It's Coming Together

This is just a quick post to give you an update on the quest I’m on to develop my own line of fly rods.

Things are beginning to come together. The first run of prototype blanks are due to be delivered tomorrow. I’m very excited about this. Hopefully I’ll be able to work with the blank supplier to tweak the blanks and give the fly caster the feel I’m looking for.

Another development is that I got a wood turning lathe for Christmas. I’m going to turn my own reel seat inserts. Maybe with the help of Mark Malczynski, I’ll get it figured out in time to include them on my first builds.

Stay tuned as I post further developments on the birth of D.F. Fly Rods.

Christmas Lists

This holiday season I’ve been surfing the net, doing some blog reading and have noticed a lot of them are putting out gear lists trying to give folks ideas of what to get the fly fisherman in their life. There is a lot of cool gear out there but I’m not going to sit here and give you a list of neat gadgets, reels, or rods. I figure if you’re reading a fly fishing blog then you know what’s out there and a pretty good idea of what gift you intend to purchase.

What I’d like to do is give you a list of fly fishing destinations. This won’t be your ordinary garden variety destination list though. This one is strictly for warm water species and some of them may not be locations that you’ve heard of.

South Llano River State Park This State Park is just south of Junction, TX. It’s a great river to float or wade and it’s where I caught my first Rio Grande Cichlid.

Brazos River Below Lake Whitney There are several access points to the river below the dam near Hillsboro, TX. This fishery provides chances for both small mouth and large mouth bass, white bass, bluegill and carp. It’s also a great river to float or wade. But, if you hear the horn at the dam signal an immanent water release, get out of the river. The water comes up quicker than you think.

If white bass are what you long for; this spring don’t overlook the Nolan River in Hill County, TX. It boasts an awesome springtime white bass run. It’s known by most Texas fly fishermen and nearly every spin caster so it gets a lot of pressure. But, there’s not very many things are as fun as tossing a Clouser at schooling sandies.

Most everyone knows that crappie make some of the best table fare. If you have a boat, Miller Creek Lake near Munday, TX is a great place to go. Bring at least a sink tip along and hit the brush piles.

I saved my favorite place for last. Caddo Lake in far East Texas is warm water heaven. All I can say about this fishery is I love it. Give Billy Carter a yell and he will put you on the fish. If you find yourself in Uncertain, TX (yes there is such a place) check out Johnson’s Ranch. It’s the epitome of a fish camp; nothing fancy but hey, you’re there to fish right?

Oh by the way, Merry Christmas.


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Sharing a Cold and Wet Day of Fishing

The alarm clock rang out, my wife gently touched my shoulder and I raised myself to a sitting position. After convincing my arthritic knees and ankles they could once again support my weight, I staggered off to the bathroom. It was 2:30 in the morning and I was happy. I was going fishing. 245 miles later, Doug Hollen, Carl Sims, and I were fishing the Blue River in Oklahoma. It was cold and wet but we managed a few rainbows.

Doug struck first taking this nice one on a midge.

Carl answered with this chunk taken on a jitterbee of all things.

I have been determined to take a trout on a briminator. I began the day using them and promptly got broken off twice after vicious hits. Now that I know they’ll work, all I have to do is bring a trout to hand and get a photo of it with the triumphant briminator planted firmly in its lip. Then I’ll be satisfied. I did get on the board though with this guy who fell to another Doug Hollen tied midge.

Carl ended the day with this toad. It was the fish of the day and gave Carl and his little 4wt a run for their money.

At the end of the day, we were standing around saying our goodbye’s, when Doug commented on how it’s always fun to go fishing but it’s infinitely more fun when a day of fishing is spent with the camaraderie of good friends. He was absolutely right. I mean, come on getting up at 2:30 and driving over 200 miles to stand in bone numbing cold water waving a stick in the air is fun; getting to share it with a couple of buddies makes it special…

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Insight

In the last post, I showed you guys a rod that I rebuilt a few years ago. Since then I’ve rebuilt several more as well as built up several on various blanks. It didn’t take long for me to recognize that I have a passion for building fly rods but, I wanted to do more than just wrap guides and turn cork.

I began researching ways to bring my own line of fly rods to the public. It took a couple years but I’m happy to announce that I’ve found a company to build fly rods to my specifications. It will be a time consuming process of test, tweak and retest, but it is happening. In fact, the first batch of prototype rods are en route to my front door as we speak.

This is just a little insight into what’s coming up in the next few months. Keep checking T.D.F. for updates. I’ll post build information and pictures of the whole process.

How It All Started Part 3...

A few years ago a couple good friends of mine named Gene Bethea & Barry Evans convinced me to try rod building. I was reluctant at first because I didn't want to totally screw up a high dollar rod blank. Gene sent me a book and told me that I'd never find out if I could do it unless I tried.

I had an old fly rod that was more of a broomstick than anything else. I decided I'd turn it into a crappie rod for my Father-in-Law. It turned out okay and would up being one of his favorite rods.

Since I developed a love for fiberglass rods, I began picking up old worn out rods on eBay and rebuilding them. That's when my Father-in-Law stepped back into the picture. He told his Brother-in-Law about what I had been doing. It so happened that he had an old Sila-flex bait caster that he wanted rebuilt.

After getting the rod, I was shocked to see the shape it was in. I did some research into the original color of the wraps and thread size and dove right in. The following are a few before and after photos.

I knew I wanted to save the old Sila-flex label. Fortunately, I was able to do so.

The old rod had definitely seen better days.

I used Gudebrod brown and gold thread in size B. I think it matched up pretty well.

All in all I was pretty pleased with the outcome; thankfully, so was my first customer.

A Few Things...

The holidays are here! I never do get ready in time and have had a lot going on these past few months. Here are a few things that might be of interest to you.

Fishy Kid is wrapping up their first contest and about to begin the judging. There are TONS of The Fiberglass Manifesto is now taking T-Shirt orders for the 2010 model. They are cool and priced right. Go over there and dig around in his blog if you want to see some awesome looking fly rods and great interviews of some of the fly fishing industry's leaders.

Speaking of leaders... If you're tired of going through smooth tapered leaders like you know what through a goose, and you're tired of knotted leaders hinging or pulling in more weeds than fish; check out DF Furled Leaders. I guarantee they will turn over a fly better than any smooth taper or knotted leader you've ever tried.

I've been working on a few things and have a surprise that, hopefully will be ready to unveil early in the Spring so stay tuned!!!!