Amber & Bronze

This is a first Epic 580 build out of the new series from Swift. 

These are, bar none, some of the best blanks ever to hit the fly fishing market. The new finish on them, the tapers, the ferrule system. Perfection.

This smooth loading eight foot five weight honey rod was appointed in a clean style, with minimalist wraps in clear silk tipped brown, to complement the bronze hardware. 

The rod features my Lemke flared style signature reel seat with gorgeous Oregon maple wood insert, dark bronze anodizing and complementary winding check, PacBay classic snake guides in titanium bronze coating and a beautiful, custom made bronze coated agate from Arcane Components.

Lastly, the rod deserved that special crafted leather case, hand made from exquisite italian leather, thats threated to repell water, so you can carry it on the river safe and in style.

One-of-its-kind, this Epic "Amber & Bronze" will pop on its own on the river.

Sage Mod

Not much more to say about the Mod 390. Here's one I finished recently. All black hardware. Clear wraps with black signature wraps and a beautiful NOS Struble gongalo alves wood insert. Overall a clean fly rod that casts and fishes very well. 

         

             

TMR "Japan special"

A Tom Morgan rod I've been dreaming about to build for myself for so long. The "Japan special" or so called "light 3wt." is a touchy ultralight trout rod that literally paints the fly on the water. This rod has a special feel to it, no wonder why Tom described it as "the thought rod". I have one more 6'9" blank in stock that's already promised to someone. 

I appointed this little blank in a classic Morgan style. The dark red-rust wraps with dark hardware complement the reddish-brown blank perfectly. A short snub-nose grip works perfect with these deeper loading little rods. The Bellinger stabilized black ash wood insert is amazing and the Goldenwitch agate guide is a class act. Agate was blued then coated and winding check as well. All wrapped in a perfect lustrous finish that my rods are known for.

Tom Morgan talked about his recent fiberglass rod designs in this article:

"In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in fiberglass rods, primarily in lighter line sizes, for two reasons: anglers have discovered that typical graphite fly rods are so stiff that they aren't effective fishing rods at the normal distances where they are fished and many fiberglass rods have the traditional action of great fly rods from past eras. A number of knowledgeable anglers have discovered that fiberglass can make wonderful fishing rods covering many situations extremely well. 

Because of the delicate touch and "feel" they provide along with their fish playing attributes, I've always been a fan of fiberglass rods for fishing in the short to medium distances where most trout are caught. For a long time, I've thought that I could design fiberglass rods with even more effective attributes and sweeter actions than my originals. 

My fiberglass rod designs have been very popular in Japan since I first introduced the Winston Stalkers almost 40 years ago.

 Light 3-Weight. In addition to the standard weight blanks and rods, I have added two 3-weights in 6'9" and 7'3" lengths with a slightly lighter action designed especially for Japanese anglers who generally fish shorter distances than American anglers. I worked with a very knowledgeable Japanese angler to get these rods just right. When he cast the final design he thought it was absolutely perfect. These rods are designed to fish in the 12 to 35-foot range. However, this is not to say that my normal 3-weight rods are stiff because they are not. " 

https://tommorganrodsmiths.com/toms-fiberglass-rod-philosophy

Sage TXL-F

Despite the fact that I'm a bit out of date with the current Sage small stream blank offerings, I had the pleasure to build this sweet TXL-F 1wt. for a good friend who supplied the blank. He was kind enough to sell me another blank ("the double ought") that I built and fished all summer on my gin clear trout streams. Hands down, some of the best small stream rods Sage has ever produced. Sweet to the touch, with just enough flex and power for casting close or long. I even fished it on my annual alpine lake trip and it was amazing.

Both blanks were wrapped in classic chestnut Pearsall silk (discontinued) wich complemented the color of the blanks beautiful. I kept mine plain and simple with a "standard" but ultralight Bellinger aluminum uplocking seat and imbuya wood, but for the one weight I had a very special piece of maple burl wood that is just amazing.

The handles are two short western shapes that I love to put on light trout rods. I have three types of western shape handles actually.

Happy to share some pictures of both builds. Ok, I didn't take close up pictures of mine but I have a ton of fishy pics from this summer's fishing and guiding. Thanks for looking!

Another Yomogi

The Yomogi Series 7033 (UD Glass) is a popular blank and a very sweet parabolic action from Kazutomo Ijuin from Ijuin Rods in Japan. It is always a pleasure to build and fish this particular one. There is also another 7'3" 4wt. that I've cast at the London Fair that felt very sweet as well. The translucent lime green color is very fresh and many just love it.

Tomo has another parabolic taper called the E-glass Special Series, or the Hard Para wich are faster actions. These are 7'2" and 7'5"  in 4wt. and 4/5wt. blanks. They are a beautiful translucent black  color with spiral finish and black spigot ferrules. I call them fast-parabolics and I am looking forward to building a first one soon for a friend in Norway and then another one for Mark at Alternative Tackle. And then finally one for me!

I will try to stock some of these blanks soon but the best way to get one is to put in an order now and have them finished over the winter.

Builds like this one featured below are special and require time and effort. The special Bellinger & Goldenwitch hardware are not easy nor fast to get. Bellinger makes these beautiful reel seats on special orders and they will try to match my requirements but the woods are not always the same as on a particular build. They are by far the best in reel seat quality and so far they have been great. Their varnished or stabilized woods are simply stunning.

Here are some pictures of the latest build I've done for Alternative Tackle. This is wrapped in classic chestnut Gossamer silk (my last spool) and has a beautiful stabilized maple burl insert that complements the wraps. Thanks for looking!