Recent weeks have been short on time for fishing, projects and blogging, sadly resulting in a severe drop-off in the number of blog-posts. Mea Culpa.

Last weekend was the general trout opener here in California, and while I will still have to wait a bit to fish my favorite coastal streams and Sierra rivers, I am looking forward to trying out some new waters in the upcoming days and weeks, and I will make sure to keep the blog updated.

In the meantime, I have gotten a chance to put a few hours into the Eclectic Angler reel kit I got for christmas. These kits, made by fellow Massachusetts-er Michael Hackney, are really nice. He has taken a lot of the shop work out of the equation by rough cutting the brass and aluminum pieces, but left enough work to do so that you can get a true sense of accomplishment from finishing your own reel (or at least that is what I imagine it will feel like when I get around to finishing it).

The first phase of the kit requires sanding and filing all the pieces so that the spool plates can move easily within the reel, and then test-assembling the reel so that you can customize the action and make sure all the parts fit together properly.

The next step in the process will be to take the reel apart and sand and polish it up nicely before final assembly. 

I want to point out that Michael is a really nice guy to work with, my kit was missing a spring washer (more likely I lost it), and he sent me a new one, along with a nice little eclectic angler screwdriver. 

I still have a lot of projects in the que, including the Orvis Hydros build that is nearing completion, so there should be a lot more blog posts in the future.

--Eben

It has been pretty busy here project-wise. I've just rounded up work on a series of fiberglass rods and I think I am going to be switching gears for a few weeks to some new projects. 

Eclectic Angler Bi-Metal Reel

For Christmas I received a kit to build a this neat little brass and aluminum reel. The kit is manufactured by fellow Massachusetts-er  Michael Hackney at Eclectic Angler. In addition to making ands selling classic fly reels and kits, Michael is the author of The Reelsmith's Primer, and  administers an online forum for reelsmiths. 

The kit itself includes pre-cut reel pieces, and other components to finish and assemble. I have not done a lot of metal working, but I think I should be able to handle the polishing and filing required.

Orvis Hydros Graphite Fly Rod

One of my personal projects of the last couple of years is getting my friends involved in fly fishing. One of my recent success stories has been my friend Ned, who has come on more than one fishing excursion, including last year's excellent trip to the Tuolumne river in Yosemite. He has enjoyed it enough that it is time that he had his own rod. I am honored that he is trusting me to build it for him. I am not a lover of graphite, but as a former Orvis retail associate I can say that they make some pretty rods, especially for a beginner. Therefore, I am going to build him a 8.5 ft, 5wt Orvis Hydros. Orvis finishes these out with a a lovely blue thread and aluminum reel seat, but at Ned's request, I think we will be using a more traditional wooden reel seat, and a contrasting thread.

Unknown Bamboo Production Rod Restoration

My Dad picked up this bamboo rod last year at an antique store, and fished it for a couple of months before the stripping guide came off and it was clear that the rod was in need of some serious TLC. After consulting some knowledgable folks, I have determined that it is a post WWII Japanese rod, and probably has little collector's value. Therefore I am going to modernize it for fishing, upping the number of guides from 6 to 8, and replacing the bent chrome ferrules with nickel-silver.