Dave's Fly Bench: Spare the rod and spoil the child…

In my case it’s just the opposite – I gave her the rod and still spoiled the child!

I spoiled the child by building the rod that she, my daughter Kristin – creative little thing that she is – designed!

What a nightmare! – but looking at the finished product – you wouldn't know how difficult it was to build.

Blue, silver, what could be so difficult?

And, while a challenge, it was very satisfying – or relieving – when I finally finished the rod and watched her cast and catch her first trout on the third rod I've built for my first born.

And, as for duplicating her design – to quote one of my favorite authors – “Nevermore!” thanks, Ed (Mr. Poe to others – I wonder if Raven feathers would be good for tying flies? Maybe a fly named “Lenore”? - it would probably just get lost.)

I bought the blank – Fenwick Fiberglass, 6 wt, 8'6" – over twenty five years ago. I signed the rod blank for Kristin in hopes of building it right away – or at least sooner than 25 years.

One thing lead to another and fishing was no longer a priority for her, so the blank traveled from Croton-on-Hudson, NY to Lake Oswego, OR, to San Ramon, CA, to Buffalo, NY.

Unfortunately it didn't get any frequent traveler miles – but, it did stay safe and sound.

So – as my interest in building rods was resurrected in the past 12 months, Kristin wandered down to my workshop and happened to find “Her Rod Blank”. She read the inscription and you could just hear the wheels in her creative little head turning, and as soon as I heard the word, “Daddy?” – I knew I was in trouble!

She immediately started designing – colors, wraps, handle shape….I was afraid – very afraid!

After talking her down a few miles in complexity, we decided on an intricate design that was STILL beyond anything I've ever attempted. The biggest challenge was what is typically the most basic, simple part of building a rod. Wrapping the guides.

The big challenge? – wrapping the guides with the same color as the base wrap. Why so difficult you ask?

I could not tell the base thread color from the thread color of the guide wrap thread as I was wrapping. It just all blended together! I had to work extremely slow and carefully or the guide thread would overlap the base and make a mess.

Then, there was the sparkle – the bling that might scare more trout than it would catch! Ah, yes, the things a father does for his little girls…..

And then, she decided that she wanted to have a handle just like the handle on my 9’, 4 weight rod with the solid boron Don F. Phillips blank that I built in 1983 (still my favorite).

I carved this handle to fit my hand on a Don F. Phillips solid Boron fiber blank 31 years ago.

I carved the handle specifically for my hand from Portuguese specie cork rings (the best kind). That's what she wanted - total custom crafting.

And, the reel seat that she wanted – she didn't know exactly what she wanted, but it had to be special - unique - not just any would do - she'd know it when she saw it. I searched the internet for weeks to find one that I thought would be perfect.

Yes, I had my work cut out for me.

"Spare" the rod to spoil the child? - Nothing was spared on this rod in spoiling this child.

Here’s a pictorial look at my progress from blank to bling to fish on!

Specie cork rings from Portugal - Rat tail rasp to make the hole fit the blank.

I needed two sizes of rasp to fit the large diameter of the fiberglass blank.

Slide on to fit one at a time.

Cork sized and ready for epoxy.

Reel seat protected with tape, cork rings epoxied and clamped in my home made handle jig to cure.

I carved and sanded my handle all by hand. But, thanks to a Flex Coat tutorial, I was able to build a lathe to turn the handle and give Kristin the custom fit in a fraction of the time.

Taking shape - Kristin's rod blank is a larger diameter than mine, so the handle is also slightly larger. But, after a couple of fittings, Kristin thought it felt right, so on to the wraps!

Kristin's color choice and the stripping guides and snake guides poised to strike.

Blank marked and royal blue base wrap started.

Base ready to secure. Yellow loop will get a few wraps of thread and the Blue will be placed through the loop and pulled under the blue wraps to complete.

Same finish process for the light blue trim.

The razor trim needs to be very close - One false move here and you start over - I know - no fun starting over!

OK - there's the first part of the nightmare - Blue on Blue - Bobby Vinton was right - Heartache on Heartache - trying to tell the base from the guide wrap - Say it Ed - Nevermore!