Build your own rod - Assemble the handle

This is Part four of the Build your own rod series.
After selecting all materials and components we finally can start building our rod.

As the very first action, we clean our blank with the alcohol to remove finger prints, lipids or anything else. This will help the epoxy to settle down on every part of our blank.

Build your own rod - Reelseat, grips, guides and thread

After selecting the blank for our custom rod, in this part we will handle all other hardware parts which we will need to build our rod. First we will start with the reel seat.

There are several models of reel seats for flyrods on the market. Different styles, colors and materials you can choose between.
Depending on your blank and the expected color scheme you want to build your rod, you can choose color and also the style.
Most important for me is to check the inner diameter of the reel seat and the max diameter of you blank at the position where the reel seat will be placed. If you don't check this before and your reel seat don't fit on your blank, you're in the shit.

Second I check if my desired reel can be hold by the reel seat. Most producer/ re-seller place this information on their websites. There is nothing worse than notice that your reel doesn't fit to your reel seat after you finished your rod.

After these two points are clarified, I search for the style type. There are so many types of reel seats you can choose from. You have the classic ones without any fancy stuff, then the split grip with wood insert, some with carbon tube insert, etc. Best is you check some styles on a website of a rod building shop and select the one you like.
Currently I like the simple "classic" reel seat, no fancy stuff. I have a lot of fun building a plain clean rod.

The one that got away

Sometimes fishing can give you the best highs you can think of. Like when you catch a really big fish in an unexpected situation or moment. You're pumped, the body is shaking and full of adrenaline.

But it can also be very hard and unfair. Most of us will endure this at least once in the fishing career and we can't prevent this from happening.
Imagine the following:

You're fishing a very hard water where not every day is catch day.
You grind your fly on all good places where you know the fish are holding or feeding, but nothing worked for the last few weeks.
Out of the sudden you get the bite you are waiting for so long. There is a heavy opponent on the other site of the line and you directly feel this is the one fish, you are after for a long time.
But then the line gets slack and you can't really realize what has happen.
Depraved you strip the line in and check the leader. Everything is okay, the fly is still in tact and the hook is sharp as a razor blade.

Every time this happen to me, I want to scream, throw my rod into the water and roll down on the bottom like an embryo. I know that's how fishing can be, but for that moment I'm just frustrated.
One thing I learned is to keep going and do the next cast. You have to get the negative thoughts out of your brain and focus on fishing again. I realized when I think too much about a lost fish, I can't focus on the further fishing and might fuck up another good bite.
Be positive, focus on the fishing and have confidence in your doing. Then the next bite of the big one will come and you are able to land it.