Below are a number of samples of customizations and the in-house designs we have executed for customers in the past. These small galleries offer an example of some of the different materials, products, and specificities we are able to integrate into custom orders. It’s our hope that as you browse through them, they will inspire creativity and, help you to imagine some of the more prominent details you would like to see materialized in your next custom build.
This 9ft,4wt,4pc – fast action fly rod was designed with inspiration from one of the world’s last truly wild places. It features a stabilized Marblewood grip, and acrylic/wood hybrid reel seat, a hybrid fighting butt and, metallic wraps. The LBO custom rod sock and custom rod tube pair with this tribute to the Cowboy State beautifully. Each rod section features an alignment graphic at the ferrules and another custom graphic is featured above the handle. “Streamboat” (as we’ve come to call him) is the fish featured on the rod cap and section ferrules.
Commissioned to be made in a pair, the “Full Curl” is a 9ft.,5wt.,4pc-Fast Action trout hunter designed to accentuate the characteristics of a father & son duo who share a love for the outdoors. The White Ash handle features Mossy Oak camo banners and are each inlayed with a full curl tail feather from off a single Mallard duck. The reel seats and fighting butts were cut from a matched set of Mule Deer antlers. The rod cap graphic was designed in house and displays the family name and successive generation. The Mallard themed rod tube pairs beautifully with the duck hunting themed rod sock and inlayed above the handle, directly to the blank, a custom graphic featuring the Gadsden Flag is placed to exemplify the client’s patriotic spirit.
The “MeatStick” is a 9ft.,8wt.,4pc-Fast Action rod built on a RodGeeks Carbon 4 blank and furnished with a premium dark burl handle and a custom cast fighting butt. It was designed for hunting Salmon and Steelhead in confined arenas and pairs phenomenally with fly lines with an aggressive, short-headed fly line like Orvis Bank Shot. The reel seat was cast from a pinecone and saturated into a two-part acrylic impregnated with phosphorous powder. The graphics were custom designed in house and the Snake Brand double footed guides were wrapped in black Colorfast in size “A” and accented with Colorfast “glow” thread in size “A.”
A 10ft.,5wt.,4pc. – Heavy Spline nymphing rod built on a Sage blank and specifically designed to manage direct angle, high line, subsurface targeting drifts. The reel seat was carved from a six-part, hand-poured acrylic and the Ashwood handle was customized and feather inlaid with an American flag theme. The Snake Brand, double-footed guides are wrapped in Colorfast size “A” and were applied using the JTOB “American Flag” patterning technique. The rod tube and cap are a commission of Scaly Designs and BCP Customs. The handcrafted, custom rod sock was designed in house.
This tribute to the great American banner would inspire Francis Scott Key to work up a dub-step remix.
A 9ft,4wt,4pc-Fast Action Custom designed for hunting high country trout and grayling in small waters and tight arenas. Built on one of the last true Rod Geeks blanks in our inventory, this long tapered, aggressive loading rod directs floating, weight forward line with tactical precision – making perfect, limited cast presentations easy, so a dry fly can be placed directly in line with finicky, clear water dwelling, feeding fish. The handle was made from a premium burl/cork hybrid and features a turquoise glow ring around the pink thread wrapped reel seat hood. The reel seal was poured from a combination of high grade acrylics. The wraps are all Color Fast by CRB and have been treated with multiple coats of color preserver. The inlays were placed from two colors of dyed grizzly half saddle. This rod pairs beautifully with an aggressive tapered, short headed floating line.
A 9ft,4wt,4pc – Fast Action Carbon fly rod, featuring a moderate taper and substantial backbone. The NBS nickel plated reel seat hardware accents a 4 part acrylic reel seat arbor – impregnated with blue & orange dyes – and mixed with copper and blue metallic flaking. The handle was carved from AAA premium grade, blue dyed burl cork. The Snake Brand, double footed guides and other associated hardware are wrapped in Colorfast products, Size A, by CRB. This rod is aesthetically paired with a custom LBO rod sock and a custom rod tube crafted by Scaly Designs and BCP Customs. All graphic and rod design was performed in house.
“Western Sky” is a hand-crafted, American made, truly authentic keepsake for which the end-user can cherish for a lifetime.
This 9ft,4pc,5wt, – Fast Action Carbon fly rod was designed and built to celebrate the matriarch of a loving family. It features a handle and fighting butt carved from stabilized Redheart and a reel seat carved from a 4 part acrylic cast. Above the handle it features beautiful, custom dyed grizzly saddle feather inlays and a custom designed label. The Snake Brand hardware was wrapped in sizes “A” & “D” Colorfast by CRB. This rod is aesthetically paired with a custom LBO rod sock and a custom rod tube by Scaly Designs and BCP Customs. All graphic and rod design was performed in house, by Laughing Bear Outfitters, LLC.
This 9ft.,5wt.,4pc. – fast action, universal taper, carbon rod was designed and built on behalf of a friend of Laughing Bear Outfitters, as a birthday gift. Its Walnut handle was stabilized and carved in house, before it was shipped back to Lizzy Spry of Spry Carvings so she could add the Axeman’s silhouettes. She then returned it to us to have the dyed grizzly saddle feathers inlayed and the handle installed. The Snake Brand guides are wrapped in size “A” colorfast by CRB and the custom made acrylic reel seat was cast from a two-part compound – impregnated with orange dye and copper flakings. The rod tube and cap are products of Scaly Designs and BCP Customs. The graphics and label were designed in house, before sourcing them to contractors to have them applied. The custom LBO rod sock associated with this rod was designed and hand-crafted in house.
An Alaskan angler reached out to us in hopes of creating a custom 9ft.,7wt.,4pc. – moderate fast action fly rod which included features that reminded her of her fishing career in the Last Frontier. Her favorite color is lime green so, we built this streamer chucker on a custom airbrushed, moderate taper, carbon blank. We then stabilized a piece of Moose antler and carved it down to make the reel seat. The handle was carved from Spalted Tamarind and, the LBO custom rod sock was designed and stitched in house from an Alaskan flag. The rod tube was sourced from Scaly Designs. The custom label was designed in house and sourced by a third party. The guides, hook keeper and winding check were wrapped in Colorfast “glow” thread.
This aesthetically pleasing 9ft.,8wt.,4pc. – moderate action streamer rod was built on a TFO BVK blank and designed specifically for loading a heavy rig, to afford our South Central Alaska based client an effortless single hand cast, when performing that “Kenai Swing” on the hunt for the freezer fish of gentlemen; the Sockeye Salmon. It features a cork/marblewood/acrylic hybrid handle and fighting butt, along with an acrylic real seat made from a four-part compound and impregnated with metallic green flaking and phosphorus powder. The Snake Brand, double-footed guides, hook-keeper and, winding check are crapped in CRB nylon thread and accented with size ”A” glow thread. This rod is designed specifically for fishing those two day limits through the bright, southern Alaska, summer night.
The Bloodwood handle on this 9ft.,5wt.,4pc. – fast action graphite blank by Temple Fork Outfitters was stabilized, cut, fitted and accompanied by a subtle pheasant feather inlay, before it was glass coated and installed. The reel seat is carved from stabilized deer antler and the fighting butt was fabricated from both the bloodwood of the handle and the antler of the reel seat. The Snake Brand, black anodized, double-footed guides are wrapped with size “A” Colorfast and feature a size “D” metallic thread inlay.
In combination, these artistic, aesthetically tantalizing features culminate in a tangible treasure to inspire the lust of even San Diego’s most notable public figures. You stay classy.
These 9ft.,8wt.,4pc Salmon Hunters were designed in combination for a fishy couple in Soldotna, Alaska. The “His and Hers” theme applied the TFO TiCr blanks these rods were built on feature custom wraps, custom premium grade cork grips and, custom fighting butts.
The “MarkShark” is a 9ft.,5wt.,2pc built on a Lamiglas graphite blank and wrapped in metallic thread. Its custom cork hand was fabricated from AAA premium burl/cork hybrid and its custom A7 anodized reel seat provides a durable base anchor for fighting big fish.
A salmon hunting 9ft,8wt,4pc – Medium Fast meat stick built on a TFO “Lefty Kreh” TiCR X blank for a Marine based out of south central Alaska. The Star Spangled Sockeye Slammer has been filling the freezer for many seasons now.
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