OK....I got some help with the blems (possible reasons, causes and solutions) mentioned and shown above....I just checked the rod today and it feels dry after applying another coat of varnish (after a good sanding)....with the colder weather moving in I'm going to let it sit for a few more days....I think that after I sanded I applied another coat of varnish.....at the time it was pushing 80-90 degrees in Socal. I could tell that the warmer weather helped the varnish spread and I turned the rod by hand for about 2 hours (I have a motor but I don't have it set up yet to turn rods) I could see that the varnish kept spreading to the blank...I used the thread technique to lap up the varnish...as you can tell...it looks like it covered it pretty well and I couldn't see any of the problem areas

Please excuse the dust specs