clayton86

I got this one Friday out of johnsons creek in lyndonville on a rod I had just finished the day before. Gonna head out today see if I can't find some more

Got this hoss today before the wellsville trout derby testing out the rod I just built.

It works!

There were factory winding checks. I like the olive branch trim I did a couple on the rod I just built for myself. Still trying to get the hang of it and had a few ideas to alter it and spruce it up some more just gotta run some test wraps on old arrow shafts to see how it looks.

I went to baran institute of technology which is now Lincoln tech for automotive repair did it for a few years then went on to teach diesel tech at a vocational school. Hated it when I was turning wrenches making great money loved it when teaching it not making crap for money idk how I supported a family on it. Now I'm a shift supervisor in a fiberglass shop breathing in fumes and dust all night long with two apprentices under me and three other employees that do their own thing. Not what I went to school for but I like it and I'm good at it so.

On the dryer now did some olive branches around the hook keeper came out ok my first attempt looked better I think but it's a learning process. This is it for now I'm gonna do the tiger wrap next week and maybe add some abalone but for now it's almost ready for the trout derby Saturday.

Nice

Got the reel mounted and the guides placed and tested. Was able to wrap 4 of them today I was hoping to get them all wrapped but I slept in wayyyy later then I was hoping to. Pics are kinda crappy I'm sorry. My work station/kitchen table is a mess as well lol.

Got 4 smallmouth today nothing big but all were nice and fat. Man I miss out these guys fight.

After my disappointment with the Winn grips and needing to order new grips they finally came in today and I love them. Didn't know the fighting butt wasn't enclosed and I need a plug now I think I'm just going to make one at work with some two part or some black tinted resin or I'll tint the grip epoxy even and just fill in the hole slap some Mylar on it so it's flat and smooth and be done with it. Should have the handles done tonight I'm gonna take it to work to work on during my lunch break because I also need to build a shim/arbor for the reel seat the seat didn't come with an arbor and the one I ordered worked great but the inside of the seat has two different ID so I'm going to make a spacer at work also. Tomorrow I'll hopefully start putting the guides on and getting them set in resin and turning while I'm at work tomorrow night. Gotta have the build done by Friday for a trout derby doubt I'll get the tiger wrap done on the split section but I can always do it later.

I went out this evening for like half an hour after drill bit windy and chilly had something clobber a spinner bait hard but I missed the hook set. Seen some carp and a dead northern that was maybe 12". I was hoping to get out on the kayak tomorrow since the river has cleared up and went back to normal levels but it's calling for rain though the hourly forecast shows it tapering off and switching so sun about the time I get out of bed.

http://www.mudhole.com/Rod-Building/Turnkey-Rod-Building-Kit

Mud hole has a complete kit now that has everything but the blank I think

The abalone was a bit tricky the cardboard backing came off without the sticky part so I couldn't tell what was now my front and back. Had to scramble for a knife to try and peel the sticky backing and then guess which I got wrong so now there is a 1/8 gap on one side. It cracked a little also but not terrible the epoxy hid it well.

One of my good friends asked me to add some bling to his Abu vendetta. He wanted some abalone inlay, mermaid decal and skull and crossbones decal. First I started with the abalone and threw in a JTOB wrap to spruce it up a little pretty easy wrap I wish I would have remembered the original silver band on the rod and added my own after the JTOB to make it look even but I forgot and noticed afterwards. Then the mermaid went over top of the abalone not my choice but it didn't look as bad as I thought it would with te red abalone and red hair mermaid. Then the skull and crossbones went just under the stripper guilde on the top of the blank It was fun experimenting with the abalone and some simple trim wraps to spice up the rod my first jtob took like a half hour trying to figure out the spacing and what not the second went much faster. Abalone was neat also I got some left to play with.

All of my rods are factory rods at the moment except one ice fishing rod I built. I've got a build waiting to take one of my factory rods out of rotation I'm just waiting for my new grips from mudhole so I can start the build.

I've been playing ace fishing a bunch.

I'm gonna go out tomorrow before work I think again might hit lake Alice try pounding some points

I got some other stuff with this order to do repairs and mods to a friends rod he wants abalone on his vendetta so I'll knock that out while waiting for new grips

Yeah the decal was a little bigger then I thought when it said 1x1 it's more like 1.5x3. Think I'm going to save it and the grips for a different build and put this on hold till I get paid Wednesday and over night some parts out. Just goes with that learning curve of starting to build. This will be my first full size build and not ice rods. This also gives me time to practice my tiger wrap on a old arrow shaft and a jtob wrap I was gonna dress the hook keeper wrap with.

Choot em, get a cat

Had a small hit today but other then that nothing the river was like nestles chocolate milk

Almost forgot the pics Don't mind the cluttered table lol

Well my much awaited package from mudhole was waiting for me this morning with my next build components. This ones a MHX 7' light action rod S842. Then I did the microwave guides, project x two tone seat in phantom black. I'm gonna attempt a tiger wrap as well on it. The part I'm disappointed in is the Winn grips. They feel so cheap and cruddy I don't like them and feel they arnt worth the almost $30 for them. Which puts me in a bit of a bind because I'm kinda on a dead line for this build needs to be done by next Friday and this weekend I'm at drill all weekend. I'm probably just gonna have to use the grips and learn to like them. Few questions on them though. Can I turn them down so they fit inside the real seat? Other then the grips I'm excited to do another build I'm sure the winns will grow on me they just feel cheap and are kinda small.

I'll be out tomorrow in johnsons creek just can't decide if I'm gonna go by the mouth of Lake Ontario for the mixed bag or above the dam in still water for bass. That or both the little lakes by me are ice free and giving up bass but I'm to lazy to paddle the distance to get to them.