Woo-Hoo! First rod complete!

That was fast, you say? I just finished my first but DEF-in-nitely not last self built fly rod. It is a 4 wt, 2pc, 8 ft, IM6 H&H kit with the Batson blank. I subbed the standard half wells grip for a FW frip and I must say it was easier than I thought and came out rather - nicely for a first timer. Compared to my TFO 5 wt in fit and finish I would give it a 7.5 out of 10. Some wraps are not scientifically perfect but are nice and functional. The all black look is pretty neat though-kind of a stealth rod or Darth Vader stick. I'm happy with it and will fish it this evening. Not having owned a 4 wt yet but want this to target light bass and specifically panfish with, I noticed when lawn casting it that it is a little springy. Is this normal? Do i need to soften up my casting strokes? Overline the rod by one wt? Just fish it and get used to it? Any ideas? It took less than a week to build- if you eliminate sleep there's all kinds of time left over! lol! ZZzzzzzzzzz.......

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I fish, therefore I swam.


[This message has been edited by featherchucker (edited 10 November 2005).]

[This message has been edited by featherchucker (edited 10 November 2005).]

featherchucker;
Just finished a 7.5' H&H Forecast 4 pc 4 wt. I plan to fish it as a 5 wgt. The info I got here let be believe it would work ok.

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I feel more like I do now than I did when I got here!

Cactus AKA "Lucky Dog (Pirate Name)"

It is not the time but the fun of doing it.

Also the real fun comes when you catch the first fish on the rod you built.

Rick

As far as the quick build time goes, It felt more like a week, though it was only spread out over that time frame. Bits and pieces of time here and there and then bigger blocks after the kids were asleep. I did do some late nighters in my enthusiasm to complete it. Yawn!

Took that bad boy out yesterday after work in a post coldfront bright breezy afternoon. My window was only an hour or so and the wind was a bear at the pond I fished. No takers for the first hour and the sun set and the breeze died down. It got to the last cast countdown mode and still no fish. Right at dusk they started rising-panfish I presumed- but way out in the middle of the pond beyond reach. Right near quitting time a bass hit my spider- wham!- that felt good though he was only about 10 inches long. He had enough OOMPH to bend the rod some. Two casts later a second bass hammers the spider-WHAM! -alright, now we got a bigger fish on. This one is about 13 inches long and fatter. A nice fish! Right behind him, Bam! another smaller bass comes to hand. "hey, didn't I just release YOU five minutes ago?"

This all between 530 and 545 pm and it's getting darker by the second. Now I head back down the bank and cover a little more water and make the "very last cast" and Bam! one more fish on.......ony for a few seconds as it did a long distance release and I jerked the rod tip and fouled the tippet and leader in to the flyline and called it quits. Nice way to break in the new rod. Next week I'm taking a lantern and maybe the canoe. Got a Boy Scout campout this weekend and a Birthday gig to attend Sat nite-MINE. The H&H rod kit was an early gift. The bass helped me celebrate early too.



[This message has been edited by featherchucker (edited 11 November 2005).]

Featherchucker,

I built a H&H 9' #4 2 piece about two months ago. The line I chose is the Scientific Anglers Head Start line. I found a spool of it a Bass Pro Shops. I have been told that the Head start line is over weighted by 1/2 line weight. The very short body taper is also VERY good at throwing bass flies.

I am sure your going to love the rod when you land that first fish with it!


Good Luck,
Reg

PS Not only is the 4 weight good on blue gill and bass, it is also tremendous fun on 17" brown trout too!!!! (:-))

You've found a new passion. I was out early this morning, stealing a moment of necessary down time, working out a Five Rivers I got from Dan Craft and wrapped. Just absolutely love this rod. Two flyrods and a spinning rod for a silent auction are waiting for the snows to fly. In answer to your first post I would definitely ease myself into the rod. I was probably over critical with my first couple. One was a 8 wt. Forecast that was a stick and a half. Took some real getting used to and I eventually overlined it after a couple of people I trust gave it a workout. Both agreed it was underlined with an 8 line. I put on a 10 and it's now casting like I originally envisioned. HEre's the kicker. Every time I finish a rod I think this will be the last. It never is. JGW