fishslayer

I have always mindlessly made all my guide wraps the same up and down a rod, thinking, "Well, this is how its always been done." Not any more! I took my girlfriend's advice and utilized contrast. As if the bumper/spiral wrap didn't draw enough attention, now I am hoping my customer will get bombarded with even more questions about it. Just thought I'd share my latest personal rod building epiphany.

ultra light rod with dyed stabalized wood handle and TATSG

a rod for a buddy. he doesn't do anything but catch tarpon while I catch anything but....

Copano Cork with several coats of Spar finish.

This is a 2 year old rod that sees alot of heavy action and a fair amount of abuse along the way. I thought the Fuji HNSG was a high end component. What kind of substrate is used? Why is it rusting. This rod is rinsed, dried and waxed every trip.

WOW! I was asked to replace a broken guide on this rod. When I put it on the lathe I took a double take and then looked to see if it was a 2 piece. I think the factory wrapper had a rough night before he wrapped this one! If this isn't a compeling reason for a custom made rod, I don't know what is...

Islamorada Permit in July

Don't laugh. This is my own little experiment. A split grip stand up rod with dyed wood. This is my first time using wood on a rod. The weave is a cartoon style shark in gold outline with white teeth and a red eye. Difficult to photograph! This is a 5'6" Shikari that will be spiral wrapped with an Avet Reel.

My first attempt at mutliple grip materials. This is the same rod with the cross wrap guides - Patriot MB844.

This a a single foot guide with a Forhan Locking wrap and a silver trim band and cross wrap.

I have to match my reels with my rods. This was an attempt to match the AmTak Blue/Silver Turbo and a red faced Penn. The picture doesn't show it but the red matches the reel perfectly. This is a Calstar spiral wrap with Penn Senator with extra drag washers -- grouper winch.

It was a battle to epoxy the solar active thread. I finally had to use Permagloss. It took some coats I lost count. Its a basic wrap but thought it looked nice on Mudholes pink blank.

This was obviously modeled after Jim Kastorff's recent pics and magazine shots. Heck even the weave is his. I just used some different colors.

Tough fishing in a Small Craft Advisory but still managed a few quality fish off Key West.

Weave of owners signature in HT pearl on black/orange twist backround.