Next up, Martha Marie

[Mike Monsos]

It's always hard to sleep after a glue up anticipating pulling the string off a set of shafts in the morning. And last night was no exception. This morning bright and early I got to bring the glued and bound up shafts out of the drying box. After removing the binding string, I got to sight the shafts and do a rough check on the taper. The planing work and glue up went well, and the shafts are as hoped for. The taper a Paul H Young Martha Marie, 7'6" 2/1 flamed. This taper is a nice 5 wt. I made one of these about 8 years ago for a fundraiser and thought it was a great casting rod that I should make for myself. It took a while to get to it, but I finally got around to it. Not much to look at yet,

 

[Kenneth Yong]

Looking forward to the finished product, Mike, and all the best!

Kenneth

 

[Tim Cottage]

I had a Martha Marie made by A.J. Thramer. I fished it for 2 or 3 seasons and then sold it. It was based on an original that A.J. had the opportunity to measure. It was an eminently practical all around rod. If that's the kind of rod you are looking for you should be happy with it.

 

[Mike Monsos]

I followed this taper, I'm not sure if it is an authentic taper but it was a nice casting rod. I'm looking forward to adding this to my personal collection. There are a number of different published tapers, so it was a difficult choice. But this is the one I made before that I liked, so I'll stick with it again.

 

[Kado]

Ha! Thanks for reminding me of the taper I just used on the Yakima. It handled a nymphing rig as well as a short rod can with all the mending involved and was a lot of fun with a small dry dropper rig. As usual though, I can never be sure how accurate my build is to a taper, but the rod fished well.
I really like the deep brown tone of your flamed blanks.

 

[@Dryflyphotography]

Mike, I hope I get to cast that one some day, fun rod!

 

[DFG]

You do know that making bamboo rods is physically impossible. Can't be done. Against the laws of physics.

That said... I'm blown away! It looks absolutely beautiful! Looking forward to hearing about how it casts!

 

[Mike Monsos]

I finally got around to making and mounting the ferrule set for the new MM. It's an amazing feeling when you get to mate the two sections of a new rod for the first time (yup feels that good ). To me, it marks the point where the rod is "made" and now it's just mounting all the hardware and the cosmetic work. This rod is one of the straightest right out of the binding string that I have ever made. Now on to final steps to get the rod ready to cast and fish.