Garry2Rs

Thanks Brian. Here's a blast from the past... This Musky rod is for our old friend Kirk, aka "Hooks" I was looking for Kawartha musky info in 2002, and you introduced us.

Early next week the dogs and I will be heading for Ontario. We've enjoyed our winter-break and didn't miss the awful weather back home! However we will be glad to get home. I look forward to seeing friends and family soon. This is the last of my winter project rods. It's an eight foot Musky rod for 3/4 to 3 ounce baits. Moving slowly forward ...Butt grip detail: Butt Tiger Wrap: Complete handle: Front grip detail: Fore grip: Front Tiger: Hook keeper and label: Garry2R's

Falcon Lake, in Texas, is on the Rio Grand. There has been trouble with the Mexican drug cartels. Read about robberies and piracy here... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piracy_on_Falcon_Lake

I built a 13 foot float rod. The Full Wells fore-grip was bought, but I glued and shaped the rear cork by hand. The client opted for a split rear handle, with a tigerwrap in the open space. He told me he has a green pin-reel, so the wraps are three shades of green plus a gold metallic thread in the tigers. The guides are Pac-Bay Titanium frames with Zirconium inserts.

Here's the folks that I use. http://www.barlowstackle.com/

Silent Lake is nice if you have canoes. No motors are allowed. There are washrooms etc. and it's close to Apsley for supplies. Depending on how self sufficient you are, as in don't need a washroom, and have a boat with a motor, there are lots of places on islands where you can camp for free in and around the Kawarthas. PM me if you want suggestions. There are also lots of canoe routes in the North Kawartha Highlands Park, where you portage into small lakes. Most portages are short and easy.

The temperature in Yuma has been in the mid-80's all month. That's 28-30 for you guys that aren't bi-lingual. Monday and Tuesday we will get a peek at Summer, when it goes over 90 for a couple of days. I was in southern BC last week and they were having +10C during the day... I asked them to send some east to you folks. They indicated they'd take care of it, but you can't count on those west-coast hippies to follow through on anything. If you can get rid of the snow, I will return the first week of May... If not, I will return anyway...HAHAHA. Garry2R's

Doug...You have mail...grin. To anyone else who has read this far, let me show you my re-worked red and white drop-shot rod... I decided I didn't like the fish decal. I also felt that the old all white Microwave sticker would look better than the new red, white and blue, one on this rod.

As other have said the Microwaves work very well. There is no fore-grip on the black rod, so removing the reel is no problem. However it is sized to perfectly fit a 1000 series Stradic. To build a rod to only fit one specific reel is a bit extreme. On the other hand, we will probably never run out of Stradic's...Grin. There are a number of sources for white blanks. Mudhole, Batson, Bingham Enterprises, etc. The coloured blanks in the picture are from Rodgeeks, a new company in New York state. I think they co-own the factory, in Mexico, where St.Croix has some of their blanks made. Rodgeeks just started offering blanks to the public. Late last month they were a big hit at the International Custom Rob Builders show.. The fancy colours are $15.00 extra, unless you buy in quantity. Check their web site for details. If you have any trouble decyphering the info PM me. Should you decide to order, let me know. I'm looking at stopping there on my way home. Perhaps we can save on taxes and shipping etc. Garry

Thanks for the feedback. I'm so glad Dad liked the rod! Garry

Okay Albert; Here are the rest of the colours that are available...

Thanks guys. Here's what I want to build on next!

This is my new black and gold, 6 foot. 10 inch drop shot rod. For a slicker look, I cut off all the threads that were showing after the reel was mounted. Yes, this is a little extreme...GRIN. The handle was cut and paste from slices I cut from two blocks of cork. I have seen jigs for slicing cork rings and cutting them into wedges to make checkerboard patterns in rod handles. I wanted to get a feel for the labour, look, and longevity of this type of handle before committing to a purchase.

I'm still stuck on the 50 yard line... The small RX-8 rods are very nice, but I can't make up my mind that the heavier rods are worth the extra money. We all know that the RX-8 material is pretty well limited to the butt section, to add stiffness, while reducing weight. However it appears to me that the actual weight differences are quite small. Since the tip does the casting, and you're tip is going to be RX-7 either way... There's a new outfit called Rodgeeks, that have some very interesting blanks and they're selling "factory direct." These folks run the Mexican plants were some of St.Croix's blanks are made. The international rod building show was last weekend, and a lot of people who attended were excited about these new blanks. I will order some as soon as I can find the cash...GRIN

Left to right, Rainshadow RX7 ISJ782. I have built this numerous times as a Senko rod. This one is for a client. Rainshadow RX8 XP840. This will be my new Crappie rod. Rainshadow ISB822.5. Dropshot rod with fast tip and tonnes of backbone incase I find a new PB...Grin. CRB IM6 701L. This rod is for a client's Father...It is a medium light, do everything rod. Rainshadow RX8 Walleye XSW62L. This little rod 6' 2", is so light you have to put a reel on it or it floats away...Wink. Rainshadow RX7 ISJ782. Personal favorite blank. I put a short handle on this one because my "normal" 13-14 inch ones hits my forearm when I jig.

You have mail!

Greetings All; Up in the Kawarthas, there is no doubt some cold weather yet to come. However, I have started packing things I wont be using, and plan to bring home, in preparation for the trip north. This morning we wrapped and packaged-up the rods that were built this winter. I though I would share these two pictures. Four rods use a sleek looking Fiji reel seat that has a special inlet cork grip. These are a bit fiddly to install, but look great and are very comfortable to use all day long. The other two have Areo reel seat which are also super comfortable, but always look a little "lumpy" to me. I bought the small butt grips on rods two and five to match the handles used on these two ultra-light rods. The other spit-grip butts are ones I glued up and turned myself. Garry2R's

There are several Micro wave demo videos on You Tube. To get the idea, this should get you started.

Continuing the theme of Winter projects... This is the last of the rods I promised for Spring delivery. The blanks is an ISJ782-M Rainshadow for 1/8 - 3/8 baits. We used Micro-Wave guides, a size #17 Fuji VSS reel-seat, a factory grip and one of my hand made butts. The heart of the Microwave guide system is this double guide that removes all the loops from the line coming off the spinning reel to reduce line-slap and give you longer, more accurate casts...You can trust me...It works. Details of the Fore-end wrap... And the Butt wrap... It threw a 1/4 ounce sinker over 100ft. on a test cast...I think the client will be pleased...Grin. Garry

The are lots of great knots that you can tie at home... On the water, the Palomar is easy to tie and very strong - If you're tying to a single hook, or snap etc. However it's a royal pain in the armpit if you have to pass the loop over multiple treble hooks. When multi hooks are involved the Uni is fast and simple. Passing the line through the eye twice increases the strength to near 100%. The Albright and the Nail knot are great leader knots, but again, I want to tie something easier on the water. Uni-to-Uni is good, but in the real world, in most cases, my leader is way stronger than I really need. IE...4 pound fluoro for 1/2 pound crappie etc. If I need to retie I often just use a double or triple surgeon's knot. It's closer to 50% line strength than 100%, but it's good enough when the fish are biting...grin.

I know that my casting accuracy drops off as my rod length passes six feet. I also believe that an accurate short cast catches more fish than any 100 foot Hail-Mary. Therefore my rods will be shorter than most. Here is my Pick-Six... #1 A 6-6 to 6-10 medium-light spinning rod for weightless Senko's and other soft plastics.. I have been in love with a 782, but am now trying a 802.5...With this rod I can catch bass everyday of the season in the Kawarthas. #2 A 6-6 or 7 ft Med-Heavy casting rod for Swim-baits, Jerk-baits, wire baits, tubes, Tex-Worms, Carolina rigs etc. #3 Another mighty-mighty 802.5...This 6'10" blank is rated between a M-L and a Medium, in my mind it's sort of a pear shaped rod with a soft tip and a beefy butt. Reminds me of my first girlfriend...For the way I fish, it just might be the best all-around bass rod ever invented! I will use this one as a Drop-shot spinning rod. #4 A 6 ft. Medium casting rod for casting around and under overhanging trees, blow-downs and docks etc. This is my finesse casting rod, with enough power to pull fish out of cover, but still soft enough to throw weightless Senkos and other 3/8 ounce baits. #5 Another 802.5 spinning rod for Flukes, Shaky-head or any other jig related technique, so I don't have to retie the drop-shot rod. This rod is also great for skipping, although it's not quite as accurate as a shorter rod would be.... #6 A 6-6 to 7 ft M-H crank-bait rod with #20 Mono on the reel for Top-water baits or deeper running crank-baits, later in the season. Garry2R's.

I'd like to wish my friends at OFC a happy New Year. The dogs and I are enjoying fine weather here in Arizona, high in the low 70's with overnight lows in the high 40's. However, as usual, we miss family and friends back home. I haven't done a lot of fishing so far this winter. A few short trips to give the dogs a run, and a couple of days with a friend camping on the Colorado River. We caught a few Small-mouth in the fast water. I was forced to call it quits after a couple of nights because my air mattress leaked...My old body no longer likes sleeping on the ground and let me know about it! During December we had family visiting. Bass fishing is slow in January, but an old workmate is coming for a visit next week and we generally spend some time trout fishing. They stock the local reservoirs with trout during the "cold" weather...After that, the pre-spawn and spawn should proved some action in February and March. I'm looking forward to building three rods for friends before Spring, and perhaps one for myself...grin. So far I have only finished one, a very conservative looking spinning rod for a friend's father. We will be back in the Kawarthas around the same time as the lilacs bloom, which I hope will be just in time for some good Crappie fishing. In the meantime, if you're playing in the snow or on the ice, be safe. Garry2R's

Hi Guys; Three years ago I built myself an ultra-light spinning rod for Trout and Crappie fishing. I used a Fuji reel seat which, as you can see, has to use a special grip with an inlet cut to fit the seat. The cork wraps around the reel seat and cushions your hand. This week the wind was blowing the sand around down here. So hard to cast and not too nice outside... Since I was stuck around the house, I decided to rework my old rod. The facelift included a split grip with a tiger wrap and the oversize fighting butt I build for my personal rods. Hopefully this would give the rod a more modern look. The tiger wraps are black and silver and look pretty good with the original grey thread. Garry2R's

I have had good success with the Magic Swimmer's. They are very good swimbaits, which means you have to use them very slowly. They aren't like jerk-baits or crank-baits, but work well when used properly. Garry2rs

There is also a launch behind the Grand Island Bar-B-Q