Kabuto 765-3

Finished the Kabuto blank build. It's a 7'6" 5wt in 3piece Kabuto white blank wrapped in dark blue thread with black accents. The grip is rubberized cork pieced together and shaped on a lathe. Recoil black pearl stripping guide and black snake guides and tip top. Reel seat is black web with black carbon insert.

It is for sale $425 shipped.
If interested email me at yakntx@yahoo.com

Kabuto Build Begins

Well almost....

I've been sitting on these two Kabuto blanks for a few months while I get caught up on some other builds. With the holidays approaching I will have time to build them up. The black Recoil guides and solid black webbed reel seat have been ordered and will be in by the end of the week. Can't wait to cast one.

BLACK FLY-DAY

I am offering up a couple of Black Fly-Day specials.

1) If you place an order for a 3-5 wt 4pc custom build I will include free Fed-Ex shipping in the US.
Expires on 11-25-12.

2) I'm in the Christmas spirit. I have one rod left in 9' 5wt 4pc blank that i'll let go for $275.00 plus shipping.

If interested please send me an e-mail to yakntx@yahoo.com

I hope your Thanksgiving was Happy and may your Christmas be Merry..........

FLY Rod 008

Work has been busy so rod building was put on the back burner for awhile. I did find time later in the evening to work on this new fly rod. It is a 9ft 5wt built on a 4pc Am/Tac Matrix blank. These blanks are strong, using a cross weave pattern in the butt section for more strength.
The guides are from American Tackle as well and are wrapped in light green thread with some tan accent wraps. Even use a double footed guide for the hook keeper.

I purchased this blank at a special price so i'm willing to make someone a great deal. It's for sale for $395.00 with included rod sock and shipped in the US. Contact me if interested.

New Mexico Bound

Built as a stream rod and heading to New Mexico for trout hunting.
7'6" Matrix Green blank, 3wt, 3pc.
Reel seat is a down locking,nickel coated made by Strubel.
Guides are light wire double footed snake brand.
Wrapped in Orange thread.

(TFO) Mini Mag Build

I finished the new Mini Mag build that i've been working on for myself. This rod will be fished hard for the next couple of weeks in the backwaters of Mississippi as well as the marshes of Louisiana.
Thanks to Rick from TFO, I was able to secure the 8ft 6-8wt blank. I didn't want to copy the produced rod's look so I went with a webbed reel seat in solid black, the guides are heavy duty black snake guides that are stainless for corrosion resistance. Using dark black to wrap the guides and tipped it all with teal trim. I chose no fighting butt at this time due to fishing from the kayak most of the time, if needed it can be added.
Here are the pictures.

5wt Matrix Build

The Matrix build is done. This rod is 9ft and comes in 4 pieces. It is a 5wt with a moderate action.
Grip is made of a custom cork pattern that was pieced together and shaped on a lathe. Guides are Snake brand and it is wrapped in Denim thread with copper accent wraps.
For sale $295.00 shipped in the US.

Matrix 5wt

Picked up a couple of Matrix blanks a few months ago to build on in between custom orders. The first one is almost ready and is looking nice. It is a 9ft 5wt in four pieces. The cork pattern came out nice, used a lighter shade in the blend this time. Wrapped the guides in denim thread with a copper trim in a few areas. Here are some pictures and i'll post more when finished. This rod will be for sale if interested send me an e-mail.

TFO Mini Mag Build

I've been looking for a fly rod blank that is capable of tossing around large flies both in the river for bass as well as the marsh for redfish. Found one, the TFO Mini Mag is definately capable of doing this.With a length of close to 8ft and being in the 6-8wt range, I should have no problem pulling bass out of the grass or swinging redfish to the net.This is one i'm building for myself to use while fishing out of the kayak, the shorter length will help with getting under the trees lining the bank. The blank arrived on Friday and will need to be fitted with a reel seat and a custom cork grip. I will post pictures as the build begins.

Slick as Glass

After following The Fiberglass Manifesto for over a year now. Seeing how hard Cam works to get people to try fly fishing with a fiberglass rod, it became apparent that the glass revolution is growing by leaps and bounds and I might be missing something cool. Not being able to hold out any longer, I was able to order two white fiberglass blanks from Kabuto Rods in Japan. Yasuyuki Kabuto is considered by many to be one of the premier glass rod builders around today, so when the opportunity to get a few of these hand crafted blanks came up I pounced on it.

After looking at pictures of rods that other custom builders have done with these blanks, I have decided on taking a classic glass blank and making it a little more modern. It's just what I do.
I will probably not use the traditional cork western grip and instead put a carbon fiber wrapped foam grip on it instead.

In lieu of the traditional snake guides, I am leaning towards putting on Black Pearl Recoil guides.

The hardest decision for me has to do with the reel seat. It has to be spot on to make the whole build come together. I am leaning towards a blued nickel Struble reel seat and just need to decide on what the spacer will look like.

The good thing is i'll have plenty of time to decide since the blanks won't ship until late August.
Can't wait to get these in and get started so I can see what glass is all about.

Other Fly Rods

These are some of the rods that i've built for customers.

 

Another 5wt

I built this one for myself. It is built on a 9ft 4pc MHX high modulus blank. This rod shoots out line fast and precise. Added carbon fiber wrapped grip and a rattlesnake skin inlay. Wraps were done in dark blue with a copper trim.

New One ready

9ft 5wt,4pc with Carbon Fiber handle and Rattlesnake skin inlay. Wrapped in black thread with copper trim.

Another one Done

Got another one ready to go to a new home. 9ft 5wt 4piece built on a high modulus MHX fast action blank. Grip is made of eurathane covered and finished with carbon fiber and has a custom rattlesnake skin inlay. Snake guides.

Rolling in

Had a few more blanks arrive. Both are moderate fast action 9' 4pc 5wt. They are ready to start on if interested. These will be nice casting rods when done.

Fly Rod 004

Finished this fly rod just in time for Troutfest on the Guadalupe River. It is a 9ft 4pc 5wt built on a High Modulus fast action MHX blank. The handle is constructed of two part Eurathane foam that is wrapped in carbon fiber material and finished with a clear epoxy. Reel seat is a triangle up-locking seat made by American Tackle with Snake brand double footed guides and wrapped in black thread with metallic gold trim.