fly rod repair

[bradne]

Well today, while at the swap meet, I picked up a used 9 foot fly rod and reel. I only gave the guy 10 dollars. Since I have been thinking about trying to learn to fly fish for a while, i figured that 10 bucks would be a safe investment. I then stopped at the local book store and bought a book on learning how to fly fish. Anyway, when I got home, I realized that one of the eyelets (my book calls them snake guides) was coming loose. It is the type that is attached by wraps of thread above and below the eyelet. It looks simple enough to fix (at least to me), however I was wondering if any of you had any experience with this problem. I don't know if I should try and resuse the thread that is already on the rod, or is there some sort of kit to make this fix? Also, what do you do with the loose ends when you are done wrapping it? It is a Garcia graphite rod and a South Bend reel, if that makes any difference. It almost looks as if the thread was coated (spray on glue?) with something.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Brown Trout]

If the wrap is not lost you can cover it with another coat of flex coat (a flexible glue you can buy at fishing tackle shops). If the wrap is gone you'll need to rewrap the guide. You'll need thread to match the other wraps, Flex coat, some piano wire (Fly shops will have a tool with wire and handle) and a needle or fine ice pick. Create a loop with the wire. The looped end goes away from the guide and place the doubled wire next to the foot of the guide. Start wrapping next to the eye of the guide. The starting end of the thread stays under the new wraps. Continue down and off the foot about 1/4 inch. Use the pick or needle to keep the wraps tight together. After you've wrapped 1/4 inch past the end of the foot pass the tag end of the thread through the exposed loop of wire. Leave five or six inches of thread as the tag end or don't cut the thread and leave it on the spool. Use your wire loop to pull the tag end of the thread under the wraps. When you get half way back under the wraps with the wire loop. Pull both the wire loop and the spool or tag end with the same increasing pressure. The thread should break right at the wire leaving the true tag end under the wraps. Now flex coat the wrap and turn the rood ever 10 min. until the flex coat is dry. For visuals go to a fly shop and ask for a rod-building book by Garcia. It's the best one I've ever used.

Good luck
David

[bradne]

Thanks for the reply. I managed to find a couple of web sites that show exactly what you are talking about.

http://members.datafast.net.au/darrylt/binding.html

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/graphite/part10.html

Both of these are about fly rod building (I did not realize that was such a big hobby), but they give excellent descriptions on how I can make the reapair.