Article Originally Published in Volume 8 Issue 4
Just For Kids:
Build a Rod with Your Kids
By Steve & Justin Arndt
On his 11th birthday, we gave our
son, Justin, a Pflueger Medalist fly reel with floating line,
and a promise to build his first fly rod the following winter.
I could have bought a decent-quality factory rod at a
reasonable price, but as he enjoys working with his hands and
is very artistic, I thought building one together would |
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be a great bonding exercise that
would generate lasting memories. Besides, a custom rod can be
personalized to make it one-of-a-kind, and fishing with a
self-built rod is at least as gratifying as catching fish on
flies you’ve tied yourself. In the meantime, he used my old
Fenwick Feralite glass rod for learning how to cast and for
taking on his first excursions.
We had a rod-building catalogue, sent to us from an advertiser
in The Canadian Fly Fisher, and browsed through it for
suitable blanks. I was looking for an 8 ½ foot rod for a 6
weight line with an action that wasn’t too stiff. He wanted it
to be blue or green. We ended up buying a green Rainshadow RX7
graphite blank and other components that came to a little over
$100, tax and shipping included.
Before starting the fly rod, we practiced winding on a guide
by adding a hook keeper in front of the handle of his spinning
rod. This also gave his younger sister, Bethany, a chance to
participate, as she added one to her rod as well. Then we
started the fly rod, working together to fit and glue on the
handle and reel seat. Justin chose the colours of thread and
pattern for winding on the guides. I would start the thread
and do the more difficult parts, but he did the bulk of the
winding and the epoxy finish at the end. He also chose a
rainbow trout decal that we added beside his name on the rod.
We ended up taking a couple of months to complete the rod,
since we only worked on it for about an hour at a time (in
keeping with his interest span) when it was convenient for
both of us. Even though I would have liked to finish the rod
off earlier, I had to keep in mind the main purpose for
building it.
The final product was finished in time for the next fishing
season and exceeded our expectations for both aesthetics and
casting. Philip Brunquell, in his excellent book, Flyfishing
With Children: a Guide for Parents (1995), recommends that you
buy your children their own rod rather than giving them your
old one and using this as an excuse to buy a more expensive
one for yourself. In our case, Justin ended up with a
beautiful rod that casts better than anything I own. That
wasn’t supposed to happen, but I can’t say I’m disappointed.
The only problem is that I’m now looking for an excuse to
build another.
If you have never built a rod before, there are books and
videos available that can be ordered along with the rod
components (or maybe borrowed from your local library). Some
companies (e.g., Pacific Bay International) offer rod
component packages with everything included for reasonable
prices ($75 - $125). I’ve built a few rods before, so I let
Justin choose a fairly detailed winding pattern. But if you’re
less experienced, simple is beautiful too.
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