WylieRods

I built this for well under $100. It has a quick change chuck (2" PVC couplings cut in half with sheet rubber chucks) if I have to go to small diameter blanks. The roller are skateboard bearings with vinal tubing to protect the blanks. The top roller arm locks in place for easy loading and the springs self tention the top roller on the blank. It's no work of art but it works.

It was a good night last night as both my buddy Dan and I hooked up on about six foot long sturgeon each in fast moving water. Fish this size in fast moving water demand a spiral wrapped rod!

This is my close friend Dan with his sturgeon he caught last night. This fish bit like a small one then faught as hard as any fish I have ever seen. It stuck it self in the rocks for a little while and like a true master Danny waited the fish out and managed to land it after a good half an hour fight. These demand a spiral wrap!

I mentioned catching this fish on Rodbuilding.org a few months ago and have finally got my computer set up again so here it is fellas. The rod in the back background was the last one I built before I left California. It was built for a very dear friend of many years and he is very pleased with the rod.

Except for the tip I think it gets easier from here. I posted some pictures now of how his transtion from blue to holo guide wraps looks for you. Tight wraps, Wylie

This is a reel seat I set up for my buddy Jay.

Here's some of the pay lake rods I have been build in the precoat with one turning

These are some simple guide wraps I knocked out pretty quick. These are the pay lake special rods I've been building.

One more coat for this one, it gets cold in Minnesota ya know!

Pretty simple except for the black over the silver. Yikes!

This one should be good for about 52 hours usable light from two alkaline AAA batteries. Thank you Muhole for the parts that are probably being fished now in Idaho. Besides the grips and reel seat here. ;p Wylie

This is one of those pay lake rods I have been building but this one has a bunch of left over parts on it that I had from a rod I broke. She's my!

This is that rod that the coatings got all crazy with me when I was building. Yep that's A.M. on the clock, time for sleep!

The craziest thing happen to me today while I was costing a decorative wrap. I got the coating to close to the lamp I work by and the coating went into thermal overrun. The free radicals in the epoxy just went off and the fumes were flying and the cup is melting and the popsicle stick is lifting the pot and I'm looking at this going on with sticky fingers and grab the camera for a short but I can't see the fumes in the picture.

Plain Jane rod meets Tech TV. This B710-7 rod blank was donated by Kenny at Kencor Sports Inc. and all of the other components came from Mudhole Custom Tackle. The red and black picture is the rod tip at maximum sensitivity in a mirror. The tip of the rod had some coating inside of it but it worked out okay anyway and gave it a little different effect. My coatings are a little bellied with a football looking guide next to the tip so I guess you could say she looks like a tough pregnant chick, all boobs and belly and ready to brawl.

With any luck this will go into production. The guides are Fuji Alconites from Mudhole and the spiral design is something that took quite some time but is very much worth the effort applied. For anyone keeping up with my efforts toward production rods things are looking as though they are going to happen. The second laser prototypes that came in from overseas worked like a charm and the battles for the consumers have begun. Stay tuned.

My last trip to Idaho my buddy Jason got this sturgeon named Clark. From what we were told the sturgeon in the area we fished are between two dams so they get to be known and this one could be identified by a barbell that splits into two on its end. Clark had my buddy Jason in for a REEL ride of about 45 minutes to an hour with three or four good runs and some shorter ones while the guys were trying to land Clarks nearly eight foot length. Clark went for a half to ¾ pound mort (hatchery mortality trout) cast from shore with a fifteen foot rod and a eight or ten ounce sinker in the Snake River near Bliss. I think the sturgeon are an experience any avid angler most have as these fish are amongst the hardest pulling of fish. Take a close look at the end of the fishing rod, it snapped where Jason had it under his leg. Tight Lines, Wylie

I just thought I would post this as it kind of looked like some tribal fish wrap to me. It's real close up and shows all the spaces, those are my Levis as the background. I'm sure it would have looked better with an underwrap but when I get a bite on my rod the light in the rod goes toward the handle and this way I can get an idea where to grab the rod. This one is soon to be a spiral wrapped rod.

Sometimes simple stuff just looks good. I was doing the first coating on this rod last night and thought I would get some pictures. I have some real close up shots in an album I set up. Just click on the pictures if you check out the album and you will see the close ups at http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4288999299

I really like the color in this wrap but as you can see nobodies perfect.

This rod took a long time to finish but it is one of the most beautiful rods I have ever built. I used Kencor’s B710-7 blank for this rod, holographic guides from American Tackle Company and matched the colors on the guides rings with silver Prism thread wrappings. This spinning rod utilizes a forty-millimeter double foot guide in the position next to the reel seat and single foot guides finish the length of the rod to the tip. The shape of the coatings on the single foot guide wrappings may look odd but all of the single foot guides have that same shape for extra strength and longevity of use. A light scotch bright scuffing and a final coating to the decorative wrap and label will complete this rod.

No rolling tools needed!

This is my first sturgeon. It was caught on the Snake River in Idaho the weekend of the 8th. I have to say this is the most sporting fish I have ever caught. This one was about 60 to 70 pounds if were to guess. Amazing Fish!!!!

Anybody for night time crappie? The light inside the rod moves when the tip of the rod is moved even the slightest bit, I mean these things are extremely sensitive!