Started new St. Croix Avid today!

9 foot, 5-wt, 4-pc. That cool canteen green color! Picked a cocobolo barell, Struble uplocker seat, and chestnut brown gudebrod thread.

My point in posting is again praise for my local fly shop, Bob's in Loveland, CO. Free rod building lessons, use of their shop space, tools and expertise, and unlimited cups of really good coffee if you buy the blanks and parts from them. My Scott 3-wt I built there last fall came out SWEET!

AND, turns out they also loan out extra wrapping stands to their loyal customers for use at home -- so I had them help me with finding the spine, building the handle, and laying out where the guides go. I'll be wrapping at home for this one on their stand.

Thanks Julie and Greg (and Bob!)
DAN

Keep us posted, I'd like to know what you think of the blank's action. Post some pics when you're done!

I have cast that rod,,, darn good!!!

OK, OK, OK, not done yet, sorry for wasting a bit of bandwidth -- but got the guides wrapped on in about 4 hours this evening! Even did a semi-decoritive wrap above the hook keeper to 'frame in' where the signature will go -- solid band of thread, loose spiral of 3 wraps, another solid band of thread. My first try at anything remotely fancy -- looks good to me!

Now I'm debating making the hour-long trek to town and Bob's fly shop super early tomorrow, flaming the wraps and putting on the 1st coat of epoxy and sticking it on the drying motor, then trying to get back home to the computer before the boss notices I was gone (he doesn't fish and does not understand).
;~)
DANBOB
pics soon I hope!