Been meaning to post this for a couple of weeks now. I finally had a chance to fish with the wood-strip rod I built a while back.
Did manage to catch some fish with it. All of them were small brookies but had a great time fishing for them. They were small fish but were a challenge to catch.
I’m not going to tell you where I was fishing because Betty Hiner will just tell us there are no trout in the Black Hills of South Dakota so I won’t tell you that we were fishing in the Black Hills.
The 1st picture is me hooked up with the first fish I ever had on this rod.
The 2nd picture is one of the brookies I caught. I know, it isn’t much of a fish but I’m proud of it because I caught it on a wood-strip rod I built from scratch. I may even retire this rod to a place of honor on the wall (after I get the next one built, of course).
The 3rd picture shows my fishing buddy Jim trying out “the rod” in the beauty of the Black Hills, I mean the un-named place we were fishing.
Oh, surely you must be mistaken as to where you were. There are no waters, or trees, or rocks, or fish, like that in the Black Hills!! But where ever you were … looks good!!!
Could we see some pictures of the rod, too? They absolutely fascinate me!
Betty-
I only wish I could remember where we were.
Here are some pictures of the wood strip-built rod. Not sure if you can really tell anything about the rod from the pictures so here is a quick run-down.
This is the first one of these rods I have built. It is made of Ash and is made following the directions in John Betts’ book, “Making strip-Built Fly Rods from Various Woods on a Lathe”.
The process for making a wood strip rod is basically as follows:
6 strips of wood are cut and the edges milled at 60 degree angles. These 6 strips are glued into a hexagon rod blank. The blank is mounted on a wood turning lathe and the blank is sanded into the appropriate taper from tip to handle. Attach the hardware and go fishing.
The process is a bit more complicated than that but that’s pretty much it.
I remember when you first posted, and was intrigued by what you were doing. I think a later post mentioned what wt line the rod handled best, but can’t remember what it was ??
Glad you got a chance to fish and enjoy it, and took the time to post the results. Let us know when you start the next one.
I, for one, would love to see you a series, kind of a pictorial or tutorial, on the process and post it on “Reader’s Casts”, if JC and the Ladyfisher would agree, for posterity.
This rod handles a 4 wt. nicely. It has a softer feel and a slower action than I would have liked. The next rod I make will be made from Purpleheart wood and I will tweak the taper a bit to see what effect that has on the action.
As for a tutorial, I wouldn’t mind putting one together, however, there is no way I could improve upon or even do justice to the instruction found in Mr. Betts’ book. If a person is really interested in the process I recommend getting a copy of the book “Making Strip-Built Fly Rods from Various Woods on a Lathe” by John Betts. Even if one has no intention of ever making a wood-strip rod it is an enjoyable book. It is published entirely in Mr. Betts hand-written form with all of the sketches that Mr. Betts originally drew when he first “self-published” this book years ago. The book, itself, is really a work of art and well worth the price.
Thanks for the kind words. It was a blast making the rod. Even more fun fishing the rod. I am anxious to get started on the next one.
I used good ol’ “Tight Bond” type 3 waterproof wood glue (that’s what Mr. Betts uses in his book and if its good enough for him its good enough for me). Finished with 3 heavy brushed-on coats of Spar Urethane followed by several sprayed-on coats.