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Anybody building rods?
Back in my younger years I used to fish at least 4-5 days a week. Then I had to actually become responsible and work normal hours. I got busy with other things and maybe only made it 4-5 times a year.
In the early years I would occasionally bring along my young daughter. This spring my now 26 year old daughter asked if I would teach her how to fly fish. So we have been getting out a couple times a week. She's starting to catch fish and has improved her casting and drift skills significantly. The look on her face after that first fish grabbed her dry fly will never be forgotten.
I bought her an Orvis Encounter rod setup in a 9 ft 5 wt. I would like to get her a little nicer and lighter weight rod since we fish mostly smaller streams (Logan and Blacksmith Fork rivers if your familiar with Cache Valley UT).
Most of my rods I built myself back when I was fishing a lot. I thought it would be fun to build a rod with her this winter. But a quick internet search showed that there were not many rod blanks available. Is rod building not much of a thing anymore? I really enjoyed being able to customize the rods to my liking. The biggest pain was when I broke a rod. Getting the blank back from warranty and then rebuilding it took too much time and work. I used to do some inlays and decorative thread wraps but nothing crazy or gaudish.
I think building a rod with my daughter would be enjoyable as much or more so than teaching her to tie her own flies (which we will also be doing). She just finished her masters degree and I can't imagine her staying around much longer. I need to enjoy the time I have left with her and give her something that she can keep for a long time to remind her of her old man. Well really I'm not that old, but my knee's tell my otherwise.
Anybody have a good recommendation on decent priced and available blanks? The last rods I built were a Sage 8'9" LL 3 wt and a Winston IM6 7'6" 3 wt. So it's been a long time.
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I think you hit on the two issues, decent priced and available blanks... With so many rods priced in the stratosphere and everyone looking for a deal......how is one to make a profit?
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I have read that Sage had discontinued selling blanks a few years back. I am not a rod builder, but it seems like they were a go-to for many builders making graphite rods.
I know that glass rods have been making a comeback, I have a friend (interestingly enough, originally from Logan) who makes them and loves Epic for high end and Blue Halo blanks for more modest builds. I can personally attest, a shorter 3 or 4wt glass rod is a blast to fish on both those rivers!
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https://www.epicflyrods.com/?tw_sour...xoCtlYQAvD_BwE
https://bluehalogear.com/
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I have a 5wt T&T that my dad build in the 90s that sees regular use. Don’t know that it casts better than any of my Sage rods from that time period but it’s a pretty special heirloom piece.
Don’t think I’d ever get into rod building as a hobby but maybe someday build 1 or 2 to pass down.
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