When I started out building my first Custom Fly Rod I did a few things wrong, the reel seat was the wrong type, I added a fighting butt to a Freshwater rod. Times have changed after many years of experience, however that particular rod kept on nagging at me, begging me to rebuild it and that’s exactly what I did. Last year I completely stripped it down to bare carbon and began the process with a new layer of varnish on the blank. The idea was to build a Neo-Classic style rod, bringing modern components together with a classic style. To achieve this trick I used silk as wrapping thread, varnish instead of epoxy to finish the guide wraps, chrome coated snake guides and added a feather-inlay that’s been called the Wolf Spider. The reel seat is a fantastic Strubble brand seat (which I’m sad to say is no longer made) with a Maple wood insert that finishes off the look nicely.
I not only completed the rebuild but also wrote an article about the whole experience which was then published in the Australian Flylife magazine. For all those unaware of the most famous Fly Fishing magazine in Australia which has been running now since 1995 and running strong with a subscription of not only National readers but also International. If you haven’t already done so, do yourself a favour and sign up. You can check out my article called, “Restoring an Old Gem” in Issue 83. www.flylife.com.au
