I started my spring and summer orders this past week. I will be spending about a month out on the Henry's Fork in Idaho. I really hope to spend some quality time inside Yellowstone Park. I have fished in the park numerous times, but never off the beaten path. I would like to do that this year. I will also be spending about 2 weeks with the family in Colorado right after that. So the point of this paragraph is that I will be out of the shop most of the summer. I will probably take a break once back for about a month and when August rolls around hit the shop. This doesn't push my orders back, because I have figured that into my estimations when orders are placed. I think most builders take a break periodically.
I am still working very hard on fiberglass ferrules. As I told a customer last week, "if it was easy, everyone would be doing it". I don't know really what the weight savings will be right now. I don't see a huge difference between that and the Hariki's I am using, but will wait to make that final determination once I can produce good looking fiberglass ferrules. What I am planning on right now is that I will use them on larger rods (5 wts and up) to start with. To get the fiberglass to conform to the diameters needed for 3 and 4 wts is extremely difficult!!! Again, the weight savings for those lighter lined rods is not that much. I believe the real benefit will be at the larger rods.
Right now my wait time is about a year. The next order that comes in will have a delivery date of Christmas this year.
