New Bluegill rod.

[Tony Livingston]

Finally got to break this thing in. Our own Walt Foreman built it for me as a specialty BG rod, designed for casting lightweight offerings without any added weight, or float, while still experiencing the awesome fight of a big Bluegill.

It's built on a 2-weight flyrod blank,  but I'll let the builder fill in the rest of the details.......

What I can attest to, is the sheer functionality and beauty of this rod.....

Thanks Walt, looking forward to putting it through it's paces!!

 

 

 

[Jacob Hill]

What a nice rod Tony. Awesome!

[Leo Nguyen]

That's so cool! I'm still amazed at the marble-graphic designed the rods can undergo. Just plain cool!

[Vince Fusco]

That is a beautiful rod, Tony. Great job on the rod, Walt. I bet it is gonna be a ball to fish with. I am anxious to hear the particulars on it, Walt. 

[Walt Foreman]

Thanks for the compliments, guys!  I made the plunge a couple or three months ago to buy a wood lathe so I could turn my own wood handles, which enabled me to do this handle and also the other rod I posted a photo of which is Federico's new rod.  The wood for this one is stabilized big-leaf maple dyed green.  The actual turning of the handle only takes a couple or a few hours, but the finishing to get that polished, marble-like quality took weeks - every time I'd think I finally had it, I would find a smudge here or there, and have to do another coat, and at one point I had to strip a couple layers of finish.  

As to the action, I knew Tony's vision for the rod, being able to fish with little to no weight and still get reasonable casting distance, so I was working toward that specific goal.  I call the rod a "super-ultralight," as  it has a lighter action than any factory rod of that length that I've come across - the very upper limit of line test it could safely be used with would probably be six-pound, but I would guess Tony will probably be using four-pound more often.  The blank is graphite, and I made the handle all-wood hoping that would really amp up the sensitivity since he won't be using much weight and therefore will need all the sensitivity he can get.

Most of all, though, I'm just glad it does what Tony was wanting it to do, and it's really a thrill to see it catching some hawg hybrids!  I'm grateful to Tony for allowing me to contribute to his arsenal of gear, and really excited that I could give him a new weapon in that arsenal.

[JBplusThuy]

That's beautiful work, Walt!

How long is the rod? Would love to see an end-to-end photo.

Jonathan

[Bruce Condello]

I didn't even know stuff like this existed...

[Walt Foreman]

Bruce, I didn't either until a few months ago.  I built several rods when I was a teenager but they were very basic in terms of the cosmetics - mostly longer bluegill rods made on fly-rod blanks.  I was killing time one day and stumbled across a website for custom rod builders, and it was all over but the cryin'...

[Bruce Tomaselli]

That's a really nice job and rod. You're going to love it.

Bruce

[Jim Gronaw]

Outstanding job, Walt...a beauty of a rod. What is the length?

[Walt Foreman]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!  JB and Jim, this rod is 6'6".  Unfortunately I didn't get any full-length shots - with a rod this long, you have to get so far away to get the whole thing in the frame that you can't see much detail.

[Tony Livingston]

Walt, I fished with the new rod again this evening, and it was a blast. I have a confession to make though.... I was having so much fun that it got dark before I fed the other three ponds....Gonna have some upset fish I'll bet...

 

The fight is awesome...I find myself holding my breath while the bigger fish peel off line..... Great fun!

[Walt Foreman]

That's really cool to hear, Tony!  There's nothing more gratifying than knowing a rod I made is hammering the big 'gills!

I am sure you had some grumbling bluegill in the other ponds, but I'm also sure they'll get over it.  Bluegill aren't known for going on hunger strikes when it comes to free pellets.