“Build a Rod for a Reel”

Earlier this year, I was contacted by Justin Mitchell, an advanced angler, historian, and collector of all things fly fishing. Justin wanted me to build him a bamboo fly fishing rod, and he had an interesting idea behind what type of rod he wanted.

I invited Justin over to discuss what type of rod he wanted made. As he walked in the door, Justin set a big bag down on the work bench. As he opened up the bag, he explained his idea.

Justin had brought over 7 different reels ranging from modern reels to super old vintage reels. Each having it’s own aesthetic and appeal.

Reels.jpg

He told me he wanted to me to pick a reel, not tell him which one, and to build him a rod for that reel.

I was very intrigued by this. I had never build a rod for a reel. I was also very drawn to one of the small little brown reels that Justin had presented to me. This reel was an 1880s Edward Vom Hofe reel.

I decided to build a 6’6” 3 weight. I lightly flamed the culm to remove any super yellow tones. To wrap the guides, I used a chocolate brown silk that matched the brown color on the reel itself. For the reel seat, I used a maple burl because it also contained these chocolatey brown hues.

Justin's Rod.jpg

Overall, I loved this project. It let me use my imagination and creativity, combined with my building stills to “build a rod for a reel”.
 

Tim Cottage

Steelhead
Forum Supporter
A great proposition and opportunity to exercise some creativity and what a great selection of reels to choose from.
Well done.
 

PhilR

Whale Shark
Forum Supporter
That is some beautiful work.
 

Canuck from Kansas

Aimlessly wondering through life
Forum Supporter
Absolutely beautiful work, and it really looks to "match" the reel.

cheers
 

@Dryflyphotography

Life of the Party
Olivia, beautiful work and a wonderful compliment to your sense of design to be given such a project. The reel is such a key component to the aesthetics of the rod/reel combination and that reel was a terrific choice. Its almost like building a guitar made to play a special musical piece...a cedar/walnut OM to play finger style DADGAD, or adirondack/mahogany to play a Tony Rice bluegrass run.
 

flybill

Life of the Party
Absolutely beautiful!! What taper did you use? I've had a few reels that I didn't know what to use them on until I bought the next rod.. kind how I do wine / food pairing.. choose the wine and then make a dish that goes with it!! Cheers!
 

jerry

Steelhead
You're going to love it. I saw your rod the other day as she was finishing it up. It's a sweet rod!
Dave, you are right. It came today and, and, and what can I say? You helped a young person learn your craft that was very worthy of the education you had to offer. It would be insulting to Olivia not to fish this rod. As soon as I acquire the right reel and line and figure out a worthy river, I will be wetting some flies. I will try to take some photos and post them in the next day or so.
 
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@Dryflyphotography

Life of the Party
Dave, you are right. It came today and, and, and what can I say? You helped a young person learn your craft that was very worthy of the education you had to offer. It would be insulting to Olivia not to fish this rod. As soon as I acquire the right reel and line and figure out a worthy river, I will be wetting some flies. I will try to take some photos and post them in the next day or so.
Jerry, I'm betting the taper will be terrific if Olivia used one of Dave's tapers. Dave is very good at understanding his tapers and I like that he's a PNW maker who fishes the same waters we do.
 

jerry

Steelhead
I was able to take a few photos of the rod that Olivia built for me. The redwood burl reel seat is beautiful. The varnish and wraps are flawless. Photos don't do justice to Olivia's work. You need to hold it in your hand and give it the proverbial wiggle. I don't think I will be able to wait for the new reel and line. I may put one of my old reels and line on it and go wet a fly.

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7 feet
 

@Dryflyphotography

Life of the Party
Beautiful trim wraps. When I visited Dave at his Sisters OR shop a couple years ago he gave me a long, thorough tour of his shop and building process. One of the few steps I had prior familiarity with was wrapping so I asked him some detailed questions about his techniques for getting clean, straight and narrow trip wraps which are very difficult to do. He, of course, had some special techniques which I had never figured out on my own and his work was impeccable. Glad to see he taught taught Olivia well, her work reflects it.
 
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