Sage Z-Axis vintage

This might possibly be the most "handsome" Sage I've built so far. Note the beautiful appointments on this rod in order to look "old school". "Smoked" components all the way along with the dark amber agate guide and a lustroust chestnut brown silk that looks crazy in the sun. The handle is very comfortable allowing great feel of the rod. My customer wanted something very special and had me choose the components for him. He suffers of an incurable disease but holding up well and has strong will and wants to fish this rod for many seasons to come. I admire people like him. I hope I did him justice. I will see this rod bent this season with my own eyes guiding him on my favorite trout waters. Get well soon buddy! The fish are waiting.

Vintage Sage in progress.

Winston LT 479-5

The first custom Winston LT shown here was intended to be built just like an "original" Winston rod. Slight differences such as the Lemke uplocking nickel silver and amboyna wood reel seat, slightly darker green silk wraps, custom sewn rod cloth and Landmark aluminium tube make this a unique, sweet looking rod. Winston LT blanks can still be found in a limited stock.  Thanks for looking and your interest!

Winston LT 479-5 in progress

I'm excited to work on a first Winston rod project.  Have finished wrapping the rod last night and hand turned the "Winston style" grip today. Here are some pictures of the first Winston green rod handcrafted here at "Tightloop Fly rods" all wrapped in emerald green silk that will turn into a deep, lustrous finished look. This will be epic. Stay posted!

 

 

 

Sage Z-Axis 490-4

Here is a "sick" Sage Z-Axis in 9'0" 4pc. 4wt. that I recently finished for a customer. Truly one-of-a-kind and "outside the box" custom fitted Sage fly rod. Complete package here. A sweet copper Ross Evolution LT and a Mastery nymph wf4 taper line were precisely matched to this amazing fast action rod. Rod came out to just 595$. Fine green silk and red tipping wraps, light wire snake guides and a terrific spalted maple nickel silver reel seat from the master machinist Joel Lemke. Thanks for looking at my work and apreciate your feedback!

 

Sage TCR 696-4

Back in 2002, Sage established a new benchmark in high performance fast action rods. The ultrafast series called the TCR were the perfect tools for distance, wind or sinking lines. They still are today. Good fly rod designs will still be good designs no matter if 10 years have passed since the most technical casting rod was first released. For this truly special rod, I complemented the "chilli pepper" colored TCR blank with a dark orange thread, double metallic bronze and black ferrule signature wraps, a beautiful Lemke design uplocking black nickel reel seat with cocobolo wood insert (a great match for the TCR), a fine cork handle and fighting butt. The titanium snake guides are a great upgrade to the factory build and they are a better option for hardcore anglers. These hard chrome titanium coated guides can take more abuse than standard hard chrome guides. For a more elegant look I added the end cap of the reel seat at the end of the cork butt to fully complement the reel seat hardware. And to make it even more functionable, the aligment dots are a nice addition for easier assembly of the rod. Thanks for looking!