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The story...

 

Returning customer B.K. contacted me with an interest of having a float rod built on the Batson XST 1362F blank.  His desire was for me to whip up some streamside jewelry.  He wanted a rod that would announce itself when he fished the Salmon River for steelhead.  This rod was all about "bling" and I tried my best to pull several of the major colors from the "halo" guide set into the wraps.  On this rod, B.K. gave me quite a bit of guidance and was quite specific with the theme.  I used this as a foundation and came up with a few inclusions that would really put it over the top. 

 

Stabilized big leaf maple wood was chosen and used for this build.  It was purchased through reelseatblanks.com.  Steve Kincaid runs a tight ship and has a TON of stabilized burls for sale.  I couldn't be more happy with how my order was handled and the quality of the product I received for this build.

 

Originally, we had discussed a reel seat insert and a partial fighting butt using the stabilized maple stock, but it was later decided that a transition hozel and winding check would be turned for the rod as well.  We had just enough wood stock to cover the three items and because the blank I received was such high quality, there was very little waste created cutting around fissures and wood voids.  What a relief!

 

 

Build Specifications:

Blank: Batson XST1382F RX8 2pc.

Reelseat:  RA8L2 Skeleton

Reelseat Insert: Stabilized Big Leaf Maple (custom turned)

Stripper Guides:  American Tackle Halographic A Frames

Running Guides:  Same As Above

Guide Wraps:  ProWrap Metallic Green, Gold, Royal Blue

Ferrule Wraps: Same As Above

Winding Check:  Stabilized Big Leaf Maple (custom turned)

Hookkeeper:  PacBay Halographic Bent Wire

Decals:  Client Info/Rod Specifications

Cork: Green Burl, Burnt, Natural, Brown Burl

F.Butt: Stabilized Big Leaf Maple & Green Burl, Rubberized Burl

The Photos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Build Review:

 

I believe that I've achieved the streamside jewelry, "bling" level with this build.  The colors go extremely well together and the rod presents itself as refine and almost noble to a certain degree.  I can't wait until some fish slime, egg juice and dirt gets a chance to unite with it.  While this rod looks more like decorative furniture, deep within its soul...it is a fish catching machine!  Have fun with it B.K.!

 

 

 

With this rod, the adventure ends, but another awaits my attention....
 
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