I had a nice chat with Matt Draft from Proof Fly Fishing to cover rod building. Matt is all in on his company where he teaches, provides all of the pieces to the puzzle and has some great tutorials out there.
We walk through the steps to build a new rod or retrofit an old rod. There are a number of resources and video tutorials that are at Proof Fly Fishing. We talk about what it will take to get into a Euro Nymphing rod as the example in this episode.
Click below to listen to the Proof Fly Fishing Interview:
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Show Sponsors
The Wet Fly Swing Members Society
Show Notes with Matt Draft
04:15 – RodBuildingForum.com was Matt’s first big resource to get started with rod building.
07:30 – Here’s a link to one of Matt’s kits for a euro nymphing rod.
11:10 – Here are some examples of cork handle styles.
12:00 – I note the history of fiberglass rods in the 1970’s and the fat fiberglass style that were.
14:00 – The fly rod building tutorials to walk you step by step through.
17:30 – Here’s a video that shows how to find the spline of the fly rod before you get started.
27:38 – Meat Market Flies was on the podcast where they covered tying streamers.
28:53 – Dan from the Members Society asked a question on guide spacing.
30:00 – Chris Carlin is one of the premier bamboo fly rod builders.
34:30 – Here’s how to start to wrap a guide which is one of the most common questions that Matt gets.
38:00 – Here’s a link to the pen and ink to label your rod with a cool name. What is the name of your rod? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post.
43:40 – Mud Hole is one of the bigger sites selling rod building gear.
47:00 – Dan Johnston from St. Croix was on the podcast where he talked about having complete control of the entire process. Tom Rosenbauer was on the podcast as well and noted the rod process.
48:20 – You can get a euro nymphing rod package here.
You can reach Matt at Proof Fly Fishing.com.
Videos Noted in the the Show
Here’s the complete series on building your first rod:
Rod Building Tools and Equipment via Gink and Gasoline and Proof:
You can watch the rest of the video series at this link.
Conclusion with Proof Fly Fishing
Matt Draft breaks down the steps to build your first rod or rebuild your old rod that may need an uplift. We talk about the benefits of learning how to build and where to get all of the tools to get started.
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