Rich Brown made me a deal...he had tried to get into rod building a couple years back and had two unfinished rods plus some tools. I was thinking about getting started in it, so he said if I built the rods I could keep all the tools.

This particular blank was originally 7'; I'm not sure which blank but looking at the current Cabela's catalog, it most likely is an FT. I guess his kids were playing with it and snapped the butt on it, so now it's a 5' 8". After reading "Advanced Rod Building", I basically learned that if you shorten the butt of the rod, you slow the action. Conversely, cut the tip you increase the speed AND raise the WEIGHT rating of the rod.

This was my first rod, how much do you think I learned? TONS! I learned that 5 minute expoxy really means 5 minutes....no room for errors there...use Gudebrod's Rod Bond 'cause you have at least 45 minutes of working time.

The second thing I learned is don't use old epoxy; the finish that FAT gave me was probably 2 years old; even though it came precisely measured, the first coat NEVER hardened. So I had to put on a second coat to cover the first. In the end, it looks like water droplets on his guides, not finish!

Another intersting thing (look at the guide wraps) was that I did this rod without color preserver...yes the thread definitely DOES become transluscent.