Supreme Xtreme

Project: Supreme Xtreme

Project "Supreme Xtreme" is my latest adventure in rod building, and it just happens to be for me!

The SX is built on a St. Croix 5C70MHF-B blank.

This blank utilizes St. Croix's state-of-the-art technology and their best materials.

As far as St. Croix blanks are concerned; This is the best they offer... period!

The build is somewhat experimental for me. As someone who enjoys learning and expanding my capabilities; I found some information on a rod building forum about something call Micro Guides.

I sat at my computer for the better part of three days reading and learning about the theory behind the guides, and why some builders thought they were awesome; and others thought they were a fad. In addition to using micro guides I also tied up my first "Simple Spiral" wrap.

Spiral Wrap:

With a traditional casting rod setup the guides are placed on top of the blank, and this can lead to a few problems:

• Line contacting the blank
• Torque created by the forces applied to the guide when under load
• Excess weight from the use of double-footed guides

The spiral wrap eliminates these problems - completely!

By rotating, or wrapping the guides around the blank so that they end up on the bottom of the rod; like a spinning rod, line contact issues and torque are removed from the equation.

Micro Guides:

Micro guides are nothing more than extremely small, single-foot fly guides.

The theory is, because of their size and ridiculously light weight; more guides can be added and still weigh less than traditional guides - and/or - excess weight can be reduced by using fewer, smaller (micro) guides.

Traditionally a casting rod is tied with all double foot guides; with the exception of some newer rods that employ Fuji's Concept Guide System.

All of the guides on the Supreme Xtreme are single-foot with the largest guide on the rod being a size 6.

The running guides, or guides just below the tiptop, are a size 4.

To give you some idea how small these are; the inner diameter is .077 inches.

That is just over 1/16th of an inch!

The entire set of guides for this rod including the tiptop weighed 1.1 grams!

Do the Micro Guides create line friction and reduce casting
distance?

I have not spent a lot of time fishing with this rod yet, as I just finished it
a few days ago... but from experience casting with it: NO

I was able to cast a 3/8oz sinker more than 60 feet with the flick of my wrist.

This was done with 50# PowerPro braided line.

If those puny little micro guides are able to cast 50# braid like that... I can't wait to hit the water with 12# Flouro!

Here are a few pictures of the Supreme Xtreme that I took during the build process.

More pictures to follow - I'm headed to Enid, Oklahoma to test it out this Friday

*Update*

My first impression of the micro guides and the spiral wrapped happened before the rod was finished; I was testing guide placement and took it out for a cast or two.

This past week I took the rod to Enid, Oklahoma and tried it out for several hours while casting and flipping various lures with it. To say the least I was extremely impressed.The small diameter of the micro guides did not seem to interfere with casting distance or accuracy whatsoever.

I was using a Pfleuger President with 50# PowerPro and was able to cast a 5/8oz Trap upwards of 100 feet with little effort. Flipping accuracy didn't seem to be affected either. I was dropping 1/2oz footballs in a coffee cup sized target from 15-20 feet away with ease.

The spiral wrap accomplished exactly what it was intended for. The line does not contact the blank; I used fewer guides to reduce weight, and the static guide test was nearly perfect.This certainly will not be my last rod built with micro guides and a spiral wrap.

I would recommend them to anyone who uses a casting rod for Bass fishing. I will surely be recommending them to my customers in the future!

The Hammer - Completed!

I am happy to say that The Hammer has been completed and shipped. I certainly hope that the new owner receives it safe and sound, and that he is happy with it.

The build went as expected, with one small hitch. I had an issue with one of the guides used on the rod and had to order a replacement. This added almost a week.

Here is a short slideshow that I put together with the photo's I was able to take:

The Hammer Continued!

The handle section is complete and so far the total weight of the rod is 5.48 ounces.
The guides still need to be wrapped and the finish still has yet to be applied, but I am hoping that the total finished weight is under 6 ounces.

The handle came out just as I had hoped.
The Charcoal Silvertone wood has beautiful tones and contrasts, and goes very will with the color of the St. Croix 4F1006.4 blank.

I will be starting the wrapping process today and will certainly post photo's form all to see.
I plan to use Black thread for the primary color. I believe it will accompany the Charcoal Silvertone wood very well. I plan to use Dark Green and Matte Silver Metallic for accent and trim bands as they will accent the Shiny Gunsmoke hardware and the color of the blank.

I believe this is going to be one of the nicest rods I've ever had the pleasure to building, but time will tell.

Tight lines!
Brian

"The Hammer" - Updated

I have received most of the components for "The Hammer".
The only item I am still waiting on is the Charcoal Silvertone wood to arrive, and then it's game on!

When the components arrived I inspected everything to make sure nothing was broken or defective. Upon inspecting the guides I couldn't help but notice how light they were in physical weight, so I busted out the digital scale.

To my amazement the entire guide set (10 guides plus the tip-tip) weighed in at .08 ounces, or 2.1 grams! The reel seat skeleton weighed in at .72 ounces.
Together this is combined weight of only .8 ounces!.
The wooden inlays and reel seat insert will add a couple of ounces at most, so the end product should be extremely lightweight and ultra sensitive!

I am even more eager to get started now than I was just a week ago. Getting these items in to my hands has given me the bug. I can't wait to get started on "The Hammer"

Here are a few pictures of the guides, reel seat hardware, and the custom made labels:

Recent Project & Fishing Friends!

I put together a short slide show of some of my recent work, and some of favorite fishing pictures. Please enjoy!

Project ~ "The Hammer"

I was fortunate enough to be asked to build a Fly Rod for Woodland Rivers Forum, which is based in Michigan (http://kmfproductions.com/phpbb/index.php).

The rod was raffled off as Woodland Rivers' way of showing their appreciation to their members. The drawing took place January 21, 2009, and I have since contacted the winner (Ta5teless), and together he and I have come up with a plan of action.

The components for the build were just ordered this afternoon, so it will take a week or two before I receive the materials.

The blank is going to be a St. Croix Legend Ultra 10' 0" 6wt, 4pc (model 4F1006.4).
I am using Titanium framed stripper guides from American Tackle, and RECoil single foot fly guides (RSFX) to finish it off. Together this combination should produce an extremely lightweight finished rod. The blank weighs 2.6 ounces, and I'm estimating a complete, finished weight of 4.5 to 5 ounces. Give me a few weeks and I'll have a definite answer on that one.
The rod will have a hand turned wooden insert in the reel seat, as well as matching wood inlays throughout the Full Wells style handle.

I will certainly post pictures of the build process once I get started.
I am very eager to get started on this build, for a few reasons:
* It's nice to support Woodland Rivers, and "give back" a bit of what they've given me.
* I've never built on that St. Croix blank before, or any of the SCIV blanks for that matter.
* I can sense how enthusiastic Tas5teless was about the build, and he has given me full creative freedom. I can do whatever I want!

Tight lines!