Tarpon Rod

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dunfly
Posts: 1475
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Dunedin, FL

Tarpon Rod

Post by dunfly »

While cruising the internet I ran across an R. L. Winston Boron IIx 12 wt blank for a steep discount. Visions of tarpon and shark popped into my head ....I couldn't help myself. So, here it is. The grip is hand turned from burl and cork. Since the foregrip is extended, I had to design it from scratch. The rear part of the fore grip is a Ritz grip pattern transitioning into a full wells grip. The butt is freeformed.

All but the stripping guides are AmTack Titan titanium guides. The stripping guide is a titanium finish with gold nanolite insert. Since the blank is green, I used a green/black twist thread with gold trim rings. Unfortunately, the thread looks black in the pictures.
“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste....” — Rahm Emanuel
"Freedom!" - Sir William Wallace
Who is John Galt?
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BigFlyReel
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Re: Tarpon Rod

Post by BigFlyReel »

Wow - beautiful! What line are you throwing, and how does it cast?

Greg
____

Native "Slayer Propel 13"
Native "Ultimate 12"
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jbdba01
Mr. Fishing Reports
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Re: Tarpon Rod

Post by jbdba01 »

Very, very,very nice. Even as a non-fly, non-rod building guy I can appreciate the effort that went into it. You putting it on e-bay? That back drop and spot light has ebay written all over it.
JB
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DoubleM
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Re: Tarpon Rod

Post by DoubleM »

Very cool! Ready for the silver king's bite?
Mark .aka. Man of Purpose. Original Chincy Jones

Ultimate 14.5 sand & blue Indian River Outdoorsman.

The jig is up and weedless.
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dunfly
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Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Dunedin, FL

Re: Tarpon Rod

Post by dunfly »

BigFlyReel wrote:Wow - beautiful! What line are you throwing, and how does it cast?

Greg
Finally got out to cast it. I lined it with an 11 wt Sage Equator WF floating line. I underlined it a little to speed up the action and reduce swing weight. It casts great and I was shooting 100+ foot casts with ease...but not without effort. Compared to my 8 wts, the swing weight is vey noticeable. It balances perfectly on the grip, and I used light titanium guides, but I wouldn't want to blind cast it much. After about 40 practice casts, I could feel my arm getting tired. Fortunately, it was designed for sight casting.
“You don’t ever want a crisis to go to waste....” — Rahm Emanuel
"Freedom!" - Sir William Wallace
Who is John Galt?
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