Paradigm Custom Caneworks

Bette Davis or someone with Bette Davis eyes.

YESSSSSS Drill Sergeant !!!!!

Working six day weeks for the man at the regular job may have slowed me down but didn't stop me from my passion and what I most enjoy. Here's a fresh off the bench hollow built 8'6" Payne 204L taper started late April.

Custom machined reel seat components and lignum vitae insert by AP Tony DiCicco
Duronze stepdowns by Joel Lemke
Hexagrip by Golden Witch
Antiqued phosphor bronze spiral guides complements of Lee Gomolchak's nifty snake maker.

Our silent auction is open! Bidding ends July 27th, when we will also have a LIVE Zoom auction and virtual banquet. Win sweet gear, private water fishing, art, and more, all while supporting the Fraser and Upper Colorado Rivers!

Auction link: https://e.givesmart.com/events/hmk/

Curiosity experiment with original formula Gorilla Glue. Cross section of butt end purposely hollowed within two inches of the rear to determine if the channels might actually fill with expanding foam. As always when I'm binding strips, the glue was applied straight out of the bottle without using water catalyst as per the instructions. Waited 48 hours to ensure additional cure time before the cut was made. Very little foam on interior walls noted.

Before and after illustration on hollow building weight reduction for a current 3/2 Payne 204L build. The taper numbers designate this a relatively light rod to begin with but wanted to lighten it up just a tad more due to the 8'6" length as most of my trout rods fall in the 8' foot and under category. Strips are 38" to be later cut to 34". Using basic dam and channel method with a standard .70 wall thickness; before hollowing/removing excess material the butt section hit the scale at 2.60 oz - the mid an even 1 oz. When finished, the butt weighed in at 1.75 oz, the mid 0.85 as indicated by the pics for a loss of one full ounce or the equivalent of 28% total reduction in weight. A decent drop for the most part. Likely would've eclipsed the 30% mark had I elected to not hollow the tips which are light in both dimensions and weight at 0.35 oz, respectively.

If you can name this meandering Colorado freestone gem, YOU are awesome.

Seen some crazy stuff in my 30 some years of fishing this particular river but none so strange at the day's end to find Mr Grizzly Hackle here casually emerging from under my car. Dude was following me around obviously hungry and parched so hooked him up with a few crackers and cut off the bottom of a water bottle for an improvised bowl. We bonded a solid half hour. Likely somebody's pet as the 'lil guy hopped in the vehicle at one point, lol. :) Oh, and FINALLY a much needed day off to test the 7'3" 2/2 custom taper #3 wt I made four months back which didn't disappoint in the least. Happy Labor Day weekend y'all.