kabuto 7033 build (photo heavy)

[sagebass]

I just finished building this Kabuto 7033 in white. I'm very impressed with the quality and action of this blank. One of the nicest rod blanks I've handled. Of all of the white Kabuto builds that I've seen two stood out as being the most attractive: Matt's build with pale yellow wraps and antique gold accents and Vlad's build with gold wraps and red accents. I thought long and hard about my options and decided to follow one of these two color schemes.

I was originally going to go with Vlad's color scheme and use antique gold wraps tipped in red. I turned an osage orange insert amongst a few others, and I had difficulty matching a wood insert with my test wrap.

Then I happened upon a nice piece of spalted box elder burl that I really liked. I turned it and immediately knew that it would match the pale yellow wraps that Matt used on his build.

I finally settled on the following components:

SEAT: Lemke down locking darkened nickel silver slide band
INSERT: Spalted box elder burl
GRIP: REC cork rings
STRIPPING GUIDE: REC Black Pearl #8
GUIDES and TIP TOP: black nickel snake brand
THREAD: 3/0 YLI Pale Yellow tipped with 3/0 YLI Antique Gold
FINISH: PacBay two part epoxy finish. One coat.

Here are some photos with a few different reels.

[Betty Hiner]

Beautiful!! But you know you had me at "down locking"!

[bobbyg]

Excellent build!! I particularly like the handle shape.

With the white Kabuto blank I would have opted for more contrasting colors as to guide wraps.
Yours seem to get lost in the overall build. I would have gone for a darker wood reel seat insert also.
Just me and nothing against your aesthetic opinion. I'm sure most would find it very appealing.

[kbproctor]

I love it, guide wraps and all.

[sagebass]

bobbyg: Thanks for the comments. The first insert I tried was ebony (very dark). I was not a fan...although I thought I would be. Then I tried a few maple burls. I was going to go with gold wraps (which turn pretty bright orange) exactly like Vlad's build here: http://ultralightflyfishing.com/foru...4&hilit=kabuto

I turned an osage orange seat which is pretty cool looking (it almost glows), but it didn't look quite right (to me) on the blank. I finally settled on this more simple and classic look.

But having a translucent white blank opens up a lot of interesting options and forces creativity. From my experience doing test wraps, I think it would be very easy to go "over the top" and making the rod look tasteless.

I would say that Vlad pulled his off nicely though. And he did another with red and clear wraps which is even riskier.

Kbproctor: Thanks.

[hardhat]

Ahh another very nice lighter weight rod build. As usual the builds you have dispalyed are well done and thought out. How long did you have to wait for the Kubuto?
I must also add that I like the blanks that you choose to build on.

[sagebass]

Ahh another very nice lighter weight rod build. As usual the builds you have dispalyed are well done and thought out. How long did you have to wait for the Kubuto?
I must also add that I like the blanks that you choose to build on.

The rod blank luckily fell into my lap as a friend of mine has had it sitting around since last year and finally decided not to build it. I jumped on the opportunity for the very reason you mention. From reading the comments of others who have ordered these blanks and seeing Kab's posts on the fiberglass forum, the blanks don't come around too often. I think Kab puts out two (maybe three) batches per year and he takes pre-orders about 2 or 3 months before delivery.

[sagebass]

I took the 7033 Kabuto out late Sunday afternoon. I chose that time as the sun was just beginning to set....hoping that I might be able to see the rod blank in some interesting lighting. The lake was frozen (barely as we may have 1" of ice) and I was casting off my dock.





Having heard from some that this rod likes a 4wt. line, I brought three reels with me: An Orvis Battenkill LA lined with Sage WF 3wt. Performance Taper line; Orvis Lightweight with Scientific Angler Supra 4wt. DT line, and a Sage 3100 lined with a 1/2 Rio LT 3wt. DT line.

I started with the WF 3wt. line. The rod was easy to cast and loaded equally well at 20' and 40'. I was able to shoot the line 50' feet (probably around 60') which was pretty good for a 7' glass rod. The loops were tight and consistent. I was very satisfied using the WF 3wt. line and I began to conclude that I like this rod with a 3wt. line. With the WF 3wt. line the rod flexed mostly in the tip and a bit into the mid section. For awhile there was about a 10 to 15 mph breeze (guessing). The WF 3wt. line could cast into the breeze, but I would guess 30' was about my limit.



With some reluctance, I next tried the SA Supra DT 4wt. line. The WF 3wt. line cast so smoothly I was fairly certain that the DT 4wt. line would be too much for this rod. I was wrong. The rod handled the DT 4wt. line beautifully. I was able to load the rod much deeper and using the DT 4wt. line the rod flexed mostly in the mid and a bit into the butt section. It did take a little more concentration to keep my loops tight with the DT 4wt. line. When I did keep my loops tight the rod shot line much better than with a WF 3wt. line. The rod topped out about the same, maybe 55' or so. But if I was in tight quarters, the DT 4wt. might be a good choice as the rod could shoot line much better with just a short amount of line in the air. I also found that the mass of the DT 4wt. line scored me an extra 10' or so when casting into the wind. With the DT 4wt. line the rod felt a lot closer in action to a few McFarland yellow glass rods I have built recently. Particularly I had a 7'6" 5wt. 3pc. McFarland that I built for someone which flexed deeply with a DT 5wt. line. I think the Kabuto felt similar with the DT 4wt. line. Both rods really let the caster feel the line loading the rod which is a cool part of the experience casting a glass rod. Since I was casting over ice, I couldn't really test the rod's roll casting abilities. There is no resistance to load the rod properly. But I have a feeling the rod would roll cast with the DT 4wt line very smoothly in close.



Last I put the Sage 3100 with a DT 3wt. line on the rod. At this point I was not sure what to expect. This combo was probably my favorite. The DT 3wt. line was a great compromise between the WF 3wt. line and the DT 4wt line. It was fairly easy to consistently produce tight loops (like the WF 3wt. line) yet I was able to shoot line fairly well (like the DT 4wt. line). The rod cast into the wind as good as I would expect. The ability to keep my loops tight consistently allowed me to be accurate more frequently. Keeping in mind that the rod reminded me of my McFarland builds with a DT 4wt. line, with the DT 3wt. line, the Kabuto reminded me of my Orvis Superfine Touch rods. The rod loaded in the tip and a bit into the mid section, short casts were easy and accurate, and the rod could be pushed if needed. Since I only had 1/2 a line, it was very easy to measure the distance I was casting. I could easily cast all of the line which I believe is 40 ft. of line plus about 8' of leader/tippet. So 50' casts were no problem with the DT 3wt. Rio LT line. (I probably could have gotten another 10' of line if I had a full line rigged up).





And the rod looked pretty nice to boot. As far as aesthetics and balance, surprisingly I think I favored the Sage 3100 reel the most. The rig felt very light for glass and the black reel was a nice contrast to the white blank and light colored wraps.



I am expecting the arrival of an Abel Creek LA 1 with an older brown trout fish graphic today. I bought the reel new for less than the cost of a standard gloss black version. The Abel Creek could trump the Sage 3100 as far as looks are concerned. Time will tell. I am confident that the Abel Creek will balance the Kabuto more towards the middle of the grip. The Abel Creek LA weighs 3.8 oz. empty and the Orvis Battenkill LA I that I rigged up first weighs 3.9 oz. empty. The Orvis Battenkill felt fine, but I do think I preferred the balance point at the very front tip of the grip as with the Sage 3100.

I am a bit curious how a WF 4wt. line would perform on this rod. But for now I anticipate using a DT 3wt. under most circumstances. I will update as I receive and try the Abel Creek LA 1 vs. the Sage 3100.

Colt