Epic carbon

Here is an Epic carbon 5wt. build on a blank Carl sent me my prior to release the official Epic C blank. I told Carl I really wanted to see a classy spiral finished blank and he did just that. Despite the many modern five weights around these days (nobody needs another 9'5wt. rod these days, he said), Carl felt that he could design a lighter and better casting&fishing rod that the existing rods today. I would say he really came up with something unique that is not to be overlooked by anyone. I was not a fan of the long ferrule design CTS company makes so I just trimmed them slightly. In the end, the finished rod measured 8'10" and a true #5. I was really impressed how the rod came out and how it felt in the hand. The rod is amazingly light and lively with a sweet medium fast action/fast recovery speed that is well suited for anything. I really like its overall small diameter. This is a true do-it-all five weight  that you can cast all day without fatigue, loads extremely easy in close (extremely important for a trout angler IMO) and has backbone for those longer casts. Very accurate fly rod. That's an asset now many fast action rods have. 

I casted this rod a few times before being finished, experienced different guide sizes&wire diameters to see how the rod reacts during the cast and tweaked the snub-nose handle a couple of times until it came out perfect. Everything had to be kept to a minimum on this blank to complement the very light weight and quick recovery of the tip. The even better part is the price of this blank and I think those five weight fans out there should seriously consider it. You'll know a good rod when you pick it up the first time.

The rod features a "state-of-the-art" Bellinger aluminum reel seat with a gorgeous redwood spacer (done by a good friend of mine here in Romania), blue grey silk wraps, alignment dots and a classic hard chrome stripping guide. Everything a great quality fly rod needs to have. The rod tube on this rod is new as well and comes with my painted logo instead of the regular sticker. This rod was also sent to Alternative Tackle and would be my classic grade build. The difference between the three grades (classic, presentation and heirloom) is not in the finish quality, but in the components or rod tubes used. Each and every one of them are finished with my utmost attention to detail. Thanks for looking!

 

 

Steffen 8' #4/5

A heirloom grade quality Steffen rod. Along with the legendary 3/4 and 5/6 wt. Steffen Brothers make, this newer 4/5wt. taper is one of my favorites. The rod can cast a Rio Gold wf5 very smooth and at any fishing distances. Big river dry fly fishing or light streamers this rod will shine. I preffer the four pieces versions over the three pieces because of the slightly faster action. This rod will have a different feel than say the Epic 580 due to the different materials, tapers and ferrule design, but both rods are serious contenders in the five weight fiberglass category.

The rod features one of my Lemke signature reel seats with an exceptional maple burl wood insert than only Joel is able to do (honestly I've never seen one like it), a gorgeous Struble medium amber agate guide, one exceptional Goldenwitch blued nickel silver winding check that complements the reel seat perfectly. The silk I used was something new in a so called dark gold color. Love how the wraps turned out after epoxying. Handmade leather case. All in all this is just a beautiful, classic fly rod.

The rod was sent to Mark Leggett at Alternative Tackle in the UK where it is now available. About the Epics, there will be five limited edition 580's soon available and I'm doing all my best to have those ready by the end of the year. Morgan blanks, those are a painful long wait to get and I'm hoping they will be here soon. Meanwhile, I managed to ruin my old Nikon camera in a fishing session so I've been experimenting with a new one. Hope you'll enjoy the pictures. Thanks for looking!