JJ King Fly Fishing Co. info
Rich W Rockwell
Fellow anglers,
I've had some e-mails regarding my response to Gerald
about reasonably priced, rod building supplies. The questions
request contact information for the company I recommended, the
J.J. King Fly Fishing Company. Thanks for the inquiries,
gentlemen. Here you go, to the benefit of all interested:
The J.J. King Fly Fishing Co.
#16 Grizzly Lane / P.O. Box 672
Alturas, CA 96101
Toll-free calls: 1-800-392-5346 (Pacific daylight)
Web address: www.modoc-marketplace.com/king
The current sale is for "cosmetically blemished" rod
blanks of good quality. But let me tell you, folks, I have
a set of blanks from Jon and Jackie that are supposedly
blemished and I can't detect a damned thing out of whack.
Last spring, our University Flycasters club placed an order
in this sale for around $900, involving many rods and many
anglers of all skill levels. I've heard no complaints.
Quite the contrary.
The quality is definitely there, with a medium to medium-
fast action which, of course, will somewhat depend upon the
caster working the rod. Two piece blanks go for - get this -
$3.00 (yes, that's three bucks!) a foot, while three and
four piece blanks go for $5 a foot. Lengths range from
7'6" to 10' sets. I can expound that this is cheap until
I'm blue in the face (or finger tips), but you do the math
for yourself. Contact the Kings for available weights.
Now, EVEN if these blanks don't become your favorite
rod, how can you go wrong?! Hell, if you don't like the rod for
yourself once you've built and cast it, you can always give it up
in divorce proceedings so you can squirrel away your cane rod!
Yowza. No bitterness here. Better yet, these make great rods on
which to get started, either with building or flycasting. More
than likely, however, once you've tried these blanks out you'll
want to keep a couple of these rods for yourself. In the cabin.
In the truck. On the plane. On your back or tied to the saddle
bags as you pack into the high country. Places you may not wish
to experience the gut-wrenching sound of splitting cane. They're
also great for club rod building classes and fund raisers.
The Kings also offer component kits for $35 with blank
purchase. These include: choice of black or silver alumunium
reel seat with wood insert; AAAA quality cork grip in your choice
of full wells, western or lightweight; black or chrome snake
guides, strippers, tip top, and hook keeper; and thread. You
may also choose to purchase the $12 finishing kit, which includes
Flex Coat epoxy in the syringe-style dispenser and an 18" cork
reamer. They offer an instruction book, "Step by Step Rod
Building," for five bucks for those of you getting started.
Rod tubes and bags are also available for good prices.
Just to remind y'all, I am in no way affiliated with
the J.J. King Fly Fishing Company. I'm a grad student at the
University of Wyoming who, due to the constraints of a sub-
poverty stipend, must watch his habitual expenditures on angling
gear. I don't receive anything for this promotion of the Kings.
They're simply nice folks I met at a Trout Unlimited state council
meeting some seven or so years ago. (God, time flies!) They're
good folks in a small-town community who are just trying to
make an honest living. They help Game and Fish stock trout by
horseback into the high country. They support elementary school
fisheries education. They are members of the FFF, TU, and Cal
Trout. They support the Friends of the Trinity River's efforts to
restore world class steelhead and salmon fishing to one of the
Pacific's historic fly-fishing meccas. Simply put, if we are at
all to consider ourselves responsible anglers, then we must do
business with folks like the Kings. They deserve it. At the very
least, you must admit that this is one hell of a sale.
Well, enough of my rambling. Back to sorting through
those aquatic bugs we so desperately try to imitate. Before
I go, in response to Gerry's last e-mail, are you talking about
the G. Loomis company by chance? Didn't know they were
undergoing a buy-out. If so, hope it doesn't affect the quality
of their rods. I use a Loomis IMX 8-weight for chinooks and love
it. As for your desire for a cheap cork reamer, you might try
just wrapping a dowel with some fine-grain sandpaper. Take care,
however, that you round the tip of the dowel prior to use so
that you don't cut into the cork with the edges. All in all,
it may cost you less (in replacement cork grips!) to just
invest in a pre-made reamer. Better to do the job right from the
start, rather than getting frustrated with split cork. Just
a thought from the King of Cork Fragmentation. If you do
happen to bust the edge of a grip, don't fret. Just take a
razor blade (away from the blank of course!) and gently cut
around the grip to shorten it evenly. Then take fine grain
sandpaper and round it out to a smooth finish. It happened
to me while building a sweet, little Loomis IMX 9' 5-weight
a couple of years ago. Nearly cried when I shattered that rod
in North Gate Canyon last summer. Ce la vie. It had a rich
life full of many fine trout, bass, and steelhead.
Happy New Year and happy hookin',
Rich "Rooster" Rockwell
Aquatic Entomologist and Recluse Angler
Entomology Section,
Department of Renewable Resources
University of Wyoming
Laramie, WY 82071-3354
Gerald E Realing
In response to "roosters" message, the component price has gone up but
only by 5$ so now its 40$ rather than 35$ ( Called John today) and
mentioned your name "rooster", he laughed. I'll get in touch with you
soon.
Jerry
jer...@uwyo.edu
University of Wyoming