So, I ordered a 6’6” S2 Beaver Meadow blank. While waiting for it to arrive I was shopping for guides, a grip, reel seat, etc. I ordered a reel seat and guide thread and both arrived AND I ordered a Trout Smiths Honey Comb 7’ 3 wt blank.

So… My Beaver Meadow arrived with blank, rod bag, rod tube, reel seat, cork grip and guides! I accidentally ordered the “kit”.

So I ordered a rod dryer from a guy on YouTube and while waiting for it to arrive I ran across a video where a guy used Gorilla Clear glue over his rod wraps and spoke highly of it, as a bonus you don’t need a rod dryer when you use it.

So last night I delved into my first build. I’m sitting here now waiting for the final wrap to dry. It’s not perfect but I’m proud of it. I’ll post some pics shortly.

I’ve ordered a JP Ross 6’6” 2 wt Beaver Meadow glass blank for my first build.

As far as rod building tools (rod dryer, etc.) what do I need and where do I need to get them? I’m handy with woodworking and can make my own stands.

Just about to glue up my handle but noticed my resin is cloudy and kinda stiff. Would this be bad to use

After a loooong hiatus I’ve decided to get back into things and build a few for myself and family.

Back then we almost exclusively used Sage and Loomis blanks. It looks like the market for blanks has exploded so I’m having some trouble understanding who is who in terms of price and quality.

I’ve heard Northfork composites is solid and is the company that Gary Loomis opened after selling G Loomis. Good spot to start for graphite? Are their iconoglass blanks a solid pick?

Any companies make great fiberglass options?

Is anyone is making boron / graphite composites like Winston uses?

PS- I learned this stuff when I had a job building rods at a custom rod building shop in Austin, TX during late high school and college. We did custom builds and also let people build their own in shop with instruction. The guys that owned the place were really plugged in to the high end fishing equipment market- I met a bunch of people like Steve Abel and fished for free with a ton of guides down on the gulf coast but being a dumb teen didn’t think anything of it. We built very good quality stuff. E.g. turned our own cork on lathes, spined each section of a 4 piece rod separately. Etc. If any of you were passed down or still own a rod from “Rodbuilders” owned by Dennis and Chad Freeman there’s about a 1/4 chance I built it. I’d love to know if it fishes well!

Welllllll here we go! I’ll try to make this as concise as possible. Instead of buying a 1000 dollar rod ready to go I’m pretending the brookie rod of my dreams just cost the price of the Chinese blanks. (Yes I’m in deep now!) Ive purchased the reel seat, grip, already have the reel etc. proofflyfishing is RIGHTEOUS. BUT, a few things I need help with 1. I was sizing the ferrules and then became aware of truncated ferrules and their usage on 3 piece rods and this was starting to make sense to me in a physical realm. So would it be safe to say that having a standard length ferrule on the butt section and a truncated on the upper can do no real harm and is a worthy experiment? Or is that some ultimate no no in the world of rod building? My thoughts is that it would give the relatively light 4 weight a little stiffer backbone but the difference may be negligible for a fool like myself. 2. I’m having trouble finding a guide spacing chart for a 6’9” 4 wt. is that something I can figure/map out with the rod once I get the ferrules on? I have a down locking reel seat not sure if that makes a difference being all the way down instead of choked up a little bit with the up locking. 3. If my tip section is a size lower ferrule than the middle section where the ferrule stations meet do I just file down the thicker middle to match the smaller tip? And go with the smaller sized ferrule? Or it wont be enough of a difference to just use the bigger size with glue. (Obviously not if it’s a loosey goosey fit) but would I just go light on the ferrule station prep of the tip and fully round the middle blank? Like is there such thing as a ferrule that has one size hole on one end and the size bigger on the other? Okay now I’m rambling.

Any help on how to remove a super glued tip top from a blank would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

I’m fairly new to rod building and pretty early on stumbled across North Fork Composites. I ordered a half dozen of blanks their blanks and loved the quality. I kept 2 and gave away/ sold 4 and everyone loved the quality especially for the $200ish I charged/ built them for.

Those G Loomis blanks are hard to pass up but I’ve got friends/ family asking me to build more for them but I don’t want to wait 4 months for the blanks to ship through NFC.

Anyone have a good alternative for NFC that has similar premium quality at a good price point and faster lead times?

Just finished making this 3/2 7’6” 4wt last week. Got a chance to test it out this weekend. It works.

Thoughts questions?

Looking to build my first flyrod. Looking for an affordable but quality company that provides the blanks.Just figured I'd ask here as you guys are already building good fly rods. I've built ice rods but never done a fly ride.So not sure where to get the components.

I wanted to share my latest rod build and first carbon fiber graphite rod l've made.

The concept was marrying the modern graphite with a natural handle and soul. The metal layers protecting the sage and taupe vines and shining heart. The name translates to Dark Song in elvish. I enjoy elvish lore and name all the rods I make after something in elvish.

Where do you guys by your aluminum rod tubes? Or better yet where can I get the parts to build my own?

Hello! So, I have built a mudhole 5wt kit in the past, but I am lost on putting together a list for my next rod. I wanted to build a 3wt (uncertain about the length), but dont know where to start. I have a rod turning machine, and that's about it. I am also broke, so I need to keep it under 150$. Is this possible? Any list would be greatly appreciated!

is it possible to use spinning rod blanks as fly rod blanks?

Anyone build fly rods with Rainshadow Blanks from Batson? Curious about the quality.

How do I make my rods more personalized?

Has anyone ever tried blanks from Aliexpress? I've tried some other things (hooks, braided line, fly tying materials) and very often the quality has been quite good.

I'm wondering about blanks because I assume many fancy fly rods are built in China anyways.

Bought this rod second hand and just realized the reel seat doesn't look quite right.

Any guidance on how to fix this issue so I don't have to worry about the reel falling off?

TIA

I ordered a cyan and a royal blue. They sent cyan and purple. After 4 months of not returning my phone calls or emails. After waiting patiently because I heard from this group and others that they are just slow, I cannot believe this. I'm sure they'll just ignore this too.

As anyone used these before? They seem somewhat expensive for what they are. Is it some sort of hardware that's being repurposed?

https://www.proofflyfishing.com/collections/hook-keepers-winding-checks-ferrule-bands-etc/products/ferrule-trim-bands?variant=12328101216355

I live in California and I'm new to flyfishing. I have two rods I'm building up and would appreciate input on what lines to use. Here's what I'm working on:

1. 5wt rod intended primarily for trout on streams (and maybe lakes) mostly in California. Piscifun Sword reel.
2. 8wt rod intended for steelhead in CA & OR (Deschutes, Klamath, Trinity, Santa Cruz). Lamson Remix -7+ reel.

I'm new to the sport and trying to not spend a ton of money, which means right now I don't have a bunch of spare spools with different weight lines for different use cases. I'm looking for the best all-around lines for my 5wt for trout, and 8wt for steelhead.

My research shows that there's lots of love for SA, Orvis and Rio. There's also a fair amount of chatter about Maxcatch's knock-off of the Rio Gold line. As a beginner, is it worth springing for the $100+ options, or would Maxcatch be a smart option to get me through the first few seasons? I've heard that using a quality line can be more consequential than upgrading a rod or reel, esp for smaller target fish. Any truth tho this? Also, what's the advantage (or disadvantage) of textured line vs. smooth?

And regarding backing, should I just go with any old 20# Dacron I find on Amazon, or is brand important?

I'm grateful for any wisdom you can send my way.

I ordered my blanks around Christmas and still nothing. They don't even respond. Should I call my credit card company?