Intermediate Wraps!

 I'm writing instead of wrapping only to take a break!  I'm in the middle of the restoration on this "Noris" rod, European, probably made by DAM.  In case you are not an insider, the intermediate wraps are those place between the guide wraps, originally to reinforce the glue, other times purely for decoration, always to annoy the wrapper.  There are over 100 intermediate wraps on this rod. I have to do them in stages so I can apply the first coat of preserver to keep from 'blowing out" (coming unwrapped) when I accidentally touch them.  I am lucky that these are thicker than most, 6 wraps each so they are not as fragile.  The rod will look pretty cool when complete, but I understand why some restorers/builders charge $1 each for these!  As you can see by the first "before" shot, this bamboo is a nice, light color.  Check back soon.

Heddon - Bill Stanley's Favorite 1 3/4F

Have had this rod for a few years, and have tried to replace the reel seat with the original Heddon parts.  I just could not remove the reel seat without warping it after boiling water and did not want to risk it even on the "parts" rods that I had.  Since I was going to keep it anyway, I broke down and used a modern reel seat.  The light wood was not my first choice, but the only one I had on hand that would fit over the bamboo without shaving it down too much.  I also went back to the original maroon & gold silk wraps.  Good news, my newest lacquer, thinned 50% had no bleed through.  The bad news is that it changed the colors.  I would have loved if it would have stayed true but can't wait to fish it.  Just tried it out, does well with a WF5 Sylk line.  I will give kudos to whoever redid this in brown & tan, they did a great job with the tipping, nice and thin.  I do know the varnish must have been polyurethane - I could not remove from the writing with alcohol and it would not sand worth a crap.  Luckily I was able to peel it off once I removed the adjacent varnish.

 

South Bend 12 Restoration

Here's a very nice Pre-WWII rod from South Bend (judging by the decal) that is lighter than my other SBs.  I found this rod a local antique fair and had put off restoring it for almost 2 years due to band & other jobs that came in.  Honestly, I dreaded all the signature wraps on the butt and did it between the last 2 repair jobs.  I went with silk thread and had some bleed through despite 4 coats of color preserver (you can see the black thread under red in the second restored shot), but the the translucent red looks so nice on the light-colored cane I can't be too disappointed.  This rod casts a 5 wt. Sylk line very nicely, will try the Triangle Taper as well.  My next project is restoring an 8.5 ft. Bill Stanley's Favorite that was redone in brown & yellow.  I already removed the original reel seat which was cracked and missing the bottom hardware.  Hmm, this is the first personal rod I have restored in almost a year.

Southern AZ fishing - Arrivaca 8-21-13

Wow, the fishing reports were "Just a bit outside!!".  I read access was difficult, but that should read impossible unless you have a float tube you can carry over your head for few hundred feet - think of an old movie with a safari.

May 2011

August 2013

First cove left of boat Ramp 8-21-13

The first 2 pictures are of the same basic area, the third is the first cove just north of the launch area.  I could see water in the distance, but there was algae on the surface.  The good news is the fish will be relatively unmolested IF they survive.  The only good news is that the vegetation on road into the lake was lush and green.  A sign of recent rains, but I suspect we will need a near-biblical downpour or two to bring it back up.  Then we can hope for some hippos to wash in and clear some vegetation.  Ah, no cosmic topwater bite this year.  I will hope for rains and the survival of the bass & bluegills here.

Recent work - HI Cascade & South Bend 469

Here's an HI Cascade I recently shipped to CO.  A rush job for a birthday.  These are pretty good rods and one of the few deals you can find now with all others shooting up.  I have one of my own I will get to one day - soon I hope.

 One regret, a bit of the name came off when I was taking the varnish off with a q-tip before stripping - made one too many passes.

Here is one of my rods that I finally made time for.  It's a combo spin/fly rod, a friend found it for me in a garage sale.  A good choice for hiking up to a trout lake when you're not sure if you'll have to nymph or use power bait.  I haven't had a chance to cast, but bet will will use a 6 or 7 wt. line.

 

Divine Rainbow - Complete

The rod is finally dry to the touch!  I had to wait until the rush of final gigs was complete so I could concentrate on finishing this fine old rod.  I've said before I like this color combination and may use it on a South Bend I am currently stripping (not original, but it should look classier).  My current batch of varnish is aging to a nice amber, it darkened the threads a bit more than I wanted, but much livelier than some of the original wraps which looked almost black in the first photos.  Scroll down, take a look.  An honor to work on this one.

 

Rose Canyon Lake in March

There is still snow on the trail thanks to a couple of recent snows so there is water flowing in.  

The lake is in good shape, the water is clear.  I didn't see any evidence of stocker rainbows, but the Browns continue to winter over and get a bit bigger each year.  You can see them rising starting in mid-morning, but I continue to do best with any peacock-bodied fly, my preference is soft hackles.  I have made a couple of mid-week hikes in, my best brown came this week at the inlet, about 4:30 when the area was in shade.  It's nice to have this less than a hour from my door.

 

 

Divine Rainbow - stripped down

All wrapped up and I have put color preserver on the wraps.  The top tip already has one coat of varnish, have to coat the rest of the section and will dip.  I really like this B&W Jasper/Gold thread combination.

 

Okay, I have cleaned the grip and stripped off the old varnish.  I just started wrapping today.  

Divine Rainbow

A very nice 9'6" rod from the Fred Divine Company.  I love the reel seat on this rod.  Had to try it out, I like the way it handles a 6 wt WF Sylk line, but it would probably work well with a DT7 as well.  I will post pictures as I progress, despite what you see, the wraps are black & white jasper with gold trims.  Just finished re-seating the ferrules.

The Last of 4 - Montague

Okay, it took a while, but the series is finally done.  Easily the most intermediate wraps I have ever done and honestly it was tough to wrap more than 30 minutes at a time.  I would do 5 or 6 groups at a time then put the preserver on.  There were several times I knocked off a wrap as I moved on.  This is an older Montague, I am guessing Calcutta Cane instead of higher grade Tonkin just because the age and quality, but don't know for sure.  I do like the way the color differences show up with the new varnish.  In between Band gigs, I am going to get to the stack of unfinished rods in my collection.

First of 4

Here is the first of 4 rods I am restoring for a flyfisher who inherited the rods. I made a snap judgement when I first saw the rod due to the wrapping - I generally see this rainbow thread on low quality rods, but this is a very good taper and good bamboo.  The garnet thread blended in very nicely with the ferrules, a very attractive rod once redone.

 

South Bend Bamboo

Here's a basic rod I did for a client.  A entry-level model produced in the last years of bamboo rods.  It was splintered in the middle of the tip section and male ferrule of the tip was missing as well.  I was able to repair but it kept a slight set.  Luckily, it will just be for display.  I'm not sure why the before pictures went to portrait orientation, but you can see the difference.  I have always liked the color of South Bend's flamed (?) cane. 

Good Friday Fishing - Arrivaca

Wanted to make a quick return to Arrivaca, I was bit worried it would be too tough to launch if the water was any lower.  Luckily a channel had been cut by regular boats.  It was a very pleasant day and the period around sunset was gorgeous, no wind (which may have hurt fishing a bit since my finning and casts created the only ripples) but I didn't get the twilight bite from last year.  Still a very good day with a couple of bluegills thrown in.  Root-beer and Olive crystal buggers were the only producers, the fish were fatter than the previous trip.  Hope we get some rain soon.