latest build

[tnpondmanager]

This is the handle for my latest build, a 7 UL live-bait rod for bluegill:

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5447/9242589793_64d2c8d427.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87205953@N05/9242589793/) box elder burl and birch bark (http://www.flickr.com/photos/87205953@N05/9242589793/) by tnpondmanager (http://www.flickr.com/people/87205953@N05/), on Flickr

[Alphahawk]

Thats pretty alright....what did that cost? A problem...as I see it....with inlays....burl...and so on.....is you don't want to use the rod...LOL. You just want to look at it.




Regards

[tnpondmanager]

I made this one for my mother, who loves to fish. You're right in guessing that this rod would not be cheap if I were to sell it - I doubt many fishermen would be willing to pay what I would charge for this rod. I spent seven months on the handle, started on it in December. Just in wood alone, counting the birch bark and three different colors of stabilized box elder burl, there's over $200; the blank cost $100 wholesale, the guides were $20...Maybe I'll get discovered by rich anglers overseas who want ultra-fancy rods, who knows.

[TomD]

Nice build. Do you attend the rod builders conventions? This date is tentative but should be a shoe in. There are great seminars and all the rod building stuff know to man. The thread art is always breath taking with the top artists demonstrating and showing their skills and techniques. Hope to see you thereFebruary 22nd & 23rd, 2014 • Saturday and Sunday
M.C. Benton Convention Center • Winston-Salem, North Carolina

[tnpondmanager]

I would love to attend the convention if money becomes less scarce for me between now and then. I'm so broke at the moment I'd have to borrow just to make it up into the red...

[TomD]

I would love to attend the convention if money becomes less scarce for me between now and then. I'm so broke at the moment I'd have to borrow just to make it up into the red...

Its still some way off and often many of the attendees go as a group splitting travel costs (driving) and lodging by sharing rooms.

Still money is money and as a recent retiree I know exactly how far a dollar doesn't go anymore.

I lucked out some time ago shopping on line and found 2 Garcia Blue fiberglass blanks that have become my favorite builds for $10.00 for the pair but those kinds of finds are rare.

I hope I can make it but Im in the same boat (no pun intended). Tom