Replicating The RF SageBuster 2020 As The Rodfather Green Machine aka SB26 ~ Stolen But Very Fine CTS-Based 9' 4pc 4wt Is Born Again 14Mar26-07May26

Context... Some know I've sold all my manufactured rods from Winston, Sage, Scott, GLoomis, and Orvis at this point. No problem as I've built solid, most better IMO, Rodfather replacements. Unfortunately one keen SageBuster 2020 (CTS 9' 4pc 4wt), the Rodfather Cutthroat, my 3rd build ever in maroon & gold, was stolen along with the mated orange Redington reel ~ this build is about fashioning a replacement... the Rodfather Green Machine 9' 4wt 4pc with the venerable Ross Evo LT reel.

Unlike the very close cloning of the Rodfather True 3 that was also stolen, here I built a similarly specified rod, but altered the color scheme from the RFCT. The new rod, the Rodfather Green Machine, RFGM, came out great in an all green motif: a custom colored dark urban green CTS blank, green variegated wrap accents and a green on green custom handle. The new CTS Affinity X blanks have gone to a more robust and accurate ground ferrule system that I prefer on high performance rods ~ another upgrade from the original Cutthroat/SB2020. It did add to the speed and strength and true casting weight of the rod however, so not as close to a true 4wt this time. Such is often the case with modern graphite blanks. The specs and look are great though: ERN: 5.1, AA: 72° Wt: 4.1 oz (plus a .4 oz removable fighting butt), and a nice 7.4oz swing weight for a 9 footer. I am reticent to repurchase all the reels lost in the ripoff but that's OK here as the the RFGM balances and matches spectacularly with the dark green Ross Evo LT 1.5 now loaded with SA MPX WF4F line. The reel is very experienced from it's frequent use on the So Platte in 11 Mile Canyon adorning a great manufactured rod, the Winston GPX, acquired 20yrs ago during amplified fishing on So Platte 'streams.' I sold it for 70% of buy price so yeah. The new system is beautiful and casts decently with the half weight heavy line; it will likely serve as my goto 4wt this season ~ and my most used rod in CO, where the 8.5' Diamond Blaze has served well recently and is now resting.

Handle... I bought green horizontal variegated, green died, and green rubber butt rings to fashion an all new 6.5" double wells handle for the Green Machine, complimented by a 1.25" removable fighting butt with an inverse color scheme in order to use up otherwise wasted parts. Too, I went from 1/6th checkerboard in the forehand to 1/4th checkerboard in the palm ~ it's disturbing but cool IMO.

Hardware... I got my favored REC reel seat in nickel silver with a maple insert, including the removable fighting butt hardware (for a custom butt). These just feel and work nicer than others to me ~ worth it for mating to a more costly CTS blank. I also got the super-slick Snake brand double footed guides for this rod, and a Fuji stripping guide... all in bright silver; again these are worth it for this blank.

Wraps... I used variegated green, black, & brown for the guide wraps. ~ this stuff wraps out with cool moire patterns, but I needed to use colorfast fixative before epoxy. As usual on my rods I added fish length length markings from 16" to 24" ~ these are useful, not just hopeful. CTS oddly (IMO) ask for guides to be adjacent to ferrules so some need to be incorporated together as shown.

Measure & Feel... Well the rod is color-matched and balanced very well with the classic Ross Evo reel. Later Ross designs have harder edges and are less enjoyable than this gen Evo. Loaded with MPX WF4F it casts great in the backyard but I might look for an even tighter/heavier live match to the 5.1 effective weight of the rod. The RFCT, which RFGM replaces, was butter, but this one is more like a tenderloin: beautiful, lean, and powerful. Let's go ~ 100 ft casts and 6 lb catches will be no problem.

Update 27May26 ~ Better Matching Line... I used the Rodfather Green Machine all week all over the Colorado River Basin streams during a recent fishing trip... it was a blast. However, the RFGM is a bit stronger than the SA Mastery WF4F (130 grain head) I was using with it. I cross-graded to SA Amplitude Trout Expert WF5F with a 140 grain head and it loads perfectly. 

Cloning the Rodfather True 3 ~ Remaking The Fine RFT3 To V2 09Nov25-06Mar26

Sad State & Happy State... The sad state is that I was ripped off of 3 "best of" Rodfather rigs last summer, directly from the rod vault atop the Crusher Too. One of those was the RFT3, my best 3 wt, along with the nice Lamson Guru II reel loaded with SA WF3F line and flouro leaders and tippet and some bugs. I've replaced the lightweight reel, as needed, with a Lamson Guru S 3+, and an extra spool ~ I loaded the spools with similar SA Mastery 3wt & 4wt lines. I fortunately sold an orphaned Guru II spool (useless to me without the reel, which is 'out of print'). The happy state is that I've built another RFT3 that I'm calling v2, but which is basically a clone of the original. It's also good news that the RFT3v2 (8' 3wt 4pc) measures equally to and casts even better than the original: ERN of 3.3, AA of 70° (fast), total weight of just 3.1 oz, and a scant swing weight of 5.5 oz making power to swing weight perfect. No one stole the rod tube or sleeve so it will be in the original tube or more likely in the rod vault for summer outings on 10 Mile or the Ark headwaters... or in the backpack for some alpine mountain lake fun.

Handle... I started as usual with the handle, which looks very close to the v1, but I optimized a bit and made it a smaller 7" with full wells.

Hardware & Build... The 8' MHX F803-4 is a fine, warranted, fast, Chinese, 8' graphite blank rolled with Japanese Toray fiber. For this v2 build I again bought a less expensive aluminum reel seat with a nice maple burl wood insert that matches the handle well. I chose very light TiChrome single foot guides for most spots, but upgraded to the keen REC Recoil spinning guide for the 1st spot, followed by one dual foot TiChrome guide. I chose to wrap the rod similar to the original with grey & blue windings spiraling around the guides & ferrules ~ this wrap pops against the matte grey MHX blank and compliments the handle & reel seat nicely.

Measuring & Casting... As mentioned in the opening, the RFT3v2 measured out great as a true 3 wt rod. With the 3+ Guru S reel loaded with SA Mastery Infinity WF3F and the 7" full wells handle, the rod balances perfectly for me. Back yard casting was dreamy and fast.

Building The Rodfather Ghost Cloud ~ A More Stealthy, Powerful & Deadly Bomber (drc #25 MHX Native 8'6" 4pc 5wt Fast) 02Dec24

MHX warranty performance is enabling me to build another 8.5ft 5wt fast graphite "Bomber" rod. I received a full, new MHX Native ultralight 8'6" 4pc 5wt fast in cloud grey and embarked on a 2nd rod in this class. It's a GR8 rod.

The first was the nice Rodfather Bomadeer, and its v2, after breaking v1 on the Gunny; it is again awesome... but it's really a strong 4 wt and I load it so. I got finer hardware this time for the new Ghost Cloud... I acquired all my favorite slick Snake guides and a Fuji stripper, as well as my favored nickel silver REC reel seat (with maple insert) and a removable fighting butt assembly piece from REC directly. I don't know why I make the butts removable as I always use rods with their fighting butt attached.. but the nickel-silver reel seats' looks, operation, and feel are great so who cares? I do; that's why I do it.

The Ghost Cloud is based on a new, more powerful, and faster blank from MHX, in the Native (ultralight) class ~ ERN is now a righteous 5.4 and AA is 71°, quick and strong. The blank is fabricated from Mitsubishi 57mm rayon like my Fubuki driver shaft (now in MLC's grip as I can't wield it's speed anymore). This rod is completely stellar and may replace my RFT5 as THE dominant 5 weight in the rod vault, even though mending would suffer. It readily shoots 100ft tight and can fight and land an 6+#er on 5X (let it be so). I highly recommend this blank and setup for Colorado.

I started the build with a new custom 7" full wells handle I knighted the "Line of Diamonds" with a matching and substantial fighting butt. I used predominantly vertical variegated rings but jigsawed 5 diamonds and 2 sectional pieces into them while repeating 2 one quarter piece ring sections in the butt.

I wrapped out the cloud grey blank with contrasting blue and silver thread. The guides have narrow accent bands and the ferrules use blue & silver spirals. The blue pops on the grey blank and the silver accents match the hardware. I did all the expected signage and my length markings in silver ink as well.

The larger fighting butt and sturdy handle make it a smidge heavier at 4.3oz but it's balanced well with the fine Ross Evo LTX 4|5 loaded with Amplitude Infinity WF5F line.

The Ghost Bomber went right in the rod vault as my winter 5 weight after it threw 100ft accurately & quickly, like a demon, in the yard.

Repairing The Rodfather Bombadeer To V2 ~ Lighter, Slower, And Greener 26Oct24

I biffed on a downed tree in the flood plain of the Gunny and snapped the Bombadeer base section. Grrr... that required me to redo a handle and reel seat and fixed fighting butt. I tried to heat the epoxy and pull off parts but stuff started to burn before the epoxy softened enough. Anyway, I replicated the handle and fixed butt design but went to a decent "spare" aluminum seat with died green maple insert which matches the variegated wraps a bit better. The new butt section is actually mated from a "non-Native" MHX blank set which matched fine to the Native MHX other sections. Measuring the new rod shows it's a skosh slower at 64° AA (v 68°), even lighter at 3.3oz (v 3.5oz), still ultralight in the hand with a consistent 5.5oz swingweight, and a little more powerful with an ERN of 4.8. I am very pleased with the low cost repair and will field trial the Bombadeer v2 soon. MHX has been great with the warranty replacements, which will allow me to build an all new ultralight 8.5' 4pc 5wt in cloud grey; woohoo.

Here's an update on the Rodfather quiver ~ I've sold all but one of my manufactured rods from Winston, Sage, and GLoomis as I prefer my custom builds... I am keeping the keen Sage Z-Axis for now; it's one of the best all purpose 5 wts I've thrown. The repaired RFBA2 completely outperforms on power/weight and swingweight ~ it is just a smidge underpowered compared to advertised "5 wt." NP... it'll be an interesting compare to the pending "5wt" cloud grey MHX Native build.

Update 28Oct24 ~ RFBA2 Field Trial On The PT ~ Two Pigs Lost & Tons of Fry

There was an cool looking, and obvious, front entering southern CO that I saw while driving to Pueblo.

I caught tons of both brown & rainbow fry out of NC section of the PT, in green turbid 280cfs waters today. It was warm and I observed some fall #22 baetis and plenty of gray-brown midges so I rigged appropriately but didn't find the bigs. That is, until I relocated upstream to the Valco Ponds area. Upstream featured cooler waters and fish had spread out more here than downstream at the NC. I used mostly the same bugs (oil can perdigon weight, RS2, midge) but tried my blue-green chinele caddis too... it worked as did the RS2 and the purple Bronx midge. I wielded the new RFBA2; it threw great to 80ft but mending was more difficult on ~300cfs Arkansas than a 9 footer with heavier line. The selfies feature not only the new rod but the new vest, my 3rd Simms vest; the 1st two failed in the same way across the upper back/shoulders... hmmm; I kept them alive for a couple of outings with zip ties and iron on patches but this section needs reinforcement. I've written Simms product management as I have with certain wader failures but no significant redesigns as yet. WTF. New Guide Vests have floppy fly box pockets... not as good as formed ones, and the zipper catches in the interior stitched flashing material. WTF. I lost two bigs hookups who ripped my rigs ~ exciting but WTF; that's on me.

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Rodfather Diamond Blaze Is Repaired And Back In The Quiver ~ MHX Excellent Warranty 30Jul24

My goto and current favorite 4wt, the Rodfather Diamond Blaze, has been out of commission for 2+ months or so. I broke the tip section on a fish in late spring on 11 Mile HERE and submitted the failed parts to MHX for $25 warranty replacement. Despite availability delays of 6+ weeks, their response was great; they sent an entirely new $140 MHX-F864XF blank! Fortunately the tip section fit the already built rod's 2nd section so I have the other pieces in reserve if needed. The repaired RFDB power, speed, weight, and swingweight measure out the same as originally; it is back in the rod vault (where the RF Cutty has served well in the interim) for new adventures.

Building The Rodfather Bombadeer ~ Stealth From Above (drc#24 MHX Native 8'6" 4pc 5wt Fast) 23Feb24-28Feb24

Wow, this thing will drop dimes at 80ft, right ahead of unsuspecting cutbows. It's just in time for springtime and is aptly named the Bombadeer. Did I need another 4wt (that's right, the Bombadeer is more like a strong 4)? Probably not. I couldn't ignore the deal for a nice high modulus rayon from Japan, rolled in China, blank marked down by 50% though. It's built on a light 8.5' 4pc from MHX's Native blank series and is plenty fast. Sweet. It tips in with a stout 4 ERN of 4.6 and is plenty fast with an AA of 68° yet only weighs a meager 3.5oz and the ultralight 5.5oz swingweight blows my mind. This rod displays the very lowest normalized swingweight (swingweight/ERN) in my entire quiver. I'm ready for a RF Diamond Blaze (my current go to 4wt) vs RF Bombadeer vs Winston B3X bakeoff... best 4s in the quiver. Though, the RFDB has nicer hardware than the "bargain" RFBA.

I started the build with a custom full wells handle and fixed fighting butt. It was interesting turning the fighting butt as I needed to epoxy it onto the end of the butt section, with the reel seat ahead, before turning. I registered the fighting butt dead center, taped off the seat, and wrapped the other end in masking tape for the chuck, and then turning went quickly. I conjured up a wild diamonds and variegated wave horizontal spiral grip that finished nicely. I have to say also that on the purchase date I also looked for a reel seat at a deal price and found a pretty American Tackle one with braided windows and coralwood insert in black & beige that matched my build perfectly... the only issue is that it did not come with a rear ring to "finish off" a build with a fighting butt so I just slightly buried the seat in the butt.

I added just simple CRB snake guides and a Fuji stripping guide for this "bargain build" but I did splurge on new tri-color variegated nylon in black, dark green, and desert tan for the wrapping. The wraps match the coralwood and satin charcoal blank well. I typically buy colorfast nylon but the new Tiger Pro Wrap stuff wasn't, so I "painted" the threads with color fastener before floating on the epoxy. No accent wraps this time - despite called size "A," the tiger wrap material is thicker and didn't mate well with my intended desert tan accent thread. One can't really see the tiger stuff from afar, but I know it's there and cool... the moire patterns created in the wrap tend to change as the wrap diameter shifts.

The Bombadeer measured out sweet with 1477 grains of power. It's balanced right; it's super light @ 3.46oz (lighter even than the marking as I have to guess just a bit before the last epoxy is put over the "logo"); it's cool mated to the Rise reel and perfectly matched when loaded with some new SA Amplitude Infinity Smooth WF4F (1st 30ft weigh 1540 grains).