Building the 9' 5 weight

by Jim Whalen

The end of the 2001 Striper season left me hungry for more, it was a great year, just that it came to an end too soon. My next target species was trout in the local ponds. I don't know anything about fly fishing for trout other than I want to do it. You see I am one of those people who migrated over to saltwater fly fishing from spinning and conventional and never had any experience fresh water fly fishing. I've done quite well using ultra light spinning gear from the canoe and float tube but after becoming completely addicted to fish on the fly how could I do it any other way. A poll of the members on the forum helped me decide on a 9' 5wt rod.

I started by gathering information on the web. I also made a visit to a couple of local fly shops. The Rod Builders Workshop in Kingston, MA and the Bears Den in Taunton, MA.

The Rod Builders Workshop is near by and I purchase quite a bit of my tying supplies there. Smitty, the proprietor is an expert craftsman. I've talked to him some about rod building in the past. It seemed the logical place to get my questions answered, and maybe catch an epoxy buzz to boot. Smitty is always very interesting to talk to regardless of the topic. I enjoyed the conversation and put a great deal of stock into what he was willing to share.

Scott Wessels at The Bears Den was another valuable source of information, the shop is strictly fly fishing and packed with all sorts of gear. Taunton is much further than some of the more local shops but it was well worth the drive. We talked for some time about many rod building topics. It amazes me that for all the steps in building the rod there are so many different ways to proceed. I guess it was while I was talking to Scott that I started to realize that this wasn't just assembling a group of components. I was crafting a tool and by choosing the components and doing the work myself it would be what I made it. With my newfound and very limited knowledge came more questions. Eventually I thought I had things somewhat sorted out. The next thing on my list was to gather the tools and materials needed to get the project going. Some decisions needed to be made. I knew I wanted to build a 9' 5wt, but what blank, guides, etc... would it be build from. I decided to go with a blank I would be reasonably happy with using but wouldn't be a heartbreaker if there were problems with the finish or any number of unknown problems I might encounter as a novice. Since the 5wt was strictly for fresh water I didn't use the higher end hardware that is available. I picked up some supplies and tools from both shops, and purchased an inexpensive blank from hook and hackle online. The price was right and I wasn't ready to commit to a higher end blank for this project.

Getting organized and setting up the work area.

I made the wrapping jig out of last years kitchen project leftovers. The jig consists of a couple of vertical supports for the blank, I put felt on the wood to prevent scratching the blank. A piece of bungie cord holds the blank in place. A post for the thread, a tread tensioner and a screw eye were all that I needed to wrap with.

As many have said a cardboard box with V's cut in it and a book to tension the thread are really all that you need to get started.

Finding the spine

I learned that properly locating the spine of the rod is very important. The spine is the strongest side of the blank and the guides must be placed opposite this point to prevent twisting and insure a nice true cast. When the blank is put under load it will have a tendency to flex opposite the spine. If the guides were placed at an angle to the spine the rod would have a tendency to twist, causing problems.

I've also read that on some fast saltwater rods the guides are placed on the spine of the blank. Yet another method was to find the straightest line on the blank. Smitty told me that many blanks have a natural curve. Placing the guides so the rod won't curve to one side or the other is another method. The straight line method is used by Sage so I certainty wouldn't rule it out, but I decided to place my guides opposite the spine.

Mounting the reel seat and grip
I used slow drying epoxy to mount the reel seat on the butt. First I built up the blank with masking tape to provide even spacing between the blank and the inside of the reel seat. I dry fitted the seat several times, making sure it fit snuggly. I put enough epoxy on the blank to fill the void between the butt and the reel seat and carefully aligned the seat so that the reel would line up with the side opposite the spine of the blank. The rod was placed in a upright position to cure for 24 hours. Once I started playing with the epoxy I didn't dare touch the camera.

Once the epoxy cured I started reaming out the cork grip. Since I had decided to go with a pre turned grip all that needed to be done was to get the internal diameter of the grip to match the blank.

 Not as easy as it sounds since the blank is tapered. After some serious dry fitting and filing I got a nice sung fit. I then scuffed up the blank with 400 grit sandpaper to give the epoxy something to adhere to. I glued it up and set it aside to cure.

 

Wrapping the guides and ferule

First I had to layout the spacing of the guides on the blank. I had run the guide spacing by Smitty who said the manufacturer would know best. I placed the guides using the following layout.

Hook & Hackle recommendation

Distance from tip (Inches)

Tip top

4.5

9.5

15.25

21.75

29

36.5

44.75

54

64.5

76

Guide size

 

7mm

7mm

7mm

7mm

8mm

8mm

8mm

8mm

10mm

12mm

The guide feet needed to be filed down so that the thread would climb the guide and not bunch up as it was wrapped. Preparing all the guides and getting the spacing transferred to the blank was time consuming but I took the time required to do it right. I placed a small amount of ferule cement under each guide to protect the blank. Scott had given me a tip - put the ferule cement on the blank and when ready to position the guide heat the guide foot and place it on the blank.

Laying on some wraps. I had envisioned this as being the hard part but looking back on the project, reaming the cork was more difficult.

 

Lining up the tip top with the rod spine
Whip finishing a wrap requires that the tag end of the thread be pulled back under the wrap. To accomplish this I used a piece of backing.

That's all until I get a chance to finish wrapping and laying on the finish.........