This humble rod shoop.
The photo is from Ushuaia, Argentina where upon the hilled town we came across this fly shoop. Classic I thought. The following photo is one of many fishing excursions in the Argentinian and Chilean waters.
Anyway, just a small diversion from this posts intention.
Lately I have been working on several rods. There are 10 in total but three will be ongoing as they will complete the batch of 7 pentagonal 5 piece rods. Currently I am gluing up the 7 foot rods. One is a three piece and the other two are 2 piece rods, all with extra tips. One of these is a pentagonal construction which I am excited about.
There are four 8 foot rods, two sections that are currently pre-heat stage but will shave some cane off prior to the first heating.
This is an adventure. One I vowed never to undertake again from my experience in 2015. Seemed like an overload. However, now I am taking this in stride as the stages of construction allow a break between processes. And results are beginning to appear.
This series of photos show a bit of what is taking place.
Although the rods are currently taking up much of the focus and there is a commission in the mix, I am continuing with the fabrication of reel seats. The was a recent purchase from a gentleman in Norway that absorbed all of my wooden inserts and another from Poland that was looking for wooden inserts for a spey rod reel seat. It really is a nice flow to go between the rods and reel seats. This keeps my interest alive with a nice passion. I will continue with this post, blog, whatever, as the weeks pass and work progresses. But in all truth, the man I think of as I am fiddling with bamboo and nickel silver is Edwin Hartzell, who in a very patient manner taught me many of these skills. So, in honour of Edwin and his lovely wife Kim, thank you both for your friendship and tutorage.
Until next time, Walter