A Few Shots of the Lake

On my way out in the evening. The "witching hour" when it comes to bass and poppers

                                                                                                                                                             

A new family of Common Loons

Another Smallie Photo

Ive been going through some of my photos and found this one. I like these kind of shots. Check out the eye!!! It looks a little annoyed. Ha Ha

Evening Dry Fly

I have been so busy as of late I haven't had time to do much fishing. BUT Friday was such a beautiful evening I just couldnt resist. The day was really really warm and I just knew there would be a good evening hatch and I was right. The hatch of olives started at about 9:30 and lasted until dark. I really do just live for those days out when everything is just right!!!
                                                                      

Nothing better than fishing a good evening hatch of flies!!!

 

Reward--- A chunky grayling taken on a #14 Ducks Dun

Poppers+Bass=FUN!!!!

Heres a few fishing photos from my trip. I caught some very nice bass on the surface. I didnt bother using any streamer or sunk patterns at all. Its so exciting catching them on the top I just couldnt be bothered fishing anything else. I would rather catch one on the surface than 5 under. You can zoom all of the photos by clicking on them.

Mark( a local) and I took the quads and canoe back into a lake far off the beaten path. Ended up with a few nice smallies. This was the biggest of the day. It pulled like a tow truck. Great to have a whole lake to yourself!!

Got a few Largemouth this year. This was the first of the trip

This was the biggest Largemouth of the trip. What a gob on them. This took a number 4 Booglebug popper

Another shot of the one above.Getting into "Tank" range

More Wildlife

I know these have nothing to do with rodbuilding but remember the rods we build are after all made so we can get out in the great outdoors and experience all of this great stuff.

A rattlesnake-- native to the province of Ontario. Endangered yet folk still kill them.
The rattle sounds more like your getting a text on your mobile. It was mock striking as well as I was taking photos.

No possible way you can buy this I don't care how rich you are.

Fishing Trip and Photos

Well I am back after a 10 hour flight delay in Toronto. I was supposed to leave at 7:30PM and didn't get out of there until 4:30 the next morning. I could have fished that evening bite but didn't want to think about that too much. It was great to get away. Up at 6ish every morning pour some coffee and out to the dock/boat with the fly rod. As a rodbuilder its great to get out and use the tools you have made. After all this is what its all about. I seen loads of wildlife and Ill start with that. I'll get the fishing photos sorted out and post them shortly.

Make sure to click on the photos to enlarge them then click again to zoom them in!!!

Seen a black shape in the distance while fishing and curiosity got the better of me. Ended up getting really close to this yearling moose swimming across the lake. As I got the boat beside him he really started trucking. Notice the loons in the background

Finally across

A nice 8 point Whitetail was watching us as we nosed in for a closer look. Notice his rack is still in velvet.

Caught a snapping turtle on the dock eating some fish.

He didn't want to stick around but I held him against his will for a shot. Man they are strong. I could tell he didn't like it from the hissing and jaw snapping.

More to come shortly!!!

Basic Guide Wrapping

I get quite a few emails with folk that have questions or are having problems with wrapping their guides. Hopefully this will help. I will spread it out over several posts as there is a lot of photos.

OK let me start by saying before you even start worrying about wrapping with thread the most important thing to keep the job as easy as possible is to properly prep your guide feet. By tapering the foot and by making the "toe" very slim the thread will have little chance of slipping off once your thread starts "walking" up the guide foot.

GUIDE PREP


You can see in this photo that at the end of the foot (where it transitions on to the blank) has very little step in it. To do this take a file and gently remove material until you get it to look like this. As you file lay it on something flat to check how much "step" it has left. This photo should help for visual reference. The time spent here is well worth it as it makes wrapping so much easier. Take your time go slow and have a light touch. No need to dig the file in hard just a nice smooth forward stroke. No need to go back and forth as the file will only cut on the forward stroke.

HOLDING THE GUIDE




Use a thin piece of masking tape to hold your guide down on the blank prior to wrapping. If it wont sit nice and flat take it off and touch the bottom of the guide with a file. You want it to sit flat. Now there is no need to wrap the tape all the way around the blank. This only makes it more difficult to get off while wrapping. You will see what I mean later!!

MAKING A SHOULDER



Next take a full width of masking tape and wrap it around the blank twice where you want your wrap to start. The length of the wrap is up to you as it will be your rod. By doing this you will create a shoulder for the thread to sit against to get a nice square edge. It also makes a dam if you like so you can pack the thread against it. I find that this is the easiest for beginners.






THE WRAPPING



Now the meat of it. OK my for wrapping setup the thread comes from behind the blank so bring the thead over the blank against the shoulder then wrap it in open turns to your right hand side 3 or 4 times. If you want you can put a temporary peice of tape on this tag to keep it tight or hold it with your left hand putting mild pressure by pulling towards you at all times. Dont let it go.



While still pulling with your left hand use your right index finger to gently nudge the thread over creating an "X". As you make this "X" rotate your blank so it traps the thread underneath. This is why it is important to not let it go with your left hand which is holding the tag end. If you do the blank will tend to spin within the wrap.



Make a few wraps and use your thumnail or in this case a tool to gently push the thread against your shoulder made of tape.



Make 4-5 turns again using your right index finger to guide the thread over your tag end and so it lays against each other and does not criss cross. If you look at the photo there are 5 wraps all laying next to each other. You can release the pressure with your left hand and cut the tag. The thread is trapped now and wont fly off.

A Few Custom Grips

This grip is made with Stabilized maple Burl on the ends with Birchbark in the middle trimmed off on each side with some black and white acrylic. The seat and fighting butt are also Maple Burl. This went on a stripped down CTS 6 weight.

Can you tell I have a thing for bark grips?

Notice the burl pattern on the fighting butt. Kinda looks like a fish. I thought "what are the odds" when I was turning it








Here it is up close. I put it up facing the angler














A matching maple winding check instead of the old boring metal ones!!!

















This is another bark grip but with Stabilized Black Ash Burl on the ends. I still have to turn the matching seat.

A Day Out on the River Tweed

I was out last week with a mate. I got this brownie on a #12 March Brown Klinkhammer style. The hatch was massive and they were up and feeding. This one was taking emergers.He was released shortly after this photo. 26 inches and change of wild beauty!!!

Latest Grip

This is one of our latest grip using Birch Bark, Stabilized Birch Burl and acrylic. Ive got a few more that are just in the process of getting some finish on them. Ill try to get them up when they are done. The blank is a Dan Craft 9" 7 WT

Fighting Butt and seat turned from Stabilized Birch Burl with a Burl end cap

Burl Wood

I've recently started taking stock of turning blocks which are stabilized. I will be putting them up on the site ASAP. Some of the species I will be stocking are Birch Burl, Maple Burl, Black Ash Burl as well as some different types of stabilized horn such as reindeer and moose. I will have bigger sizes for grips and smaller sizes for reel seats

Stabilized wood is the way to go for a grip/ reel seat application. It wont split, crack, warp and its saltwater resistant. It polishes to a high finish without the need for a "top coat" of sealer.

These blocks in the photo are some cross cut birch burl. For those of you who don't turn your own I can supply you with a custom grip or seat made to your specifications
If you have any questions or would like to obtain some of this wood contact me scott@solwaycustomcomponents.com

A Trio!!!

Click on the Photo


Peter Mulbjerg was kind enough to forward me this really great photo of his grips made with our birchbark. These are some truly custom grips. Looking forward to seeing what else he comes up with.

Ebony and Bark

Rodbuilder Peter Mulbjerg of Denmark was kind enough to send me a photo of his latest grip made with our Birchbark. A job well done and truly a custom rod. I really like working with this natural material. The dark ebony really gives a nice contrast to the light coloured bark. Again well done Peter

Proud To Be a Canadain EHH!!!

I have been following the winter games closely these last couple of weeks. I watched the closing ceremonies and was a bit dissappointed that its all over. The cross country skiing was great. Norways Marik B was almost subhuman. Dont know how they can do that. Finally sat through some curling including Canada's mens gold medal game. One thing that puzzles me is that if curling is a winter games sport why shouldnt ice fishing? It was touch and go in the mens hockey final but in the end it all came good.One thing that really suprised me was

14 GOLDS for Canada Ehhh!!! Olympic Record!!!

So you see we dont all live in igloos and there is more to the country than mounties, beavers and moose.

Guide Prep, Grayling and Olympics!!!

I remember when I built my first few rods back in the mid 80's. I had bought Dales Clemens book and remember reading his words about finishing. He said it was a mistake to think about finishing as you were mixing your finish. I start to think about finishing even before the guide is wrapped. If you prep your guides properly it is so much easier to get a nice clean finished product. My tools are a flat file and a sanding board which women use to file their nails. I will say that when I find myself at the drugstore I get some funny looks when I am buying fingernail boards, Sally Hansens nail varnish(for my flies). I don't say anything and keep them guessing!! Ha Ha

When prepping your guide feet try to get a narrow slope with a very fine edge where the thread will start to climb up the foot. The time spent here will save you more headache than you know. This is especially true for someone starting out. I rough them out with a flat file and then take any burrs off with a sanding board.As these days I mostly build fly rods I like to keep the wraps slim looking. A word of caution- go slow file a bit and look. You can always remove but its hard to put the material back. As this is custom work and your looking for a nice fit and finish, time should not really be an issue. You can click on each photo to get a close look

Left- Unprepped

Right-Prepped

Notice the difference in the slope, thickness and radiused. Much easier to work the thread over the prepped guide. After it is wrapped the "tunnels" which are formed on each side of the foot are kept to a min. This reduces the amount of air that can be trapped in this void space. Reduced air equals less chance of getting bubbles in your finish and they are easier to fill up with your thread coating of choice.

Here's the difference. Be careful though don't make them too thin as you will lose to much of the structural strength. Practice makes perfect

I usually taper them this way as well.

I have been going through my fishing photos and saving all my best to a disc. Here is a nice grayling(one of my favorite fish). I looked in my notes and this was taken on a #16 CDC emerger during an olive hatch. This is the European grayling which is a bit different from the Artic Grayling.

Great sport when they are feeding on the surface with gusto!!

GO CANADA!!!!

Hockey tonight against USA. Lets crush them Shatner stealing Mexico touchers. I may be here in the UK. I,m still a puck slapping maple sucker A good medal haul so far this year

More Birchbark!!

I seemed to have a problem with my account and could not access my blog. All seems to be sorted out now. I have been making quite a few grips since my last post. This is another birbark grip attached to an 8' 3 WT. I really love the look of a birchbark grip. Definitely screems custom rod. If your interested in making one of these for yourself you can purchase the bark here. I have personally collected and sorted the bark. If you dont roll your own but would like one please contact me scott@solwaycustomcomponents.com

In this grip I have added Laguna Burl cork and Corian for the trim.
The seat and end cap are stabilized birch burl wood.
Please click on the photo to zoom it in.



A closer shot of the seat.

Custom ALPS Decal

I haven't been posting as much as I would like but I have been busy with customer rods and the like. I don't feel to bad spending time in the shop because the weather has been absolutely awful. Today I had time to slip in my water slide decal work. They were made on an ALPS printer using white ink. This is the stripping side with the builders name. ME!!! Click on the photos to zoom them in.



This is the other side with model, length and rating. I have to do some more experimenting with these decals. The carrier paper is extremely thin and they were not the easiest to bed down. I found the best so far is a coat of Chromaseal over the decal before it is cut to shape. This way the writing is more durable and you can give it a fair amount of pressure to squeeze the air out from under it. All in all its not to bad. I used Threadmaster over and turned by hand. Its nearly 3 3/4" long came out nice and level. I also changed the wrap a bit an put in some tan between the white bands to tie in with the grip.

A Strange Pike

No rod building today. My computer was so full of junk that I had to spend some time and clean it up.
I came across this photo that I had completely forgotten about. I think it was caught somewhere in Ontario, Canada. I have seen small slamon fry hatching like this but they usually didn't last
.Obiviously this fish was one of the very lucky ones. I figured I would pop it on here and see if other fisherman find it strange!!!!

Guide Wraps and Easy Trim Bands

Ok been picking away at this wrapping. The first thing I do is hoover(vacuum) my work area. I then take one of those magic dusters and go over the general area to minimize dust. Try to do whatever you can to keep the dust levels low to none. If its dry, which is rare here in Scotland, I will wear a nylon windbreak so there is no dust off of my shirt

I find some type of magnifier really helps to see what the thread is doing. This one has a daylight bulb in it. Overhead is 4 4" tube lights. most of my work area is painted white for maximum brightness. I also have a set of goggle magnifiers which fit to your face. I use this one the most though. Remember if your threadwork looks good magnified it will look even better when its not

I use a neptune thread tensioner. It doesn't use springs for tensioning. It is two magnets in which you put paper washers between to adjust the tension. The more washers the less tension there is. Its really smooth and especially good if wrapping with metallics. It doesnt get pinched between anything so there is no chance of fraying. The washers you see are my "guide wrap setting". I minus a few for ferrule wraps and threadwork such as chevrons, diamonds etc where you want your wrap just slightly tighter.
When a guide is wrapped you should be able to move it back and forth for alignment. If you can't its too tight

I wont bore you with a normal guide wrap procedure. But I will show you how I do all of my trim work whether it be thread or metallics.

Lay a 6" piece of your trim material over the blank. Place a darning needle(in this case), a wooden stick or your finger over the thread. Easy enough you say!!!

Now wrap your thread around your tool of choice. You will need to put one extra wrap of thread for the number of trim turns that you want. In this case I want 3 so I put 4 or its more like 3 1/2 turns and put the end throught the eye. Place your thumb on the loose wraps to they stay in the order you see. Pull the needle throgh and you will end up with a tag on each side. Now in order for it to "lock" on itself you will have to carefully remove one turn and you will see the two threads join in a sortof figure of eight in the middle. Dont pull it tight. Gently slide it up to your main wrap and pack it against the shoulder.

This is just loose before packing. Once it packed just pull each tag in the direction that they are lying (90 degrees to the blank). To lock them position one towards the tip and one towards the butt( parallel with the blank). Trim the tags, place a very small dab of CP or super glue right on the crossover point and bobs your uncle!!.
Oh one other thing. Place the knot or crossover on the side thats not seen by the angler. On a spinning and fly rod thats on the guide foot side, on a baitcasting it would be opposite the guide foot side.

Both trim wraps finished. I like doing it this way because your trim tags will never show under your main wraps especially if your not using CP.