Blog Archives

Custom Fly Fishing Rods by Chris Lantzy, Custom Rod Maker

Take A Kid Fly Fishing

3/31/2015

I was lucky, I grew up in a family where everybody fished with a fly rod. In retrospect, I didn't really have a choice - I was going to fish, too. Turns out I loved it. But that was me. Some of you who have kids in your life may be wanting them to experience the same thing I did (& maybe you did, too). It brings up a question of when & how to start a kid in fly fishing.

HERE, is an article that address exactly that. I can tell you that, based on my experience, I totally agree with the author, especially the part about not all the time will be spent with line in the water. I can remember as a young kid taking time out from fishing to play around the stream. As a youngster, I knew quite well that I was NOT to disturb other anglers & to take care of my gear.

If you're thinking about taking a kid fishing, I applaud you. I think it's fantastic to see young anglers on the stream. Plus, you're working to create other life-long anglers who will keep the sport going, long after we're gone. Just be prepared. Understand that kids won't be into all the gear, the intricacies of wet & dry flies, or the technical aspects of the sport. That's fine. With teaching a kid to fish, it should be all about having fun.

So if you're trying to pass on fly fishing to the younger generation, I thank you. You're doing something great for the youngsters, the sport, & for yourself.

Being An Expert

3/28/2015

Try as I may I'm no expert on anything. There are things that I feel I should know that I don't. Not that I have to be the guy who knows everything. I'm okay telling someone "I don't know." However, it's when someone asks me a question I probably should know the answer to but don't, that I realize how ignorant I can be about some things.

If you consider yourself an expert & someone asks you a question you don't know the answer to, you've got three options as I see it.

You can start by overwhelming them. To do this you usually need to know some technical words that are generally associated with the topic they asked you about. If they're sincere & you see confusion on their face as they try to follow along with your answer, the trick is working. You then either have to make a quick exit immediately following your answer or change the topic of conversation away from their question by asking them a question that's related to one of the big, technical words you used: "How about you? Have you ever pondered the salmonidical mindset as it rises for a satiating meal of ephemeroptera?" This should avoid you having to state that there is something that you, in fact, don't know.

The second option open to you when asked a question you can't really answer is to answer, but not the question that was asked. You answer a question that you do know the answer to, making sure that it's somewhat close to the subject of the original question. Politicians do this all the time which leads me to believe that it must be an easy technique to master. For example:

(upon approaching the stream with your fishing partner)
You: "This looks like good dry fly water."
Partner: "Which dry fly would you use here today?"
You: "I've noticed that after the first full moon of the month trout feeding activity is less on this stream."

The third option you could take when asked a question you don't know the answer to is to simply say "I don't know." Of course you would then begin to discuss with the questioner where or how the answer might be found. Perhaps you might even suggest that the two of you investigate it together.

Of course the option you choose depends upon your personality, ego, & a bunch of other things that make psychologists money. Just be careful. If you choose one of the three options too often, folks might stop asking you questions. Then what kind of expert would you be?

Time To Clean Your Fly Rod

3/27/2015

I always re-post this twice a year, once in the Spring & again in the Fall. I do this because I think it's important to keep your fly rod clean. It's something that's so simple & easy to do, but it's one of the best things you can do to prolong the life of your rod. Keeping the rod clean & waxed will help protect it from the wear & tear of use. You want to protect your investment, right?

Now I know some of you have been fishing all winter (in locations where that was possible). Regardless if your fly rod spent the winter in the closet or on the stream, this is a good time of year to clean it & inspect it.

This info - & a bunch more regarding how to make some repairs, etc - is available for you to read over on the Tackle Tips page of this website. To bring it to everyone's attention I post it here. Now, here are some tips on how to clean your fly rod:

No matter if you have a graphite, fiberglass, or a bamboo fly rod after use they get dirty. Along with the dirt & grime that rods acquire from use, they sometimes get watermarks on the shaft from being in contact with a wet fly line. For these problems that arise from normal use (we're not talking about damage here), it's a good idea to gently clean the shafts of the rod with some liquid window cleaner (like windex, etc) & a soft, clean towel. Spray the window cleaner onto the towel & wipe down the rod shafts gently. Then follow that by wiping the shafts dry with another soft, clean, & dry towel. Make sure to get the area beneath the line guides & the guides themselves.

Next, if you have a bamboo rod with varnish, or a fiberglass or graphite rod with a gloss, shiny finish, go over the rod with a good furniture polish - the same kind you use around the house (Old English, Pledge, etc). Again, spray the wax on a clean, soft towel, & wipe off the wax with another dry towel. Make sure that you get the line guides as well but make sure you get all the excess wax off the line guides. If you don't, it will build up on the guides & slow your fly line down.

DO NOT WAX THE FERRULES!!! This is especially true for the metal ferrules of a bamboo rod. Never ever wax the ferrules. If you need to clean the metal ferrules of a bamboo or older fiberglass rod, put some rubbing alcohol onto a clean, soft towel & wipe the ferrules with the alcohol. Then wipe them again with a clean, dry towel. Make sure the towels are clean & do not have anything on them that will scratch the ferrules. To clean the inside of a metal female ferrule, dip a cotton swab into some rubbing alcohol & swirl it around inside the ferrule. Keep doing this with a fresh cotton swab each time until they no longer have dirt on them. Then dry the inside of the female ferrule with a dry cotton swab before assembling the rod.

If you have a rod with a matte finish, just clean the rod with the liquid glass cleaner, or warm water only. Don't wax the shafts of the rod, but you can wax the line guides & the guide wraps if you wish.

Finally, after you've cleaned & polished the rod, I like to go over it one more time with a "dry sweeping cloth" (like "swifter") that are available at most retail stores. This really polishes the rod up & gives it a nice appearance. It also removes fingerprints & other smudges.

Regular cleaning helps to protect the finish of the rod & to protect the guide wraps & labels or inscriptions on the rod shafts. If you take the time to clean your fly rod & keep it looking good, you'll be going a long way to getting more years of use from it.

6'-6", 3/2, 4/5 wt Bamboo Now Available

3/23/2015

Swing on over to the Available Rods page of this website to check out a new rod I just listed there.

It's a 6'-6" Classical Series bamboo rod made for a 4 or 5 weight line. This one is unique in that it's a 3 piece rod (with an extra tip) in this shorter length. You don't usually see this very often.

The advantage of being a 3 piece rod is that you can easily strap it to your pack while hiking through the woods to get to the stream. If you're fishing a back-country, or mountain, stream you'll have a rod of the perfect length when you get there. Of course, this rod will work well on medium to larger streams as well. The shorter length of this rod when broke down is also great for any type of traveling, too. The rod tube measures only 29 inches in length!

This rod features:
-Aluminum cap & ring style reel seat with a figured walnut wood spacer. The aluminum looks great with the benefit of reduced weight.
-Winding check (above grip) made of Nickle-Silver
-Chromed, stainless-steel line guides, hook keeper, tip tops, & stripping guide
-Nickle-Silver ferrules
-Olive colored silk thread wraps with black silk tipping wraps
-Green, custom made rod bag with black embellishment stitches (to match the color scheme of the rod)
-Green, canvas covered, custom fit PVC rod tube with padded ends, zippered closure, & leather name tag describing the rod inside

This is a very nice moderate to moderate/fast action rod in a unique 3 piece configuration that I think you're going to enjoy fishing.

New, Reduced Price!!

One of the other rods listed on the Available Rods page, a beautiful 7'-6" Classical Series bamboo rod, has just been reduced in price. This is a very nice rod that is great to cast & look at. In fact, if I were choosing a 'first bamboo fly rod' for somebody, this would be it. Of course, experienced bamboo anglers will appreciate this rod's feel & aesthetics, too.

Coincidentally, this rod was featured in a short video I recently made & you can see it up close in detail by watching the video below:

For more information & to see more photos of both this rod & the 6'-6" rod, please visit the Available Rods page. If you have any questions at all about anything you see there, please feel free to contact me.

More Leather Fly Wallets On The Way...

3/19/2015

In an attempt to keep everyone stocked up for the up-coming fishing season, I've been trying to add to my stock of available accessories. Right now, & in the coming days, it's going to be the leather fly wallets I offer over on the Accessories page that will be on the work bench.

Now because my supply of leather is always changing - & because leather is a natural product - no two wallets are exactly the same. I try to make wallets from different types of leather to offer you a variety. Some folks like a soft & supple wallet with a velvety feel, while others like a stiff, smooth leather. I try to cover all the bases.

So if you've been thinking about getting one of these wallets, please let me know. If you have a specific color in mind, or want a soft or stiffer leather let me know & I'll make sure to get yours started while I'm working on the building up my stock. That'll get your wallet completed faster.

I still do have a handful of these wallets all made up & ready to go. You can see what's currently in stock over on a special page of this site. Please keep checking back to that page as I'll be adding these new wallets over the next few days as they get completed.

For more information about these leather fly wallets - & a host of other goodies - please visit the Accessories page of this website. As always, feel free to contact me should you have any questions at all.

Some Timely Thoughts By Theodore Gordon

3/16/2015

For those of you who don't know who Theodore Gordon was, it's worth your time to look him up. Basically, he's considered the originator of American dry fly fishing & he was the original 'trout bum'.

I ran across this quote from him the other day. It was written around the turn of the twentieth century. I think it is still very relative today. All anglers can understand exactly what Gordon is saying here:

"The waters of the Neversink, usually so bright & sparkling, are dark & sullen looking in their frame of ice & snow, but the good time is coming. Some morning we will wake to find the south wind blowing, & the air will be sweet & soft. It is very wintry here at present, but with the advent of March we begin to feel that the season of our discontent is nearly over."

Well said, Mr. Gordon.

More About Mini Fly Wallets

3/13/2015

I could - & have - gone on & on about the neat mini fly wallets I offer over on the Accessories page. Made right in my shop, these smaller wallets are a very convenient thing to have. There I go again, rattling on about how cool they are. Well, I'm pretty proud of them.

One of the neatest things about them is that they give you quick & easy access to your most used flies. They can also be used as a fly drying patch. So while I wouldn't store hackled dry flies in them, I would put them on it when i needed a good drying patch.

As you can see in the photo above, these mini wallets are easily attached to your vest, fishing bag, or lanyard. When you leave the wallet open like this it acts like a drying patch. Since each wallet has four pages, you can put a lot more flies on there than you could a regular patch on your vest or bag. This is great when you're using a bunch of different flies.

Of course the wallets snap shut to protect your flies, too. When I'm walking to the next spot on the river, etc I close the wallet & slide it into a pocket. When I get fishing again I open it up & let it hang. If you put your flies in there well they won't fall out.

These mini fly wallets are available in green, brown & red canvas. They're also available in brown or black leather, too.

For more info about these wallets & all the other accessories made in my shop, please visit the Accessories page. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Fly Fishing For Trout With Gary Borger

3/9/2015

Let me just start out by saying that Gary Borger is the 'real deal'. By that I mean that he is not only an all-around, very knowledgeable & highly skilled fly angler, he's also a fantastic teacher. He has a great way of explaining things that make it very understandable. Many times, when I've been reading something he's written, a light bulb will go off in my head, leaving me to ask "why didn't I think of doing that?" He is very skilled at taking some of the mysteries out of fly fishing.

In addition to about 10 best selling fly fishing books, Gary is also a contributing editor to Fly Fisherman Magazine. I know in the past that he's also penned articles that have appeared in many places. If you've been around fly fishing for a while chances are good that you've read some of his stuff.

Back in 1983 Gary put together a long video series all about fly fishing techniques & skills. It's very educational. Here below is part of that video. It's been chopped up into 6 parts on youtube & you can easily find the other parts to this great video.

So while you're waiting for the streams to thaw out enough to at least see some moving water, take some time to sit back & watch a skilled angler fish. You'll probably pick up a few tricks, too. I know I did.

Tying A Caddis Fly Larva....

3/4/2015

A lot of attention in fly fishing goes to the mayfly, but it is the Caddis fly that is a large portion of a trout's diet in many places. Along my local streams, Caddis are very important to fly anglers. So with that in mind, it's a good idea to have some decent Caddis patterns in your fly box (or fly wallet).

The larvae of Caddis are an important food source to trout in a lot of places. Fishing a fly to imitate them, at the correct time, is a recipe for success. However, there are a ton of different fly patterns out there all aimed at imitating these bugs. I've come to the opinion that usually the simplest caddis imitation is frequently the best, & you can't get a much simpler fly than this one in the video below. It's a pretty basic caddis larva fly, with a couple of very simple twists.

What I also like about this video is the showing of yet another way to make a dubbing rope. There are different ways of making a dubbing rope. Most of them require a specialized tool. This method requires none of that & shows something you could quickly do (even along the stream) when tying a fly that requires a dubbing rope.

So for more successful days along the stream, add some more Caddis to your trout's menu!! This video shows a good way to do just that.

A Couple of Useful Knots

3/2/2015

As anglers we need to know a few good knots to tie various lines together & to secure hooks on those lines. The other day I was casually looking through a book aimed at beginning fly anglers & was a little put off by the knots the author was suggesting. Some of the knots this book wanted the new fly fisher to learn were pretty complicated & hard to tie.

That got me thinking about the knots I use on my own line. After going over them in my head I thought, why change knots that have worked well for me for over 30 years? Now, nothing I'm going to show here is news to a veteran angler, but to somebody relatively new to the sport, listen up: good, effective knots on your line don't need to be complicated or difficult.

We'll look at two different knots. The first is called a Surgeon's Knot & it's used to connect your tippet to your leader. It's simple & really quick to tie. Here's a 20 second video showing how to tie it:

This is a strong knot that's easy to tie. Because it's so easy, it will get you back to fishing quickly, which is good because you aren't going to catch any fish if you're tying knots with your fly out of the water.

The second knot for new anglers to learn is the "improved Clinch knot". It's used to connect your fly to your tippet. This is another knot that is quick to tie, but very strong. In fact, once you get good at this knot you can tie it in a matter of seconds. Here's another very short video, this one showing the improved clinch knot:

So there you go. If you're still learning to fly fish, I suggest these two knots. They aren't hard to learn & you don't need any strange tools to tie them (or a third hand). Are these knots as strong as some of the more complicated knots suggested by some? Maybe not, I don't know. What I do know is they are very strong & easy to tie. After all, you didn't go to the stream to tie knots, you went there to fish, & these knots will get your fly back in the water quickly & are strong enough to hold against the tug of some very big fish.

the pliant rod:

Take A Kid Fly Fishing

Being An Expert

Time To Clean Your Fly Rod

6'-6", 3/2, 4/5 wt Bamboo Now Available

New, Reduced Price!!

More Leather Fly Wallets On The Way...

Some Timely Thoughts By Theodore Gordon

More About Mini Fly Wallets

Fly Fishing For Trout With Gary Borger

Tying A Caddis Fly Larva....

A Couple of Useful Knots

The Pliant Rod

leather accessories

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