Thanks again for the kind feedback.
Many of the rods I’ve built over the years definitely would not be considered “classic” or “traditional “. But when I received the 835 blank from Larry I considered the source, and the contributions he has made to the fly rod industry during his lifetime. Introducing his fiberglass fly rod blanks to the public recently is just one. I thought back to when I first started turning wood into reel seat inserts. Curly maple, Bubinga, Walnut, Cocobolo and Birds Eye maple were pretty common years ago. I had inserts turned from all of these woods available, but selected a fairly straight-grained wood, Zebrawood.
Larry’s blanks are not slender, see-through, ultra-light blanks that lack “soul”. They’re E-Glass blanks that in the case of my 835 allow me to feel my DT5 line loading the rod while casting. I’ve said this before about casting great fiberglass rods, “I always know where my fly line is”. This is true of Larry’s 835.
My 835 is Larry’s current blank color. As you can see in my pictures it’s a nice medium brown color with a decidedly chestnut glow in sunlight. Very nice color. The 824 blank I received mid-September is the same color. My 824 will also be built with snake guides and a Mildrum stripping guide. Guide wrapping theme will be similar to my 835, likely another Jasper thread. In the meantime I need to decide on a reel seat insert. In the attached picture of wood blanks, the first (Curly Tasmanian Eucalyptus) and sixth (a light version of Panga Panga) are currently front runners for my 824.
I guess you could say I'm working my way down Larry's line weight offerings. Depending on how the 824 loads and fishes, an 813 is a possibility for me.
Thanks again for looking.
Jeff