stay tuned. Photos of striped bass (top) and myself courtesy of Dave Skok. Dave took those during the prototype rod-testing, in Fall 2015.

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Reel Seat Weight (Metal vs Wood)

So what is heavier? Vintage all brass seat vs contemporary cap and ring nickel silver seat with wooden spacer (I used a Ray Lee stock seat as an example.)

The weight is in grams-very close indeed!

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Patinated Brass Reel Seat

I found an old metal cap and ring reel seat which I liked. After sanding off a thin chrome plating, I applied a brown patina for brass until I got the look I wanted. It will be used on one of my future builds...

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