Here is a very specialized rod due to it’s size. It’s a 5’ 5wt 2pc built on a Global Dorber blank for a customer that is following the methods of short fly rodding Ed Shenk describes in his book Fly Rod trouting.
Real seat insert is Amboyna Burl two tone with sap wood set in Nickle Silver hardware. Grip is a mix of brown burl, Copano cork, Burnt cork and rubberized cork. Wraps are Cobalt blue (no CP) to match the new owners favorite blue/purple color with silver trim bands.
After test casting this one I have to say, it preforms much bettger than I had first expected. It does cast a 5wt line very well and will load with as little as 10’ of line out from the tip. Quite a interesting little fishing tool.
Nice job Steve… There’s a lot to be said about a short rod. I personally have been subscribing to them for years. Depending on what conditions your fishing in , the “shorty” can make all the difference in the world. Most people who have not tried them would be enjoyably suprised how well they can cast for distance, and lay out a nice line presentation. Last but not least they can handle some large trout too depending on the weight rating of the rod.
I would say your customer will enjoy all of the above and be very happy!..Ed
I’ve been fishing the Global Dorber 5’ 5 wt as well as the 5’ 2 wt all summer and have been very happy. Did you use the suggested dorber guide spacing? I did, and it’s amazing how well those rods can shoot line. The first time I cast the 5 wt, it almost pulled the rod out of my hand. To be honest, the 2 wt gets a little annoying sometimes cause I actual get a recoil when the line shoots out to it’s full extension. (not implying the entire line, just what I have stripped off the reel at the time).
I think they do provide a great value. I wrapped mine plain jane, not nearly as nice as yours, and the total price was very reasonable. I made up a few pvc rod tubes, and my wife sewed me up a couple of her beautiful rod bags, I have one of the rods with me in the car just about always.
p.s. biggest fish to date on the 2 wt was a 19" largemouth, handled it with no problems. It’s nice to catch a fish that stretches up to your stripping guide. I’m still hoping to catch a 10" gill on it as well.
p.p.s. I found the dorber folks great to deal with. Very helpful.
pszy22- thanks. I use a spacing computer program a friend/fellow rod builder designed a few yrs back and used the spacing it suggested for this blank which came out to 4.5"-9 3/16"-14 1/16"-19 3/16"-24.5"-30". Taped the guides on and arched it and it came out with a nice smooth bend and no flats so it worked well for this one.
Haven’t built the Dorber 5’ 2wt but did do a Dorber 6’ 2wt for a customer in Australia last year and I know that was a sweet lil’ blank as well. I’ve been pretty happy with the Dorber line of blanks so far.
The 19" largie had to be a riot on that little 2wt:cool:
I’ve also been very happy with the dorber products I’ve received to date.
What I found most interesting, dorber recommends a stripper, 7 guides and of course a tip top. I was hesitant to use that many guides on a 5’ rod, but both blanks I rolled preformed well. Their philosophy is that line friction across the guides is minimal, what they want to do is eliminate any sagging between guides to maximize shooting line.
