Banty Boo

[Lotech Joe]

A friend of mine sent me some ferruled bamboo sections and an old pitted & cracked Fenwick cork grip with an attached (banged up) anodized gold aluminum reel seat. The grip had a female ferrule in it, so I used the ferrule to attach the grip to a drill and sanded the grip down to a smoother western style. I used the cork dust and mixed it with yellow carpenter's glue to make a paste and fill the pits and cracks. I used a single edge razor blade to back drag the flats on the two sections that I thought would make a nice little boo stick. Then I wrapped new guides with bright blue wrapping thread and finished the wraps with Flex-Coat. I epoxied the grip and reel seat in place and then drip coated both sections with polyurethane. It's 5 1/2 feet long and probably a 2 or 3 weight. I think it's going to be a fun rod for small mountain brookies.

[gusstrand]

Looks good! Have you had a chance to try and cast it?

[Lotech Joe]

Not yet Gus. But soon for sure.
Well Gus, your question piqued my interest so I took it outside and tried a WF5F Peach line on it. With my awkward double haul I go 50 feet fairly easily. I'm plenty happy with that. Considering that on my good days with a full sized rod I barely get 60+ feet, 50 feet makes me happy.

[Ernest]

Nice little rod, and the price is right. The test of a small stream rod is not the 50 foot cast, it's the 15 foot cast. If you can do that with a 5 wt banty, you have a good small stream rod.

[gusstrand]

Nice little rod, and the price is right. The test of a small stream rod is not the 50 foot cast, it's the 15 foot cast. If you can do that with a 5 wt banty, you have a good small stream rod.

Right on. So 50' with a 5? put a 3wt on it and get to a bushy tight little stream!

[Lotech Joe]

3 weight was my thought exactly.