Building The Rodfather THMS [drc #5 - 11' Two Handed Micro-Spey] 04Jan21

Well I'm stoked to try a new cast - I've not spey or switch cast before so it'll all be new but I read and watched enough to be excited for an easier, longer, streamer & nymph cast with no back cast area required. So, I needed the rod, reel and line for the tasks. :) I just completed the Rodfather THMS, an 11' "4 wt" two-handed trout spey rod built from a Winston Boron III blank, custom handles, a down-locking maple insert reel seat, and titanium Snake guides. Comments on Winston's factory version were that, while stunning, the lower handle was too short - so I made mine longer; the top grip is fashioned for two handed fighting or even single-handed casting. The blank is a nice emerald green and my chosen wrapping thread blended in perfectly; I accented the guide wraps with sliver to match the Winston decal and the ferrules with spirals. It's a beast but not too fast and has action like my very sweet 4 wt B3X factory Winston.

 

To compliment the rod I assembled a full kit of appropriate line setups on a Lamson Remix HD reel. Interesting reel fabrication - the reel is machined but the spools are cast. It came with 3 spools and a carry kit but I've loaded just two thus far. One is a SA Spey Lite integrated (where head and running lines are welded together) Scandi (longer lighter head) line with a salmon-class mono leader. The second is a SA Spey Lite integrated Skagit (short heavy head) line with a set of 7 SA Third Coast tips (full sink, mid sink, floating, etc.). I got the line to weigh in at the Winston recommended mid-points for the rod. It's a smidge more complex than just buying an appropriate line - what with all the parts. They thoughtfully sent the tip kit in it's own carry pouch. I even fell for the $9 accent color on the reel - electric green to match the emerald of course.

I was always pretty bad flinging heavy streamers with even the 9ft 6wt Orvis canon, so I'm looking forward to making all that more comfortable - and shooting fully across western rivers with no back cast. It is light and balanced as hoped and is pretty fast - ERN of 5.9 and AA of 73° - it is sold as a "4 wt" but that's weird because it's a trout spey rod so nonsensical IMO. Perhaps that's because it actually does have a more full rod flex despite being fast in general.

Bring on the lunkers!