I'm going to be building my first fly rod this spring. One of the guys in our local club is going to help me - he's really good at it. We are going to start it after he gets back from his winter-long vacation.

While he's gone, I want to learn as much about rod building as I can so I won't seem like so much of a dumb a$$ when we are doing it.

Any books or videos on rod building that you can recommend?

I haven't picked out a rod blank yet. It's going to be a 7-weight rod for bass fishing. Any recommendations on which blank to use? How about other components? Anything else I should know?

Appreciate your help. Thanks.

CJ