Building The Rodfather Stripper [drc #10 4pc 6wt Fast ~ ERN 6.5 & AA 71°] 25May21

The Stripper is naked; I knew I could do better for a dedicated streamer rod than the drc #6. On the RF Rainbow the fixed fighting butt and the down-locking real seat are serviceable for balance but are not my favorites, though the TFO BVK blank at the core of the rod is fine and fast enough. And, I was out of rods to build and have "always" wanted to build off the "other" New Zealand rod blank maker, Epic. They offered a deal on their 6 wt carbon blank and I bought one for ~$225. It has a super smooth feel, probably from the ferrules being long and ground; it is true to AFTMA 6 line weight with a 6.5 ERN; it is sweet fast like the CTS Affinity-Xs with an AA of 71. They are also from NZ and are my quiver favorites thus far ~ Sage Busters builds: a 4 wt in plum and a 5wt in all black; I haven't looked back.

This 4 pc blank is a smidge unusual given it's ground male side ferrules - I don't really know if I should wax them or not yet. In part they do it for consistency - I don't need to send other sections back to them if something breaks, 'cause they are standard grinds to tight tolerances.

For the RF Stripper I went upscale again with Snake brand guides and tip top, and my favorite uplocking REC nickel silver knurled reel seat with removable fighting butt hardware and cocobollo wood insert to match the gloss grey rod.

I liked the spin effect on the drc #4 handle so I turned a custom grip variant of this with a "consistent 1/6th spin" and matching fighting butt, including cool variegated burnt & normal cork sections.

I wrapped it all up with bright blue thread for a very chill finish IMO. Probably my best handiwork as I am getting pretty good.

I don't use a 6wt often but I need to learn to yank streamers and this is the rod - it will happen this year - I guess it's an OB21, Orvis Buster, as it is better for me than my Orvis Helios 6wt. Now that one is really for sale. My Orvis Mirage III reel loaded with 200 grain fast sink mates decently with the rod, but not in color as it's gold and it's loaded a bit heavy for an ERN of 6.5. I also loaded the 3rd spool of the Lamson Remix HD reel (grey but big ~ used mostly with two handed micro spey) with some alternative SA WF6S line; while the balance is only close, the line matches better and color is right. I may need to look for a new reel or spare spool to make this beauty shine - it is really a great all around 6 wt so two spools would be best to get at both floating and sinking setups quickly. Here's the latest full quiver metrics: green are go-to RF rods, blue are more specialty RF rods, and red are the manufacturer rods.

UPDATE 08Jun21 - Acquiring Matching Orvis Mirage Reel

I found a great deal on eBay for a Orvis Mirage III (5/6/7) like the gold one I sold to Andy but a newer USA build and in black with an extra spool. Great luck ~ the hardware was basically new and the would've cost $870 new and I paid just $550 loaded with 6wt and 7wt Orvis premium line. Rodfather Stripper is now complete with a keen mated reel and well-matched 6F and 6S lines to boot. The guy even sent a well made full sink tip rig for times when you have the floating line loaded but want to pull some streamers well - just swap the leader for the FS tip rig and you're in business. The balance (lighter than the Lamson Remix HD) and color of the full rig are now perfect. I can't wait to fish this beauty. Mirage is a very keen and very smooth reel with no noticeable startup drag hesitation - few I've felt other than maybe Jim's Abel reel are smoother. I've been checking out the casting and feel of the RF Stripper @ the park ~ amazingly light and powerful ~ netting me fewer errors.