Restoration Work - Dec. 2009

I just dipped a Montague Flash Saturday and I finished the Mt. Tom last month. I will post the "after" pictures this weekend. I used some vintage Gudebrod Champion threads on these rods and was very pleased. I used Aerogloss lacquer as a color preserver on the Flash and love the way the color stayed true. I'm about to re-post the Mt. Tom on E-Bay to see if I can get a sale (the last one backed out at the end). I just started work on 7' Eastern rod for a friend, I am not looking forward to the intermediate wraps.

A Labor Day hike did the heart a lot of good, gave the legs a good workout and saw more hikers than I expected (but I have never hiked here on a holiday). I was very lucky in that it was cloudy most of the day, was certain I would be rained on, but I guess the humidity was up there as I was the roasting pig on way back up. I was glad to see so many dogs on the trail, I may have to take Mollie next time. A very nice day, good for the soul. I do wish the pictures had turned out at bit nicer.

Yellowstone 2009

Well, life became a good deal bleaker for me today. I just cancelled my room reservations for this year. I was truly looking forward to the trip, but nothing worked out as planned. The year started with such promise and a few spring hikes showed I was ready for the treks. The year was actually going well in spite of a downward trend in business, but this will cure me of being too optimistic in the future. So I don't get to visit Middle Creek (pictured) or hit the Drake hatch on Soda Butte. I'll use the money saved to pay down some bills, hmm, being practical has no soul.

LAST OF THE TRIPS FOR AWHILE

I always forget these photos post in the order I download them . . . the last shot is an eastward-facing view from Rose Canyon, before that is one of the Brown Trout that were stocked as fingerlings a fews years back - so nice to catch a fish there with a tail & fins! Family obligations will keep me off the mountain for a few weeks, so I'm glad to got try my different bamboo rods in April. I have to say, I had more fun casting the Phillipson Pacemaker over the 8 1/2' Heddon Black Beauty I used the week before so the Heddon may go on the market to pay upcoming college bills. The second shot is a special spot where I was able to close my eyes and reclaim my soul. You don't get the chance to hear running water in Southern Arizona very often, I may wait until the monsoons to see what happens here. The first shot was taken at the end of the day, I hated to leave but the band (& practice) was calling. It's been awhile since I was tempted to stay until all light and the heat of the day was gone, it would have been well worth it.

RECENT HIKES & FISHING TRIPS

I've taken advantage of some days off during the week to fish and hike my local sky islands. Rose Canyon Lake produced a ton of fish a couple of weeks ago when I went with my buddy Fly Rod McLeod, I even caught my first browns at Rose Canyon. A week later they kicked me - only 3 fish all day - my excuse is they had just been stocked the day before so they had not evolved into "fly" fish yet. That's my 8 1/2' Heddon Black Beauty Rod resting on my backpack. I've had some very nice hikes at Madera Canyon - found a wonderful resting place recently - I closed my eyes, listened to the leaves, the trickle of the the stream and felt the caress of a light breeze. Quite enchanting, words don't do it justice, almost makes one believe in wood nymphs.

RECENT RESTORATIONS - THE AMHERST

I really wish I had taken some "before" photos here. The grip was ridiculously long so I cut a bit off and worked it into a cork reel seat. It wound up being a 6'9" rod that flips a short, powerful cast with a 6 wt. line. My fishing buddy and band mate Bob Diedrich wound up with this one.

RESTORED RODS

I started restoring rods about 16 years ago. Read about it, tried different finishes and some hideous thread combinations. If you look at "Rods for Sale" you'll one on a Montague I did in 1994 - I think I was going to sell it to a Cowboys fan. I cursed silk threads because I came to find out you have to put about 6 coats of preserver to prevent bleed throughs when you dip the rod, but that's an entirely solo post on it's own. Because of business and my band, I stopped about 5 years, but have resumed again. Here are a couple of recent projects.

This is an HI Lucky Strike I did for a friend from TU. It was just for display so I kept the original guides and replaced a few. Some sets in the tips were easy to fix and this was my first dip with a new batch of varnish that turned out well (I store the dip tube and do the work in my Music/fish room vs. the garage, temp makes a huge difference.). We were both happy.

A Weber Monogram made by Heddon. I bought this from a fellow member of TU about 13 years ago and finally got it done. I really like the way the reel seat cleaned up. I was going to wrap in the original Black & White Jasper but my vintage 00 silk kept snapping so I used the same thread I use for Orvis repairs and it went well with the cane color. I look forward to fishing this one.