Bamboo Switch Rod No.2 & 3

A few weeks i got the first peek at switch rod blank No.2 which had been in the impregnator tank for two and half weeks.
Once drained i cleaned the blank off and hung it in the drying cabinet for a week at 22% humidity and 85 degrees temp.
The bamboo is literally translucent in the light and seems very delicate. Upon cleaning the pressure tank i installed new filtered Spar and Switch Rod blank No.3, sealed the top fitting and pressurized the tank. This blank I had in the drying cabinet for a week with descant and light heat. It's really dry and should impregnate very well.

Blank No.3, I used a skim/scrape plane to reform to the specs i found on Hexrod.com archive for a 10' spey rod.



Heres the formula and description of what i used as a guide for my reform, free form, Switch Rod interpretation.

Grantham Ron 120/63 ETSpey 10 Ft 6 Wt

Rod Name Grantham Ron 120/63 ETSpey
Length (inches) 120
Length (feet) 10
Line Weight 6
Number of pieces 3
Number of tips 1
Construction Spey
Comments 120-.465 125-480 130-.495 135-.510 140-.525 144-.537 ET is Electrical Tape This rod has three sections and was made specifically for floating lines and skating deer hair flies for west coast steelhead. The rod is a bit too soft for heavy sinking lines and large flies. It was also designed to be hollow-built with spliced ferrules. I use a Rio Mid-Spey 6/7 line and can routinely Spey-cast 80-90 feet with it. The joints have a 25:1 slope tapering to .060". The spliced ferrule overlaps are: butt to mid: 7.86"; mid to tip: 4.57". The finished rod should be exactly 10 feet long. The joints are held together with transparent tape
Deduction for varnish 0
Allowance for form setting 0
Ferrule 1 0/64 Location 0
Ferrule 2 0/64 Location 0
Station Dimension Form Setting
0 0.111 0.056
5 0.122 0.061
10 0.138 0.069
15 0.162 0.081
20 0.182 0.091
25 0.198 0.099
30 0.213 0.107
35 0.228 0.114
40 0.241 0.121
45 0.255 0.128
50 0.268 0.134
55 0.281 0.141
60 0.295 0.148
65 0.309 0.155
70 0.322 0.161
75 0.336 0.168
80 0.350 0.175
85 0.363 0.182
90 0.378 0.189
95 0.391 0.196
100 0.406 0.203
105 0.420 0.210
110 0.435 0.218
115 0.450 0.225

yuba 1-28-2012

Just short of bitch slapp'd,
2 on the swing, but 15 missed on dries.
Fins flipped off my way.

Garden pop'en hot,
like Eve's pagan holiday.
Caddis dancers.

I,
like tail between a puppy's legs.
Homeward bound.

Yuba Haiku 1.17.2012

In Dharma's garden,
acrobatic fish, green and red.
We swirling dervish.

Yuba 1-9-2012

Fluid crystal course,
moorland meaning "skylining".
Fast, flurry 1 subsides!

Tony's Talisker

Through some simple refinements I have my new wet fly for the Rhitogenia Morisoni hatch.
Over the past few months I have been able to really hone in on the patterns new form and really get some great feedback from the source, Trout!
A few posts back is a profile of one fish that really liked it well.
Inspiration for the pattern is from traditional North Country lead wings that are illustrated in T.E. Pritts book North Country Flies from 1886 and added what I think that set the Salmonoids into a frenzy is the flash rib in the rabbit dubbed body. I also am very fond of the wings luminosity made from Mottled Turkey feather. I'm sure in the light in the water from below they "light up".
If your interested in trying out one of my Talisker's they can be purchased through my on line store here;
Alpen Glow: on-line fly shop