55 on the fly

Yes folks finally, the fly rods are done... I hope you find them worthy. These rods will fish again! H&I fly rod... Horrocks and Ibbotson Featherweight 8' 6" 4wt. 3 piece with 1 tip.  Ferrules and tip... Note the beautiful rod cases my wife made, thanks Michelle. Grip and reel seat... Kingfisher fly rod... Kingfisher 8' 6" 6wt. 3 pieces with 2 tips. It was a fun and very challenging project.  Let's go fishing...

I have removed all the old line guides and split the old wraps from both fly rods and layed on the first layer of varnish stripper today. I think they will need about 2-3 coats of stripper and some scrubbing to remove all of the old varnish. I hope to have these rod sections ready by the end of the day for new finish sometime this week. All of the ferrules will also need to be cleaned and/or replaced, as at least one is cracked.

A friend gave me two old fly rods awhile ago. Today, I dug them out and got to work on them. One is a  Horrocks and Ibbotson Featherlight and the other is a Kingfisher Fly Rod both 8 1/2' long. Both will be stripped and rebuilt as "user" fly rods.... The good news is all the bamboo seems to be in fairly good shape. I am starting with the H and I.  Pictured here is the H and I, but both grips have been heavily varnished by the original owner and were very dried out, soft and punky, they crumbled when I tried to clean them.  They both have loose and/or cracked ferrules as-well-as some bent or missing line guides. All the line guides will need to be replaced anyway with larger versions as these were for silk fly lines of the day and are too small for modern fly lines. I will reuse the reel seats and any ferrules that are not cracked. I am going to strip the rod completely; turn a new cork grip on the lathe, remove all of the line guides, remove the old varnish and ...

Wow - time sure flies when you're having fun and our trip is drawing to a close... Today Dave and I fished Soda Butte Creek.  We had a great time. The canyon had willing fish and the water was clear and cold.  We found that various caddis patterns and a black and blue nymph that Dave had worked very well. Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be packing up and then heading home on Sunday.  It's been great to see all our friends here in Montana and to fish and spend time with them. The Yellowstone area has much to offer and Michelle and I enjoyed it all --- "On the Fly". Here's Dave doing a little rock hopping in the canyon section. Fishing pocket water like this is one of my favorite things to do... The further up the canyon you go the smaller the fish.  We each caught a dozen or more of the beautiful Cutthroat Trout. I fished my Winston Binney Para 15 bamboo - 8' - 5wt. today, what a sweet casting fly rod.  

My buddy Ben and I fished the XYZ River this morning for a try at some big Brown Trout.  Ben with a nice fish right off the bat! Stepping back in time we used some older fly fishing gear for this trip. Ben used my 1960's rebuilt fiberglass rod an 8'6" 6wt. heavy nymphing rod taylor made for handling two heavy nymphs and an indicator. I used my 1949 Orvis Battenkill 9' 6wt. 3/2 bamboo fly rod fitted with an 60's Orvis Madison reel. It's a slow rod for dry flies on the Delaware really, but I just had to try and get a big fish on it. These big fish and the fast current put both fly rods to the test... that's me with a Brown ~ 17 inches 1949 Orvis Battenkill bamboo ~ Brown Trout Ben - another good one. My fish-of-the-day - Brown Trout (Runner) 18 1/2 inches, he took me 50 yards down stream in the fast current before we could land him. What a great day. Ben and I caught more than o...

I enjoyed a relaxed fishing trip yesterday... It was warm with temp's in the 60's, perfect for the first outing of my new bamboo fly rod.  The fishing was slow, but the rod performed like a champ... I got in a lot of casting practice with it; drys, nymphs and even some some small streamers. The rod did everything I asked and looked good doing it.  It's going to get a lot of use in the coming year both here in NY and MT.  My thanks Winston for making such a wonderful fly rod... W. Binney Para 15 --- 8' 5wt., 2/2 (2 piece with 2 tips) My W. Binney fitted with a vintage Hardy Featherweight took it's first fish, a 12 inch brown trout... But my fumbling didn't allow for a photo.

I've been looking for a long time for my first bamboo fly rod... I wanted a classic.  Last week I purchased it and she came today.  An original Orvis Impregnated Battenkill, 5 3/4 oz., 9 foot, 3/2 (3 piece with 2 tips), HCH or 7 wt., built in 1949 at the Orvis shop by John Rosencrantz.  Just what I wanted and she's in excellent all original condition... perfect. I just came in from lawn casting it with a 6 weight line.  The rod seems to like that line but more casting will be done to find just the right line weight for this fine rod, but oh she feels good.  I bought it for the bigger waters of the Yellowstone, Gardiner and the Delaware Rivers to cast big flies and catch big fish, can't wait. she's a beauty...