Les, like I mentioned on another site. NICE JOB! Oh and is that True Oil on the grip?

my first name is larry. no big deal. the reel seat was ordered from les frieborg of "inserts by les". it is built with a pac bay
ul5 skeleton and he used tiger maple. his prices are quite reasonable. the handle is a combination of burl cork and regular cork from andy dear of "lamar fishing". i turned the handle on a mandrel i made from a piece of drill rod. i use an old piece of crap drill press as my "lathe".

i used an uplocking reel seat because it facilitated the use of the fighting butt which is more decorative than functional on
a 5 wt (at least for the size fish i catch). i left the hood polised and not inleted because i don't like flaired butts on my reel seats.

i used several coats of urothane to finish the handle. applied it with my fingers in several coats sanded between. i wanted a "wood" look. good cork is so hard to find now and i wanted something different.

i took it fishing couple of times this weekend (don't ask about the catching). it casts very nice. very bamboo like with a relaxed stroke. i did insert a stiffener in the butt section that extends about 1" past the cork. the rod loads with just hte leader.

no apology needed. i did not see it on the other board but it was not necessary.