AgMD,

What made you decide the birch bark was too firm for the 9 wt? I'm relatively new at this, and I don't know that I understand the consequence of a overly firm handle, especially for a 9 wt.

I think I may not have used white birch. My bark came from a canoe maker, and he said he imports the bark from Siberia. It is more yellow, and it had some significant chunks of dark bark on the exterior surface of the leathery sub-surface. I went ahead and started a new thread to show it off in. I love the look and feel, but have yet to have it on the water for a trial run.

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/v...ic.php?t=16021

Tyler