http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/ en Tue, 21 May 2013 19:42:11 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/images/misc/rss.png http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/ http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?50050-McFarland-7wt.-8-3-quot-3pc.-(rebuild)&goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 14:19:01 GMT The very first blank I bought from Mike McFarland about 3 years ago was his 8'3" 7wt. I was told this taper was "his best warm water rod" and that it was truly special. I built it out but opted to do a very short 6" cigar grip, which was before I had much experience building fiberglass rods. I did not anticipate the swing weight and certainly a 6" grip is not the best way to counterbalance the rod. I ended up selling the rod shortly thereafter.
About 6 months ago, I contacted the buyer who still had the rod in an almost un-fished condition. I bought the rod back from him with desire to replace the grip and seat to offset the swing weight. I added an inch to the grip and I used a larger all metal seat with a fighting butt. A down locking seat would have helped, but I liked this one as an up-locking seat. I also liked that the seat is anodized aluminum, i.e. saltwater safe. It is one of Joel's champagne colored anodized aluminum seats.
I had some difficulty doing the hook keeper. The first time I tried, my rod turner died and the epoxy was NOT even the next morning. I removed the wraps/finish and rewrapped/refinished the hook keeper-winding check. This time the thread was not the right color....it ended up turning darker. I decided to keep the darker wraps as it kind of reminded me of one of Christian Horgren's builds on a James Green blank where he used a gold color thread for his guides but a darker brown thread on the winding check. His was significantly better than this one, but I found that it still had a similar effect.







After making these adjustments the rod balances perfectly with an Abel Classic reel. I spooled the reel with the newer Rio Powerfly 7wt. line. This rod is really fun to cast. I wouldn't this rod for casting huge hair flies or really heavily weighted flies, unless you were making shorter casts under 35'. But those #2, #4, and #6 cork poppers and #4, #6 and #8 clousers are this rod's bread and butter. 70' casts are obtainable for me. Roll casting is excellent. Fish on feel is good enough that I don't feel over powered on 12" bass and medium sized bluegill/crappie, but hooking into a 3 to 5lb. bass would not leave you feeling helpless.
I am just finishing a Steffen 5/6wt. 8'0" 4pc. rod which I have test cast a couple times (an awesome rod by the way). In comparison, the McFarland reminds me more of casting a bamboo rod due to the heavier feel. The Steffen feels much lighter and has an increased fish on feel as compared with the 7wt. McFarland. But the 7wt. McFarland is much more comfortable to cast when the wind picks up. And the McFarland lends itself to a wider spectrum of flies. I haven't tried it, but I think the 7wt. McFarland would also excel at casting terrestrials to healthy sized trout.

Colt ]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite sagebass http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?50050-McFarland-7wt.-8-3-quot-3pc.-(rebuild) http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?50049-Kabuto-6-6-quot-3wt.-3pc.&goto=newpost Mon, 20 May 2013 14:01:20 GMT Here is a Kabuto 6'6" 3wt. 3pc. that I am just finishing building. I still need to sand the wraps and apply one more coat of finish. I usually use epoxy, but I tried spar varnish on this one. I also went with 100wt. YLI thread instead of the 50wt. YLI thread that I typically work with. Here are the other components:
Reel Seat: Custom design that I worked out with Joel Lemke w/dual sliding rings from Orvis
Grip: Flor Grade Cork
Stripping Guide: REC Black Pearl #8
Running Guides/Tip Top: Snake Brand Black Nickel-Universal
Thread: YLI 100wt. Pale Yellow and Antique Gold
Finish: Spar Varnish






I took this one out on the water to do some test casting a few days ago. I was using a Rio LT dt 3wt. line. It is slower than the 7033 but still a bit on the fast side for a 3wt. in my opinion. Casting under 15' was poor, especially as compared to my 5'9" McFarland 3wt. However, the taper started to come alive around 20' out to 40' and further. Loops were tight and accuracy was spot on. Shooting line was no problem. It is a sweet rod excepting the really close stuff.
To me, the 7033 is too fast for a 3wt. line; the 6633 is not. I prefer the 6633 over the 7033 for this reason. It would be interesting to compare the 6633 with the 6623, which I have heard is one of the fastest tapers in the lineup.
Colt ]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite sagebass http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?50049-Kabuto-6-6-quot-3wt.-3pc. http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?50013-Quickline-9ft-7wt-4pc&goto=newpost Thu, 16 May 2013 15:01:30 GMT This one is about to make the Journey overseas to the UK. It's a Quickline 907-4 with Spalted maple seat (coated in Threadmaster finish) BUL5 hardware, Custom grip, Pac Bay Minima SF guides, Scarlet red wraps (No CP) and Gold trim.





]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite Midwest Custom Fly Rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?50013-Quickline-9ft-7wt-4pc http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49998-Batson-907-4&goto=newpost Tue, 14 May 2013 23:15:51 GMT This one is the latest off the bench. Blank- Batson RX6 907-4 Seat- Amtak Carbon Fiber Grip- Custom turned exotic corks hand buffed with poly... This one is the latest off the bench.

Blank- Batson RX6 907-4
Seat- Amtak Carbon Fiber
Grip- Custom turned exotic corks hand buffed with poly clear coat
Wraps - Dark Blue (CP only on inscription area)
Trim- Metallic silver
Guides- Pac Bay SF minima













Steve ]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite Midwest Custom Fly Rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49998-Batson-907-4 http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49983-6-6-quot-Military-Spinning-Rod&goto=newpost Sat, 11 May 2013 19:29:50 GMT This is a 6'6" spinning rod built on an American Tackle Matrix blank. I chose to use a split grip with an Amtack Aero seat and the new American Tackle Microwave guide system on it The graphic I usually put on the military rods is in the split grip area with the ribbons displayed above the grip.




















]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite kbproctor http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49983-6-6-quot-Military-Spinning-Rod http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49945-Redoing-a-rod&goto=newpost Tue, 07 May 2013 12:25:47 GMT Okay, now that I'm done to a crutch sometimes, I need/want to get going on my rod rebuild. Thanks to you folks, I soaked the butt end, in a baggie, in hot water and was able to get the reel seat off in good order. I did find that waiting about 10 minutes after soaking helped. A little, I say little, twisting helped also. So, now:
A. To replace guides - single or double foot?

B. Take off a guide and then replace, one at at time?

C. Can I redo the rod blank? That is, change the color, spiff it up a bit?

D. Tip top, leave it or try to remove it and out another on?

Thanks all, I promise to post pictures as I go along.

Mike ]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite melk http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49945-Redoing-a-rod http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49879-Pair-of-matched-Quickline-streamer-rods&goto=newpost Wed, 01 May 2013 16:33:20 GMT This is a pair of matched rods for streamer fishing on the East coast. Blanks are Quickline series blanks which are really becoming one of my... This is a pair of matched rods for streamer fishing on the East coast. Blanks are Quickline series blanks which are really becoming one of my favorites due to being super light, very quick action without being overly fast, yet cost 1/3 what comparable blanks cost for this quality. Reel seats are burl wood set in titanium Lemeke hardware, guides are SF minima, grips are exotic corks turned a tad undersized on the OD, wraps are Gudebrod classic twist (CP'ed) with full metallic gold trim band.









]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite Midwest Custom Fly Rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49879-Pair-of-matched-Quickline-streamer-rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49874-7-6-quot-spin-rod&goto=newpost Wed, 01 May 2013 03:33:40 GMT This one is a 7'6" spin rod built on a 5wt Amtak classic series fly blank for a customer that fishes bass on Fontana Lake with live bait. Wraps are royal blue (no CP) metallic silver trim and natural cork/graphite seat.







]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite Midwest Custom Fly Rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49874-7-6-quot-spin-rod http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49804-California-high-country-pack-rod-2wt&goto=newpost Wed, 24 Apr 2013 16:14:26 GMT This one is for a customer that wanted a small pack rod for fishing the California high country streams. It's a 662-4 Batson with carbon fiber seat, custom grip, minima SF guides, dark blue wraps with metallic silver single turn trim.







Steve ]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite Midwest Custom Fly Rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49804-California-high-country-pack-rod-2wt http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49785-7-6-quot-4-5wt-2pc&goto=newpost Mon, 22 Apr 2013 17:37:34 GMT This one is for a customer that purchased it as a Birthday gift from the family to their father. It is built on an American tackle classic series... This one is for a customer that purchased it as a Birthday gift from the family to their father. It is built on an American tackle classic series 7'6" 4/5wt blank, carbon fiber seat, grip with brown burl/dark mix/rubberized and blue accents, dark blue wraps, metallic trim and SF minima guides.









]]> Rod Building: Cane and Graphite Midwest Custom Fly Rods http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?49785-7-6-quot-4-5wt-2pc