For those interested in wrapping a new fly rod at home but have a bent toward being thrifty (or you’ve run out of ways to explain new gear purchases to your glaring significant other), picking up a blem blank at a nifty reduced price is a great way to start.
My fly fishing mentor and I stumbled across a stack of Sage RPLX blem blanks in SLC years ago; the cosmetic imperfections that led them being cast to the blem bin were so minor it took a sharp eye to find, and we didn’t then (and still don’t) give a damn about cosmetics anyway.
That 9.5 ft 6 weight, despite my less than perfect ‘first rod wraps’ crafted on a makeshift, cardboard box wrapping stand, was my first choice Montana rod for over 10 years before succumbing to a total dumbass move by a friend on the Snake River in Grand Teton, when he bounced it out of the back of the raft in a pesky rapid.
Swift’s Epic line of glass rods out of New Zealand are amazing tools, and their annual Blem Sale is nearly over – pick up one of the kits remaining here.
