Well the new year is off to a very busy start here in the rod shop. For those of you waiting for your new custom rods, they're in production & coming along. I just finished gluing up a bunch of bamboo blanks & soon will be varnishing them & mounting hardware to make them into completed fly rods..... In addition to the beautiful fly rod shown below that's listed on the Available Rods page, I've got more rods on the way. Soon I should have a demo rod listed there for your consideration. It's a sweet rod that I can't wait to show you, so keep checking back often. The leather has been moving through the shop as well. More fly wallets are now available & there's more on the way, too!! The sewing machines have been working overtime as well, cranking out even more rod bags, rod tubes, & reel cases..... To that end, were working on having a complete inventory of fishing bags made up. These are some of the finest bags you can wear along the stream. I'd easily put them in a league with bags costing twice as much. Check them out on the Accessories page for more info. I think you'll enjoy fishing with one of these bags over your shoulder. It's never too early to start thinking about this up coming fishing season. If there's something I can help you with to get ready, please feel free to contact me anytime.
There have been a lot of books written about fly fishing in Pennsylvania. Some of the famous books on the sport were penned by PA anglers, changing our approach to the fish. It's a big state with trout streams in every county, providing a place to fly fish nearby wherever you happen to be in the state. It stands to reason that, through the years, many 'guide books' about PA streams have been written. Now there is another one - but this one promises to be different.
"Keystone Fly Fishing" - soon to be released - takes a different tact on the guide book genre. Here the state is broken up into regional sections (that's been done before), & has a different author & local fly fishing expert write about each region (a new approach). That, to me, sounds like a good approach. Pennsylvania is too big, with too many streams, for any one angler / author to know it all. This book promises to give much more detail about the smaller, less known trout streams. It leads me to believe that it will give more local knowledge on each part of the state. As it's not out yet, I haven't read it so I can't say if it's any good or not. It does pique my interest a lot & sounds very promising to me. If you fly fish in PA or make regular trips here & want to bring the fly rod along, this might be the book for you. It's supposed to become available on February 1st & you can pre-order a copy HERE. I'm always looking for ways to improve the products that I make & the work that I do. Recently, I decided to add another touch of class to the leather fly wallets I make. I did this by adding a small crease near the edge of the wallets. This gives these already classy wallets an even better finished look about them. You will see these edge creases on fine leather products in other uses, & I decided my wallets could benefit from it, too. Hand made from a variety of different, high-quality leather, with attention to every detail, I honestly believe that these are among the finest leather fly wallets available on the market today. Made right in my shop, the quality of the materials & construction are superior to anything else out there, making them also the best value you can possibly get in a leather fly wallet. The edges of each wallet are dyed black & buffed for beautiful, finished edges. In addition to the 6 to 8 fleece-material pages, these tri-fold wallets have two pockets - one in front & another in the back - to store leaders, etc as well. I've even given the inside pockets this edge creasing - quality, inside & out!! I've even added the edge creasing to the leather mini fly wallets, too. These handy wallets are ideal for hanging from a lanyard, your fishing vest, fishing bag, a belt, & are small enough to fit in your shirt pocket. Great for fishing guides, or anytime you need to change flies often, the mini fly wallet is a very easy & convenient way to carry your most-used flies along the stream. I'm very proud to offer these wallets to you. I beleieve you'll be proud to own one. I sincerely believe that these wallets are the among the finest you can get anywhere. With this cosmetic improvement, they are the nicest looking, & finest made leather fly wallets available.
To learn more about these fly wallets, please visit the Accessories page. To see what wallets I currently have in stock, please click HERE. If you have any questions about these fine leather fly wallets, please feel free to contact me. Why not start the next fishing season off by keeping your favorite flies in one of these outstanding wallets?!!? Over on the Available Rods page, I've just listed this Prudential Series bamboo fly rod: This rod is brand new & has never been fished. Perfect for tight quarters &/or ultra-light fly fishing situations, this take-anywhere fly rod will be fun to fish. This rod has a modertley fast action wich will allow you to pick up line off the water at a very short didtance. The verastitlty of this rod will allow you to cast dry flies, wets, nymphs, & even some small streamers. This rod features: -All cork grip & reel seat with two aluminum slide bands for reduced weight -Nickle-Silver winding check (above the grip) -Chromed, stainless steel line guides, stripping guide, & tip top -Nickle-Silver ferrules -Green silk thread wraps -Green, custom-fit soft cotton flannel rod bag -Green, custom-fit canvas covered PVC rod tube with padded ends, zippered closure, & leather name tag describing the rod inside For those of you who like to fish those small, tree & brush covered streams - or anytime you'd want to fish a shorter rod - this is a rod I think you'll enjoy fishing. What I like about this rod is that, unlike many other shorter rods, this one is not a broomstick & does have action & "feel" to it. This makes it much more pleasant to cast & fish, all the while it will still perform how it needs to in small quarters.
Prudential Series rods are my most economically priced bamboo fly rods, but this one is available at a steep discount. Here's a chance for you to gear-up early for next season with a great rod at a very nice price. To read more about this rod & to see a bunch more photos of it, please visit the Available Rods page. If you have any questions about this rod, please feel free to contact me. Get your fishing season started right this year with this awesome little fly rod added to your arsenal!! Ever notice how, on bamboo fly rods & some high end fiberglass & graphite rods, the wraps over the guide feet look like the were painted on? How the heck does that happen? Well, let me tell you..... The first trick to get smooth wraps that lay flat on the rod is to wrap with a very small diamter thread. On bamboo rods we use silk thread not only because of tradition (it's what they had back in the day), but also because it is still the best thread you can get for wrapping rods. It's fine diameter lays down flat on the rod & over the guide feet, while at the same time it's much stronger than nylon thread - it has a tensile strength stronger than steel. The next way to get really smooth wraps is to use varnish to coat the wraps. The same varnish that is used on the rod shafts of a bamboo fly rod will provide a very nice, even coating over the thread if applied correctly. It takes multiple, thin coats of the varnish to get it correct. An additional, & tedious step, is to sand the varnish over the wraps flat with a very fine grain sand paper before the final coat. Of course, all this takes a lot of time, but you can't argue with the results. Wraps done this way are vastly superior to those made with nylon thread & covered in epoxy, whch result in the large, bulky wraps you see on some commercial production rods. Smooth, flat wraps are a sign of a high-quality fly rod & that's why rod makers take so much time to get the wraps nice & smooth.
Where I live at this time of year, there are no mayflies hatching so I like to look out the window at the cold & snow & dream of warmer days along a trout stream - days when the big mayflies are abundant & the trout carelessly rise to them. I dream of a time when I can fish with the dry fly in the warm sun again. One place that's famous for the dry fly is the chalk streams of southern England. Let's just take a moment & go along with this fellow in the video below as he fishes those famous streams with a dry fly. It's a beautiful day in the video, so let's escape our winter for a moment & look over his shoulder while he fishes.........Ahhhh, I feel better already!! |
The Pliant RodNews from the shop of Chris Lantzy, Custom Rod Maker along with industry news, profiles of interesting characters, reviews, history, & whatever else strikes our fancy. Your comments & feedback are welcome. Please email me your thoughts. Celebrating two decades of making custom fly rods!!
leather accessoriesCases, bags, wallets, & other fine leather angling accessories.
See more photos from the rod shop & stream sides!
SEE MORE ROD PHOTOS!!!Please visit my Flickr pages to see even more rod photos including those available for sale, different rod features, & more. I'll be continuing to add photos there, so check it often.
Watch Some Videos!!Take a look into the rod shop & see some rods in living color motion pictures!! Check out my youtube videos.
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