Fly Rod Repairs

[pohocker]

Folks, I have recently acquired a beautiful Heddon 8389 glass rod-only problem is, the butt cap and lower reel retainer are missing. Are there flyrod repair gurus in our area anywhere? Thanks for any leads.

[flame thrower]

POHOOKER,

I know of one fly shop I’m sure there are more but White Clay Outfitters is located at 403 Louviers Drive, Newark, Delaware, 19711 (GPS 645 Papermill Road) in the Shoppes at Louviers directly across from Bank of America.

Ken is a first class guy and should be able to help you out his web address is White Clay Outfitters - Delaware Fly Fishing and Fly Tying > Home. He specializes in custom fly rods and his work is impeccable.

If this is a long way for you we could work out a drop off and pick up with some of the other guys on the board.

[mdram]

hhhm, closest fly shop to bishopvill is salisbury fly shop, talk to mason, he may know


or harbor tackle does rod repair, terry should be able to do flyrods too, just may have to order the parts if he doesnt have em

[ffemtreed]

Originally Posted by pohocker

Folks, I have recently acquired a beautiful Heddon 8389 glass rod-only problem is, the butt cap and lower reel retainer are missing. Are there flyrod repair gurus in our area anywhere? Thanks for any leads.

I am not quite sure what you mean by real seat retainer. Are you talking the whole reel seat or just one of the metal locking screw type rings? Can you post a picture?


The butt cap is pretty much a non-issue, all you do it buy the correct size and glue it on, there is almost NO skill whatsoever.

[pohocker]

Thanks for the replies, folks.
Jim, one of the rings that fit onto the reel to hold it in place is whats missing, along with the butt cap. I'm out of town for a few days but I'll post pictures when I get back.
Thanks again.

[ffemtreed]

Originally Posted by pohocker

Thanks for the replies, folks.
Jim, one of the rings that fit onto the reel to hold it in place is whats missing, along with the butt cap. I'm out of town for a few days but I'll post pictures when I get back.
Thanks again.

Is the whole sliding hood that goes over the reel foot missing or just the screw ring that locks the hood in place?

[pohocker]

Jim, there is a screw ring above the existing sliding hood, at the top end of the handle. On the handle's lower end, near the butt, there are neither a hood nor a screw ring. I'm not familiar with fly rods, so I don't know if it originally had a screw ring behind that lower hood or not.
Thanks again.
Steve

[ffemtreed]

you are going to have a hard time finding parts to retrofit onto the old reel seat.

You are more than likely going to have to get a whole new seat put on.

Putting the seat on is a cinch, however getting the old one off might be a chore. There is some risk involved in damaging the blank, even for the most experienced builders.

[pohocker]

Thanks for all the replies, guys.
Here's a photo of what I have. I contacted WCO and those guys were extremely helpful, but they are 100 miles away, so I've got that on the back burner. The Salisbury guy hasn't gotten back to me as yet.

[flame thrower]

Po,

I'm heading down on Saturday night and go right by you on 113. I'd be more they happy to transport it up to WCO. In fact my buddy that will be with me is in there store quite a bit and is a really good rod builder so he may be able to give you a hand.

We could hook up on Saturday if you want.

[pohocker]

Flame, that is very nice of you and I really appreciate it. What time will you be passing through?

[flame thrower]

Po not sure of the time yet but it will be after 6pm. Jr has a football game at 2pm it should be over about 4pm so I need to get home pack the car and get out of dodge. After that I need to pick up the little fishing buddy in DE and head down.

Jim

PM me your cell # and well coordinate that way. I'll be back down the week of Oct 3rd for the Ocean City Tourney. We plan on a repeat.

[pohocker]

Jim, I might have a local solution...don't know for sure yet. If that doesn't work out, perhaps we can try this again on a future trip. In any event, I really appreciate your offer. I hope you have a great time down here this weekend, too.
Thanks very much.
Steve

[chucknduck40]

For parts you can try Home - Mud Hole Custom Tackle, Inc. for parts. They usually have decent prices and they have the biggest selection of parts.

Also there are a couple of forums that focus on rod building that you can search for how to do this.

Basically, the reel seat is epoxied on to the rod. If you have lost the bottom end of the reel seat, you will need to find a replacement part and epoxy that on.

It isn't very hard.

Carl

[pohocker]

Carl, thank you for the information. I don't know much about fly rods, but I've always thought it would be a simple fix if I can just find the right stuff.