Old fiberglass 8wt makeover

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noles
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Old fiberglass 8wt makeover

Post by noles »

This was a freshwater fly rod that need to be converted to a saltwater rod, so I replaced all the guides with larger REC recoil guides and refurbished the grip and wood trim. Kept the guide wraps in the same style and size. What's interesting is that the original guides had a nylon underwrap and the overwrap was done in metal wire. Very cool.

Hope Mr. Mudfoot approved of the makeover.

Some before pictures:
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Some after pictures:
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"whose that little motherf***er with the fly rod"
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BearsFan
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Post by BearsFan »

Love those guides. I put the some ones on my bamboo. Keep the old school look yet you cannot break them if you try, which I did. Good looking rod.
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islander
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Post by islander »

Dats purdy!
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dunfly
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Post by dunfly »

Nice Noles. I have an old bamboo rod I'm thinking of redoing. This gives me some ideas on what to do. It is actually in pretty good shape, I just hate the wrap colors.

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“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste....” — Rahm Emanuel
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noles
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Post by noles »

dunfly wrote:Nice Noles. I have an old bamboo rod I'm thinking of redoing. This gives me some ideas on what to do. It is actually in pretty good shape, I just hate the wrap colors.

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WOW! What was that person smoking when he wrapped that rod? Don't get caught flinging that rod around 4th Street! :lol:
"whose that little motherf***er with the fly rod"
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DaveR
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Post by DaveR »

Pretty sure all of Shamus' rods have that wrap, well except the one I stole from him.
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Pirogue
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Post by Pirogue »

Love the classic rod.

Great job.
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shamus
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Post by shamus »

Last time I saw colors like that they were in the flag DaveR was waving in a parade. Yes he was wearing rollerblades !!
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dunfly
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Post by dunfly »

noles wrote:WOW! What was that person smoking when he wrapped that rod? Don't get caught flinging that rod around 4th Street! :lol:
Don't worry. I wouldn't dare fling my rod around 4th St.
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BlueCrab
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Post by BlueCrab »

Nice work. Bothofyaws, Noles and Mud. 8)
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mudfoot
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Post by mudfoot »

I know this is late, but bear with me....


Fellow east-side miscreant Bluecrab found this rod for me in a pawn shop a couple of years ago (he scored a mint glass six weight at the same time) after he heard I was on the mission of scoring a wall hanger of a bass on a fiberglass rod, just like my father and grandfather had done in the past.

The Heddon 8wt. was in mint condition, but sitting in cellophane for over forty years, she was a little behind the times when it came to fly line design. I spent several hours on the phone with several different line companies trying to find someone who would quit laughing long enough when I told them what rod I was fishing with and what I wanted in a fly line. Five different employee purchase forms later and a pile of various lines, I had the same problem I had had from the beginning. The guides on the rod were so small, I had to "pull" the fly line out of the line guides to cast, since all the bellies were to big to get through without getting stuck. She'd cast great forty feet or more out, but once the belly hit the tip of the rod all the issues arose.

Fast forward to running into Noles at the JayB Memorial, and I told him I was impressed with his work on the forum and asked him if he was he up for a challenge. I'm pretty sure he left a brown track in his shorts when I handed him a fiberglass rod with one season of baby tarpon under her belt and already showing salt wear. I requested bigger guides and a tuck and lift where needed, but I was adamant she keep her classic looks. Noles stumbled off in a "WTF" look in his eyes and I made my way back into the safety of the crowd before he could find me again and back out of the rebuild.

I soon found myself finishing out the year with a five month layoff from fishing due to degenerative discs/neck fusions and a dismal duck season. February came and my thoughts turned to the shad run and finishing up a honey-do list which included trimming the gardenia hedge before tarpon season started. As I made the first pass on the hedge row, I spied a single gardenia bud that immediately brought flashes of silver in stained water to my mind, quickly followed by memory of a honey yellow fiberglass rod that was still in Noles' care.

Monday evening as I walked up the sidewalk, I noticed a pvc tube leaning against the front door and I may have actually ran the few remaining feet up the sidewalk. My wife said I looked like that kid from "A Christmas Carol" when he got the Red Rider BB gun. Late hours at work, crappy weather, and a flyswap deadline looming relegated the "new" rod to the guest bedroom for the next few days, looking sexy as hell laying across the bed with a box full of bass flies to keep her company.

I had the day off on Feb. 4, and with the wind forecasts against me, I settled into the honey-do list. Around noon my dad called and simply said, "You need to call your granddaddy" before he started crying and simply hung up. I dreaded the call. Granddaddy had been steadily getting worse health wise, and our last phone conversation had brought me to tears the week before as I listened to him labor to breath and talk at the same time.

"Tell me a fish story sport!" he said over the phone after the first ring. I reminded him duck season had just closed and told him I wasn't planning on getting back on the bow of a boat until Sunday.

"Well, you're off today aren't you and you got a new fly rod to boot..... why the hell aren't you fishing right now? I thought your daddy and me taught you better that to waste a day off by not fishing. Priorities son, priorities!"

The call lasted about a half hour. He finished our talk by telling me to tell my wife he said to let me go fishing for a couple of hours before it gets to dark. I relayed what he said to Cindy and she agreed that I indeed could use a couple of hours on the water. I had my gear packed up and a loaded so fast that I impressed myself. I also made a mental note that I could sleep in an extra ten minutes in the mornings from now on if I wanted too.

I'd love to sit here and tell y'all that I finally got a wall hanger on the fiberglass rod, but that didn't happen. Instead, I fished for about twenty minutes and let the breeze push my kayak along the shoreline as I drank a beer and remembered the days of my youth with my dad and granddaddy, a twelve foot john boat, old trolling motor, dragging a stringer loaded with about thirty pounds of bass behind it and draining grandma's car battery more times than I can remember. I clearly remember how they expertly sculled with a single paddle from either end of the boat to position each other for making perfect cast with cork popping bugs and how they patiently retrieved errant lures from the trees from my trusty Zebco 33. I paddled back to the put in well after dark and found my truck was locked in the parking lot and the HOA had issued me a "ticket". Instead of getting mad, it reminded me of the time Granddaddy's car got towed while we were fishing a private lake that he assured us he had permission to fish. Him "freeing" his car from the tow company is another story all together.

My mom called me on the fifth.

After the service, my dad and I walked around the cemetery and looked for the oldest grave we could find. It's an odd ritual we've done at funerals for as long as I can remember. I finally realized that it is a form of therapy and time to collect your thoughts after burying a loved one.

After walking several rows of old weather markers that no longer bore readable dates, he asked me if I talked to Granddaddy before he died and what we had talked about. I told him the story above and he finally smiled for the first time in a week.

"He told me to go fishing too."


Noles, thanks for the rebuild. The rod's timing of arrival couldn't have been better. You'll be the second person to know when I finally get that wall hanger.








........................................................

And just so you bitches know, my Granddaddy was a big rollin' pimp in '41
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And still pulled the honeys in '01
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And he'd snatch away any of your Granddaddy's liquor and drink them under the table.

And do it in the middle of a cat three hurricane.

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"YOU GOT NUTTIN!"
rev
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Re: Old fiberglass 8wt makeover

Post by rev »

I hope that's not the only place you posted this. It deserves more.
hooknsnook
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Re: Old fiberglass 8wt makeover

Post by hooknsnook »

great read ...thanks for sharing good luck on your wall hanger..
i like to drink cold beer :)
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BearsFan
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Re: Old fiberglass 8wt makeover

Post by BearsFan »

This needed to be revisited... What a great story.
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