New Website

 My new website is up and its at www.carpenterflyrods.com

I will leave the blog up for a little while and then take it down. Thanks for visiting

Cris

Just a Heads Up

 I will be shutting this blog down within the next few weeks. I am moving to a website which will be easier to access old/new information about my rods. 

Cris

Quads and Prices

 I am currently working on a batch of quads right now. I will probably have one or two extra rods after I fulfill my orders. I will post anything I have extra here on the blog and social media. 

I still have one of Carpenter Bros. reels available. They are a great 4 weight reel and sound amazing. The click/pawl sounds like it should. 

After not raising prices for several years I have had to raise my prices this year. The raw parts and components that are needed have just gone up too much for me to eat the increases. My prices are still the best out there for what you get. Hex rods are now $1500 and quads are now $1700. All rods are hollow built (which some builders charge extra for) and come with only the best components. 

Here are some pics of a 7' three piece quad pack rod that I am currently working on. This is the last prototype and it can handle a variety of situations. It has a smaller tip for smaller mountain streams and a bigger butt section for lakes that require longer casts. 

Busy in the Shop!

I have been very busy in the shop. This spring has been my best since starting to sell rods. I am guessing people were sitting around thinking about fishing so much they had to do something about it.
One project I have been working on is three piece quads. I tried different applications for ferrules to try and lighten the rod up and not create such stiff spots in the taper. The spice joint application works great. It creates a very smooth taper and casting instrument. Of course there are downsides to spliced joints. They do take a little longer to get ready and break down when fishing.

This is a 7'9" 4 weight three piece quad. It weighs only 2.35 oz.

Customer Pic

This is a pic from a customer last summer. He has an 8’3” 5 weight. This particular person introduced me to bamboo fly rods and it’s been downhill ever since.
I am just finishing up a few repairs and will begin making rods new rods shortly. Something new I will be doing this winter is three piece quads with spigot ferrules. We shall see how that goes.

Henrys Fork Gathering

I took my son out to the Henry's Fork Gathering this year. Here is a picture of the two of us right after lunch. I think this picture sums up society today. Thanks Tim and Ursula Anderson for the pic.

3 Piece Rods

I owned several three piece rods before I began building. I enjoyed them, but always felt they lacked something. I also, felt they were never as good as the two piece rods I fished. About four years ago I had a request to build someone a three piece rod. So I set out to come up with a taper platform that I really liked and was similar to the platform I use now on two piece rods.

One of my favorite tapers is the 8'5" 5 weight. I have tried building myself one of these rods several times now, but have always sold them because people really like it. I use different tapers with this rod. I use a straight decreasing taper on the outside and a parabolic taper on the inside or hollowing.

Shop Update

Things have been very busy this spring. Below is a rod I have been working on for about 3 years. Its an 8'10" 4 weight that weighs 3.16 oz. It will be an excellent rod to throw dry flies with. The rod generates a nice medium line speed that won't spook tough fish with line splash.

I have also been working on longer spliced joint quads. I will post pics soon.

Cris

The Spliced Joint

Here are a few pics of the work going on.

Spring Orders

I have started making my spring orders. I will have a few extra rods for sale if you are interested in a new rod for the summer fishing season.

* 8'4"  4 weight Spliced Joint (2 tip) Quad
* 8'      5 weight 2 piece rod (1 tip) Quad
* 8'5"  5 weight 3 piece rod (2 tips) Hex
* 8'      4 weight 2 piece rod (1 tip) Hex (SOLD)

I am trying something new this year. I will occasionally offer 1 tip rods for a discounted price. These rods will be made with famous tapers and will not be available for a second tip. When I started making rods I made numerous rods off some of the best tapers ever created. These rods will be based off these, except one difference is they will be hollow built.

Cris

SOLD!

This is a Quad that is heading to K & K fly fishers.

10 yr Rods For Sale

Last year I built ten 7'9" 5 weight rods. They are all quads and two piece. They have a wonderful action that flexes well down into the butt section. I generally don't build rods under 8', but thought this would be a nice change of pace. They are very light in hand even with the fancy reel seats!

I had intended to have these done in the spring, but as you can see that didn't work out. I have changed the way that I build rods a little and that has taken some extra time.

I originally had all ten rods sold, however things happen and two people had to back out. So, I have two rods that will be available within the month. Price is $1500 + shipping

Instragram

It has taken me a little while to get up to date with social media, but I am now on both Instagram and Facebook. Feel free to send me a request. I only post pictures of fishing and fly rods!

I usually keep one rod at one of the local fly shops for sale. It helps them out and me as well when it sells. The rod below is currently at K & K Flyfishers.

I have changed the way I do rods. I have tried to upgrade some of the finishings and how I do finish the rods. A couple of the changes I have made are: 5 star cork, exhibition grade inserts, custom reel seat hardware, single wrap tipping and Hariki ferrules.

I am still currently at about a year wait. Orders right now will be delivered next summer. This year I will be focusing still on new quad tapers. I am still working on longer light line rods. A couple of tapers in the works are 8'6" 4 weight and 8'4" 3 weight. This will be able to be made in ferruled rods or spliced joint.

Summertime

I hope everyone is having a great summer. Not a lot of fishing going on with me. I have a lot of repairs I am working on (not my rods). I am finishing up the last couple of 10 yr rods and hope to get those out in July.

Remember we are on Facebook and I post there more frequently than here. This pic is of two 10 yr rods. Both are 7'9" quads.

Midrum For Sale

I have been cleaning up the shop and have decided to get rid of some Mildrum's that have been hoarding.

The ME's are on the left. For perspective there is a size 10 SRMC on the right and a size 9 mm Struble agate. $15 each for either size 9 or 10's.

Rod For Sale SOLD

I have an 8'3" quad for sale. It will handle both a 4 weight line and 5 weight line. It is completely hollow built. It has a beautiful Koa spacer with bright hardware. This rod is used and probably about 5 yrs old. It has my traditional satin finish with tan wraps with red tipping. This rod has a wonderful medium to medium fast action like I try to achieve in all of my rods. Price is SOLD plus shipping/insurance. Feel free to contact me with questions.

Remembering Tom Morgan

At the end of the year the TV stations always run the shows about the previous year. It made me think about 2017. For a number of years we would visit Tom at his home for lunch and discuss building rods. In the pictures below we met Tom at the El Western one year to do some fishing. The El Western was the motel Tom's parents owned when he was growing up. It is probably the coolest motel I have ever been too!

While discussing rods, Tom was always very open about what he did and the processes by which he did them. I always appreciated that about him. I think when bamboo rod builders talk with one another and they are honest and open about building there is a respect that is developed.

I didn't know him as well as many others did, but I knew him enough to look back through my pictures and smile when thinking about this particular day.

Cris

Merry Christmas

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are working hard on the 10 yr rods. I hope to send the first one out by the end of January. We have all the blanks completed and have begun ferruling them. Some have even had the pleasure of getting their grip.

Facebook

Carpenter Bros. Rods is now on Facebook. Check us out!

New Reel Seat Hardware

Here is a pic of the new nickel silver pocketed cap/ring reel seats. On the 10 yr rods I am making right now this is an option. I have two options on the stacked bamboo inserts. You can chose either Blonde or Honey. The Honey is a warm brown color that matches the color of the blanks perfectly. Sometimes I like matching the color and other times I like to offset it, like in the pic below.

I am leaving today to go to the Southern Rodmaker's Gathering. I should have a good report to post when I get home.