I built this fly rod for my dad as a way to test some new skills I have been working on. The rod itself is a white, 4 piece, 5wt fly rod. I did the guide wraps in red silk and the guides in black. The fun part is the dragon scale wrap near the grip. The dragon scale pattern is laid out in large black thread, but the pattern is done in gold leaf.
I had never worked in gold leaf before, but as a former jeweler I have experience with gold so it shouldn’t be too hard. After a few early misfires, I have the process down now and I think that the wrap turned out great.
Since dad travels a lot, and a multi-piece fly rod is a delicate thing, I also make a custom walnut case for it. The case holds the rod, the real, and a selection of flies so that when he has a chance to fish, all he needs to do is grab the box and go. I would have liked to be able to spend more time on the case, but he was leaving soon so I knocked out the case in 2 days. If I had more time I would have made it with box joint, or dovetail, corners and spent more time on the finish, but he loves it and it does look pretty great.
