Schroedinger

 Now all I need to do is wait for the (silicone rubber) net bags to arrive...

While browsing Youtube, I came across a video showing a Japanese craftsman making wooden wading nets. Since I had made a few net frames in the past I was intrigued by some of the techniques he showed, and decided to make a few more nets myself. I chose to make a small offset-shaped net, with a cherry handle and a three-strip contrasting wood frame, soaking, rather than steaming, the strips to soften them enough to form them, and shaping the frame loop ‘freehand’ rather than using a frame jig. A first frame has now been assembled and glued and is waiting for final shaping, sanding and finishing, while a second frame is waiting for glue-up.

The 5 piece travel rod is now finished, and ready for action. It has been test cast in our back yard, and that confirmed the calculated design - it is a true 5 weight (the underlying taper is a 4wt taper, but the extra ferrules turn it into a solid 5 wt). Action feels fine, in line with the taper it is based on. Now all we have to do is make sure it actually performs under real world fishing conditions. Note that I do not plan on making more rods like this - it’s too much of a pain in the behind fitting all those ferrules. It’s more like a ‘proof-of-concept’ study. And something to ‘brag about’ and show off during shows. But hey, it can be done ;-)