Here's a quick sneak preview of my latest reel.

It's a 3" VH style reel with a fixed click pawl drag. I just got it assembled tonight and I have a few things to tweak yet. It sounds great but the drag is a touch on the heavy side.

After I get it working perfectly I'll get it polished up and take some better pictures of it.

In case anyone is wondering about the handle, it's woolly mammoth ivory.





Mark

I am sorry, I didn't happen to see the order form.........

Ya see that Carlin guy is supposed to be building me a blank, sometime this century, And I guess I would be needing a reel.....

ok, so now you know what to get me for x-mas lol. looks great. i'm jealous of your ability

very nice mark

Outstanding !!!!

Your a talented man Mark! Send to me for further assesment and cold weather testing!

Paul

Mark

Flawless as usual, very nice indeed.

Bill, can you tell me what you're caption is under your avatar????? What is Chris building you???? Care to rephrase that????


Randy

Maybe I wanna be a weenie too!!!

A closet weenie!!!!! Thanks for coming out.....


Randy

Beautiful Reel Sir.
Are you serious - Wooly Mammoth Ivory ?.

nice work mark!

i got to handle this puppy last night. she's gonna be sweet when done.

can't wait to get mine!

Beautiful reel Mark

Thanks guys.

I actually finished most of the parts for this thing before my trip to Alaska. I was trying to get it done in time for the trip, but there was too much other stuff to do, so it fell of the bottom of the list. I pulled out the stuff the other day and realized how close I was and busted a little butt this week to get it done. Felt good to finally get it done and put it to use. The reel is loaded with a Rio Windcutter II WF5 and 50 yards of 20lb backing. I think it could have fit another 10-15 yards of backing though.

As for the wooly mammoth ivory, its a really cool material to work with. It looks beautiful and works nicely and is the perfect classy touch for things like ferrule plugs and winding checks.

Took the new reel out on the water Saturday.

The first fish, a feisty 14" brown that made the reel sing.



Last fish of the night. Skinny 18" bow.



Close up.



Heading down to the Gunnison area next week, hope to put some nice fall browns on it.

Mark

Very nice Mark. If you like working with Mammoth Ivory try a bit of hippo tusk. I find it even works a bit nicer. The two tone though on the mammoth is quite nice. I have also found Wart Hog tusk Ivory to work nice.
Again Mark great work.
Brian

Mark,
Amazing, as usual. THanks for sharing!
Gene

I've been crazy busy lately so I haven't had a chance to give you guys an update. But here's the latest shots of the reel in action.

I went fishing with Germanbrown 2 weeks ago. We had a great day catching big fish on dries, streamers and nymphs. Here's me with my best fish of the trip a
25" wild brown:





Matt (germanbrown) with a 25" Colorado Steelhead!





And our buddy Eric with his biggest brown to date, a 23" hook jawed male caught on a 70 year old Heddon!




And here's some fresh ones from this weekend, a colorful 20" Bow caught on Saturday.







My 5 weight "Neversink" rod that I've been fishing with the reel:






Mark

Very nice Mark. Awesome fish, awesome reel.

Thanks for sharing.


matt

Wow. My favorite shot is the pic of the rod/reel/fish all together and underwater........outstanding.

Bart

Seems like that picture's been getting a lot of attention. I'm going to make a few prints of that one.

Here are some new shots from this weekend.











Mark

Totally Impressed

Can I ask where you were fishing? I don't know if I'm more impressed by the rods/reel or the fish. Great work!

Mark, That is one sexy reel, keep up the good work!!