Rod Photo Page
My Rodmaking Philosophy
Customer Rods Michael D. This 7'6" 3 piece 2 tipped 4 weight
rod, featured a Thuya burl reel seat and Rattan handle with clear wraps and dark
brown tipping. The same brown thread that was used for the tipping is
wrapped into the grooves of the rattan handle. Sporting an amber agate guide, this rod was a gem to
see and an absolute pleasure to cast. Medium to medium fast in
action, with light tips, this rod would cast from leader only to long
distance with great accuracy and still give a delicate fly presentation.
Michael S. Another 7'6" 3 piece rod, this rod was made for a customer with
very discriminating taste. Mike is an artist and has been a friend
of mine since my fishing days in Montana. Built as a 3 weight with a medium
slow action, this rod has red wraps with all blued hardware, cork grip and
an Amboyna burl reel seat. Shown below is the rod on it's maiden
voyage to Silver Creek, along with a fat Idaho brown trout. Sheer beauty!
Michael sent a note back simply saying "My joy is beside itself". While the
images below are very nice, they just can't do this rod justice. The
finish and wraps on this rod are absolutely flawless. The pictures of
this rod are from Michael. I have more pictures of it if someone is
interested in getting them, but these pictures were taken on Silver Creek
at one of Michael's dear friends memorial. In honor of his friend,
with whom he fished those waters often, he kept the rod unfished for some
time, so he could first use it on the waters on which his friends ashes
were scattered. These pictures are from that day, and as long as
Michael wishes, they will stay here as a memorial to his friend.
Lonnie G.
A beautiful 7' 2 piece rod
for a 5 weight, it's wrapped in red with black tipping and has an amboyna
burl reel seat. Note the ferrules on this rod; they are made with
twin microgrooves and a waist like the early HL Leonard ferrules.
This was at the customers request. After receiving the rod, Lonnie
sent me an email saying that it would take it's place as "the number one
rod in my collection".
Bret R.
This rod, made in 2007 is an 8' 2 piece 2 tip rod. It's a medium
fast to fast action and will cast more line than you'll ever need to fish.
Wrapped in Chinese red with black tipping and a rattan handle with red
thread in the grooves of the rattan, this rod is not only a power house,
but is superb in fit and finish. The cane has a medium flamed tone,
very even in color. The amboyna burl seat was perfect with the red
wraps and Leonard style reel seat.
Daniel B.
This rod was a dream to cast. Built for small streams and dry flies,
this medium action 6' 6" 3 weight rod has dark honey wraps with cinnamon
tipping and blued hardware. The reel seat filler on this rod is Thuya burl, but not varnished. It had 12 coats of linseed oil rubbed
into it over a period of about a month, then it was waxed with butcher's
wax. The low matte' sheen on the Thuya was stunning on this little
medium flamed rod.
Ralph S.
A 6' 3 piece rod, this little 4 weight is a workhorse. It was
broken in last year on Crooked Creek on sunfish and had no problem casting
a size 12 hopper 40 to 50 feet. With a fish on it, you would just
almost giggle it was so much fun. Now, when I'm talking about
Sunfish, I don't mean 3 or 4 inch long bluegill. We're talking about
Bluegill, LongEar and Warmouth that were as long and longer than my hand
and just as wide... I wear a size 15 ring, just to give you an idea of the
size of these fish. On his first outing alone with this rod, the
next day, Ralph landed a HUGE brown trout. If I remember right it
was about a 5 pound fish... I'm sure Ralph will correct me if it was
bigger than I remember! The intermediates on this rod were placed on
exact one inch increments on the butt section, giving the angler a quick
and accurate way to measure a fish.
While they were very subtle, there are amber tipping on the ends of each
wrap. This picture was taken before the rod was delivered to the
customer, and to be honest, I had forgotten to put the trim wraps at the
base of the tips (the three Hunt style intermediates). That was
taken care of before the rod was delivered, but I never thought to take
additional pictures of the rod.
SowBug
Roundup Donation Rod The rod below was donated to the 2008 Sowbug
Roundup in Arkansas. If you don't know about the "Roundup", it's one
of the worlds largest gatherings of fly tiers held in Mountain Home, AR
every spring. This 7 foot 2 piece rod was donated to the
Roundup and sold in their silent auction.
Silk Wrap Colors I offer a variety of colors in rod wraps. Though the picture below is
not absolutely color true, it's very close to being representative of the silk
winding colors I offer. This variety of colors will fit most any customers
desire to achieve the look they want. From the subdued earthtone colors,
to the bright reds, colors can be matched to the rod, appointments and reel seat
wood.
The honey colored wraps
complement this very lightly flamed rod perfectly.
The colors from left to right are Dark Honey, CP Tan, Cinnamon, CP Copper Brown, Dark Brown, CP Dark Brown, Amber Gold, CP Antique Gold, Chinese Red, CP Red, Salmon and Clear. The clear is tipped in black so that it will show up on the color sample stick. The colors designated as CP are Color Preserved. In other words, they have a finish on them that keeps the silk from becoming translucent on the rod. All other colors are finished with spar varnish, which makes them "clear out" so that the guide feet and the grain of the cane are visible through the wraps.
Clear wraps are possibly the most elegant of all the wraps. They are also the most difficult to do correctly. Most clear wraps will
have what appears to be fine metallic glitter in them. This is actually air bubbles, or what many rodmakers call "shimmers".
They are difficult to avoid, but if done correctly, clear wraps will be completely
transparent, with no shimmers. These crystal clear wraps, actually a pure white
silk, meticulously varnished to make them transparent, with a complimentary
tipping color lend a quiet elegance to a cane rod.
My rattan handles are unique. I use a much wider rattan than most
rodmakers. The traditional rattan
was usually 2mm to 2.5mm wide. The rattan I prefer is 4mm wide. I "work it down"
much more than the traditional rods. This leaves the rattan smoother and without the prevalent "humps" of the past and much more
comfortable in the hand. The grooves on the rattan will have a thread wrapped
in them that matches the tipping on the wraps, or complements the reel seat
wood.
Nothing looks more at home on a fine rod like a beautiful piece of wood for the reel seat. My two most requested woods are picture below, Amboyna burl on the left and Thuya burl on the right. The Amboyna burl will varnish to a very deep, glasslike finish and looks wonderful with red wraps or clear wraps with red tipping. The Thuya burl is probably the most striking of all the burls I've used. It's expensive, but well worth it to set off the beauty of a fine rod.
The finish on an RL Nunley rod will be as close to flawless as you'll
find. I worked for the better part of two decades trying to find the best varnish and the best method
of application. The end result, thanks to my good friend and teacher, Ron Kusse, is a combination of the varnish that Leonard used
during the Maxwell era and an application method that's just a bit different from most other rodmakers. The overall method is somewhat similar, but
I do a few things that are unique to my process. Nothing is "perfect", but my finishes are very close to that pinnacle.
My oldest son, Nick, with his 21.5" bow on an 8' 5 wt RL Nunley Cane.
time to time, so keep an eye on the page and see what shows up.
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Copyright © 2007-2014 Bob Nunley
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