Five Rivers Signature V 8'6" 3wt

Here is the proof that my first custom, handmade fly rod is complete. Yeah, it took me a while to get this one done, but it was so worth it. I took it out and cast it on the Provo River yesterday. I absolutely love it. I would have said that I fished it on the Provo, but I still don't have my first fish on this rod yet. Hopefully I can take care of that soon.

Here are the rod details:
Dan Craft Five Rivers Signature V 8'6" 3wt 4pc blank
REC NSUSL nickel silver reel seat with amboyna burl insert
Custom shaped (modified reverse half wells) cork grip
Forecast light titanium colored winding check.
Gudebrod garnet thread with Sulky dark copper trim wraps (no color preserver)
Fuji TLNSG titanium stripping guide (size 10)
Black nickel snake guides (one size 2 guide, then eight size 1/0) and tiptop

This picture shows a few of my wraps with the garnet and metallic copper thread. Because I didn't use any color preserver on the thread, the nylon darkens and almost goes kind of transparent when the thread finish epoxy is applied. This was the effect (and color) as I looking for. The garnet thread looks very dark, almost black, in the shade. However, you can see the deep red color in the sunlight. I felt that the copper trim wraps added a lot of color to the rod and complemented the amboyna burl reel seat insert.

There is a small wrap of garnet thread directly in front of the winding check, just to offset the check a bit more. The hook keeper is wrapped completely from front to back. I used different sized copper trim bands depending on the size of the guides. The stripping guide has a 5-turn trim band at the end of each foot. The first snake guide (size 2) has 3-turn trim bands. All the other snake guides have a single turn trim band.

This next picture shows the ferule wraps at the joint of each section of the rod. It also shows a bit of the deep red color of the garnet thread. On the two smallest sections, the ferule wrap is integrated into the guide foot wrap. Having the guide foot wrapped in with the ferule wrap saves thread and finish epoxy weight. You can also see in this picture how the guide feet show through the semi-transparent thread wraps.

Right now, I'm using my new Galvan Open Back fly reel for this rod. After all, a new rod deserves a new reel, right? This OB-4 reel is rated for a 5 or 6 weight rod, but only weighs 4.6 oz or so. Even with my 3wt fly line and some backing on, it balances the fly rod fairly well. The balance point is about 1/3 the way back from the front of the grip. I didn't have any trouble fishing (casting) it out on the river yesterday.

Anyways, hope you like my new fly rod as much as I do. I've already got my next rod build project planned out, and I can't wait to get started.

(Heidi -- Thanks for helping take the pictures and for being so supportive of me building this rod, especially over the past week.)