Pics

I just returned from a family fishing trip. I am learning about these trips that it usually is more family than fishing! However, I tried out a new rod I made and fell in love with it. Its a medium fast 8'4" 4 weight that weighs 3.6 oz and is hollow built. I look forward to the day that my boys and I are all trying new rods out!

Also, Scott Zieske sent along some photos of his Carpenter Bros. 7'3" 3 weight and his Carpenter Bros. reel. This rod was my 3rd rod to make and brings back good memories! I have it on my things to do to go out and visit Scott in South Dakota and see what the fishing is like there.

Rod of the week!

I am at approximately an 8 month wait. New rod purchases require a $200 non refundable deposit to cover about half of the upfront costs.

Here is a picture of an 8'4" 3 weight that will be going out very shortly. This has my new light weight reelseat. Its amazing how much some reel seats weigh. This will save the rod about 1/5 of an ounce.

Pic of the 8'4" 3 weight

I received this picture from Billy Teo over in Singapore and his Carpenter Bros Rod the 8'4" 3 weight. This is a 2.5 lb Temensis. He says the rod did great! Thanks for the pic Billy.

Labor day weekend

We had a great weekend fishing down on the White River in Arkansas! We caught enough fish to keep it interesting. They were running a lot of water and we had to take to the boat. I was surprised how many people were flyfishing in those conditions.

We bought a new Fleetwood Evolution 4 camper and it was our maiden voyage!

Here is my cell #, some how I didn't have it listed before, 816-769-7961. I am generally available after 3 pm daily.

Right now I am working on a 8'4" 3 weight that doesn't have a home yet and I am secretly hoping that it won't. That would mean I would get to keep it and fish it. :-)

Here is a picture of a rod that I finished for a customer in Michigan. It is a 7' 4 weight based on a Edwards Signature taper.

Two rods of the week!

Here are some pics of rods that I sent out last week to a customer in Singapore. The rod with the silver hardware is an 8'1" 3 weight. The other rod is an 8'2" 4 weight based of a Leonard taper. The longer of the two can reach 60' without a problem and the shorter of the two is a delicate rod for smaller fish.

Rod Hollowing

I am currently building several rods and one of them is for me. These are a couple of pics of what the hollowing looks like in my rods. This is the butt section of an 8'1" 5 weight. There are only two dams in the butt section and then the last 4" is solid in order to secure the female ferrule. The total blank weight without the hardware is 2.25 oz.

Reel Seat Day!

Reel seats say a lot about a rod. I really enjoy making them. However, it takes a lot of work and there is a lot of waste if you want great ones. Today I started with 10 wood blanks and after turning them down I am left with eight. I have applied the first coat of varnish. After sanding and applying several more coats of varnish I will probably have to throw out several more. There are pits and ugly spots that come natural to the wood that make for bad spots in the wood insert.

I have started doing more varnishing because the wood that is available stabilized is very limited. In fact I have started experimenting with stabilizing my own wood and I hope to be able to offer this as an option soon.