New Lightweight Reel Seats

I am introducing a new lightweight reel seat. They are made of a traditional blued aluminum hardware and have a Spanish Cedar insert. They weigh over 60% less than a traditional nickel silver cap/ring reel seat. I plan on using them mainly on my composite ferruled rods. The rods in the picture are demo's that I will have this year with me for people to cast. Weights on these rods with the fore mentioned items weigh the following: 8'3" 3 weight 3.05 oz, 8'3" 4 weight 3.30 oz. and 8'6" 5 weight weighs 3.6 oz.
I hope to see you out on the stream!

Making a Bamboo Rod

This year I took on a student. Larry has done a great job and is now on his second rod. Word has made it out about the Carpenter Bros. Bamboo fly rod school and I now have more requests than I need. One bad thing about teaching people, if there could be such a thing, is my wait time will go out. I really like getting people into bamboo. There are some people that love to learn and do things themselves. I can't say no to that. Here is Larry hard at work. I dig that shirt Larry!

Customer Pic

Here is a great customer pic from the Black Hills of South Dakota. The rod in the picture is a 8'2" 4 weight. I will be in Island Park, Idaho starting on June 16th and will be there until the 28th. Then I will drop down to the Green River in Utah for a few days. Then it's off to Crested Butte, Colorado until July 11th. If you are going to be in one of those areas and you want to cast/fish one of my new composite ferruled rods let me know and we can get together.

Blueing Hardware

Something I have never liked about hardware is the fact it loses its blueing. I have always been interested in applying something to the hardware so that it keeps its blueing for as long as possible. There are several things out there that people suggest. I haven't tried many of them. However, I do have something that a very prominent builder once told me about. In the picture below you can see the light variation in color from the bottom part of the ferrule (where the wraps go) to the top part, which is the female section. I haven't been doing this process for years and years, so I don't know if it will hold up for long periods of time. I hope so based on the knowledge of someone that had been building for over 30 years.

I am currently in the middle of building spring and summer orders. I will be at the Henry's Fork for almost 3 weeks if you are out there. Then it will be off to Crested Butte, CO for a week. I hope to see some of you out there!

Cris

Fly Boxes

The next 12 rods I deliver will get one of these special Walnut fly boxes. Several years ago I took my family to Yellowstone for vacation. One day we drove up into Montana to go sight seeing. My wife, being the thrifty one, saw an estate sale. The loving husband I am we pulled over and stopped. Inside I found a Walnut mantle. The mantle didn't look like it fit and it just stood out to me once I saw it. So I hauled it back to Missouri and it has sat in my shop for probably around 8 years. I was always looking for something special to do with it. There will be just a few more finishing touches and then they will be done.

My friend Doug Tierney donated the silk line that is used as the hinge.

In the next week or so I will write more about the boxes and my friend that was behind them.

Always something going on!

Business

I hope everyone is starting to thaw out from winter. It has been a very mild winter here in Missouri and I am looking forward to getting out to fish.

I just wanted everyone to notice the price change on my rods. I haven't raised my prices in almost 2 years. I like the price point I am at because it keeps me with plenty of orders. The main reason I am raising my prices is that supply prices keep going up. One item in general that is becoming a problem is cork. The cork supply that is available is not that good anymore. I guess its a personal fault but I refuse to use cheap cork. In my mind it takes away from the beauty of the bamboo. So what I have to do now is buy large expensive quantities of cork and sort through it for the best stuff. I also tend to use wood spacers on my reel seats that are from hard to find or rare woods. Like anything else in this world the word "rare" usually means "costs more".

Also, I have several big developments in the works right now! I hope to announce them by the end of the spring. I am very excited and will make the information known on here once they come to fruition.