Epic Bandit

The Bandit is now completed and closes up what has been a tough but interesting year for me. I did some very cool new rods this year that I wouldn't even thought of, like that fifteen foot spey monster and now this one. Very proud of this first Epic Bandit and it's one of those rods folks have already come to love for heavy duty flyfishing. It won't break your arm casting this #10 and it will keep it fun. This rod is at home tossing huge streamers and taming monster fishes. Definitely one of the most interesting builds I have done in a while. The rod is fitted with heavy duty hard chrome guides and Lemke black anodized reel seat, a comfortable modified full well grip and eva fighting butt. The black and chrome accents on this rod go really well with the gorgeous golden-olive blank and slightly darker olive wraps. Looking forward to an even more epic new year. Thanks for looking and Happy Holidays to you all! 

 

 

 

 

Epic Bandit

Swift redefines what is possible with glass. The first Epic Bandit project currently in progress.

 

Orvis Helios2

The best it can get in a high-end graphite rod. This exceptional Orvis Helios2 is a presentation grade built featuring a state-of-the-art Bellinger uplocking seat with a beautiful figured two-tone redwood burl wood insert, a matching red-orange agate and translucent grey wraps with blue-red accents. One-of-a-kind. Thanks for looking!

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!