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7' 6" 4wt. - Fly Rod Specs

Components		Source	Cost (approx.)
Blank -	Forecast	Hook & Hackle	$14 (sale)
Weight -	4 wt.
Length -	7' 6"
Pieces -	2
Action -	Fast
Finish -	Deep Gloss Navy Blue
Modulus -	31 million

Tip top -	Pacific Bay Chrome	Hook & Hackle	$1
Guides -	Pacific Bay Single Foot Snake Guides, Chrome	Hook & Hackle	$4.50
Stripper -	Hiloy, Chrome	Hook & Hackle
Hookkeeper -	Standard U, Chrome	Hook & Hackle	$0.25
Winding Check -	Nickle Silver	Hook & Hackle	$3.50

Grip -	A Grade	Damon Rods	$9.00

Reel Seat -	Titanium Carbide Uplocking	Damon Rods	$18
Reel Seat Insert -	Tulipwood

Decal -	Holographic Brown Trout	Jann's Netcraft	$1.45

		Rough Component Cost -	$53

Other Details
Thread -	Main Wraps - Gudebrod Nylon , Size A, in Sunburst (0200) and Garnet (0206). The Diamond Wrap shades from Lemon Yellow (6778), Goldenrod (0209), Sunburst (0200), Orange (0221), Candy Apple Red (0335) and finally to Garnet (0206).
Color Preserver -	U40 Color Lock
Finish -	Cabela's

Comments
A lot of folks love this rod, and Drew (from MI) bought it! - it was $150 for a complete combo with Hobb's Creek Large Arbor HCI ($40) and Cortland 333 WF 4 ($25) & Backing ($5.00). My cost in the combo is $123 + consumeables, so I'm asking roughly a whopping $25 for all my time and effort!!!

Things I learned while building this rod
First, I went nuts as I misplaced my Flexcoat but this rod was all set to go...I gave the Cabela's finish another shot and this time had no problems in the application or finish. Fun Fun Fun Wrap - the single inlaid wraps are actually pretty easy to accomplish. The ONLY downside is that the start/stop point tends to rotate around the blank (see the hookkeeper picture). I also tried a new type of Diamond Wrap on the butt and let me tell you..it was REAL TIME CONSUMING (6-8 hours) but man, all this effort was well worth it! Also, something was different about the decals from Netcraft vs. the ones Dave @ Creekside sent me. I'm going to have to do a bit more research to figure it out..they applied differently & the results were noticeably different.

Pictures


An overview of this 2 piece 4wt 7'6" Forecast fly rod.	The Tulipwood seat wasn't a favorite of mine at first, but man it really makes this rod!	The Grip and Reel Seat

An overview of all the butt work I did on this rod!	The hookkeeper utilized the inlaid single wind I came up with.	The shaded diamond wrap consists of more than normal; I wrapped 4 lines instead of 2.

The inscription	Another decal..this time a holographic brown trout.	Navy Blue ferrule wraps simply dissolve into the Forecast Blank.

The Stripper also utilizes the fancy inlaid single wrap I came up with.	The snake guides use a simpler pattern.	Drew send me a pic with the rod and it's first fish and I'll put it here!