After a lot of internal debate over all the incredible submissions (There are some very creative people in the Fetha Styx family), we decided on one name:

CHROME

We feel it represents us and our Pacific Northwest anglers the best.  We’d like to thank everyone for submitting and participating in this fun contest, it was a blast for us!

I was very excited to make it down to the Bass Pro Shops in Nashville, TN last weekend. I went primarily for Culprit Lures, but took along my two Fetha Styx Homewater rods. After each demo, I was able to let customers hold them for themselves and they were amazed by both the light weight and feel of the rods; many people also seemed to have a lot of good questions about the rods and where they could be found and purchased. Beforehand , I got to get a little fishing in at Watts Bar and caught all my fish on topwater baits with a 7′ 2” MH Fetha Styx Homewater Bass rod. The fall bite is at its peak here in East Tennessee and I cannot wait to get back out and put more fish in the boat with my Fetha Styx rods!

Nick Frye JUST walked out of the custom shop with the rods Team Fetha Styx will be using in the Washington Tuna Classic.  They look killer!  We have a bunch of pictures and their descriptions below, but stay tuned to the blog for updates from the Washington Tuna Classic.  Also, get the latest scoop on the Fetha Styx Custom Shop.

Albacore Spinning Rod:

We decided to build an Ultra Light spinning rod in split grip configuration.  We used a Rainshadow RCLB70XL, 7’ 0”, 1 PC, 10-25lbs, 3/8-1 ½ oz, X-Fast, UL. The exciting thing about this spinning blank is wt is 4.70 oz and the total rod wt is 12.5 oz!! It has a solid E-Glass tip to about a 1/3 of the rod and the rest is RX6 graphite. We paired the blank with an Alps Central -Lock# 18 spin reel-seat that has two double locking nuts and is CNC machined from marine grade aluminum. In between the split grip on the rear handle we overwrapped the exposed blank section with a piece of sharkskin.  The spinning guides are double footed to the tip for added strength and wrapped in black with red collars. Since the spinning reel has come along way in terms of line capacity and drag. You can use this rod for live bait, tossing iron, or jigging underwater structure.

Albacore Casting Rod:

The trolling rod is a Rainshadow RCJB78MH, 6’ 6”, 1 PC, 20-40lbs, 2-6 oz, Fast, MH all purpose saltwater rod.  It has an 8” tapered EVA fore-grip and a 12” straight EVA rear grip. We decided to go with EVA since it is easy on your hands and tends not get slick when there’s blood on the decks. It has Alps XN frames doubled footed and ready for either braid or mono line application. Like the spinning rod it has a Central –Lock #18 spin reel-seat that can accommodate larger reel foot prints. This rod can be used for a variety of saltwater game fish. Live bait mackerel for fishing yellow tail our NW albacore or too sea bass on the east coast.

For more information on the Washington Tuna Classic.

To Learn more about of Customs Shop.

The Fetha Styx team has elected @FishingFury as our winner, with the following entry.  We fully agree!

@FethaStyx Fishing is best done on work days.

July 20, 2011 9:37 pm via Twitter for MacReplyRetweetFavorite

@FishingFury

Fishing Fury

Take some time to read through the rest of the entries.  They are fantastic!  We’d like to thank everyone for participating.

@FethaStyx @twitter "Fishing is, everything else isn't"

July 21, 2011 1:49 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@catarafter

LeeAnna

@FethaStyx Fishing is mandatory

July 20, 2011 10:32 pm via HTC PeepReplyRetweetFavorite

@flyfishsc

Mark Allen

@FethaStyx "Fishing is a precious Outdoor Heritage. Treasure it. Enjoy it. Pass It On." #ofscom

July 20, 2011 9:42 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ofieldstream

Arthur O'fieldstream

@FethaStyx @fhcoutdoors ok bad auto correct.. Fishing is sweet serenity!

July 20, 2011 8:41 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@jdvanest

Jeff Vanest

intoxicating RT @FethaStyx: “@FHCOutdoors: @FethaStyx Fishing is compelling.” It sure is! Fill in the blan… (cont) http://deck.ly/~kvELl

July 20, 2011 8:37 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@Tina_Caviness

Tina

@FethaStyx Fishing is compelling.

July 20, 2011 7:00 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@FHCOutdoors

Daniel Rice

RT @fethastyx: For our @twitter followers only! We've got a visor to giveaway.. Fill in the blank: "Fishing is fly" and be entered to win!

July 20, 2011 6:48 pm via HootSuiteReplyRetweetFavorite

@BackwoodProShop

BackwoodsProShop.com

@FethaStyx Fishing is exhilarating!

July 20, 2011 6:34 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@ChrisChicoLopez

Chris Chico Lopez

@FethaStyx FLY FISHING IS FUN!

July 20, 2011 6:29 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@lily1L

Lily

The Fishing Poet took his Kayak, some friends, and his Fetha Styx fishing rods out to the West River to ply for Bass. Check out this awesome video he made!

From the The Fishing Poet:

Under the watchful eye of an American Bald Eagle, one of a few nesting pairs in the area, we paddled from the lake into the river–Jason and Dave with spinning rigs and me with my trusty 5 wt. It took us about half an hour to figure out what was getting the fish to look up. We traded bright top-water patterns for dark and the water instantly turned electric…well, for Dave and I anyhow. Every cast, every pop-strip and retrieve had the hair on the back of my neck standing like a jumpy kid watching the first Friday the 13th, waiting for Jason Voorhees to jump out of the water with a machete.

Click this link for more information on the Fetha Styx Customs Shop.

UPDATE: Kim gave her Dad his rod and it looks great! Check out some of the pictures from their fishing trip in Alaska!

After Nick reamed the pieces for the fore and rear grips, he started teaching me how to glue up the butt section of the rod. This is me gluing up the carbon fiber rear grip.

Nick had to give me lots of guidance and demonstrations – I had no idea what I was doing (and still don’t).

Nick guiding me through removing excess glue. It’s harder than it looks – I couldn’t keep the glue off my hands!

Nick’s wife, Brenda, wraps all the rods built in our shop, so of course she wrapped my dad’s. We did black and gold to match the rest of the rod.

Want to make a cool gift for Dad too? Check out our Custom Shop!

#1-Lay out all your parts and measure the location they will fit on the rod. Measure the total length of the rear of the rod. In this case we wanted a total length of 14 inches. 13 inches of carbon fiber tubing and a 1-inch butt-cap.

#2 – Lay out the (2) EVA bushing one for the front of your rear carbon fiber tubing and one for the butt section. Take 220 grit sandpaper and lightly take any sharp edges off your carbon fiber pieces Sand on the inside lip not to scratch carbon fiber. Make sure you have 3 foam arbors you will later mark as #1, #2, and # 3.

# 3 -Take your 3-inch carbon fiber fore-grip, one tapered foam bushing for the front of the carbon fiber, one EVA bushing and one EVA bushing for the rear.

# 4 – Head to the reaming station starting with the small reamer first. Ream your arbors, EVA bushings. Ream your pieces butt first in the direction it will fit.

# 5 – Next take your (4) EVA bushings, (4) foam arbors and repeat the reaming process with the medium size reamer.

# 6- Start placing your reamer components onto the blank to the exact place they would fit when glued. The reamed pieces should fit snug, but not too tight.

# 7 – Certain pieces might need to be hand reamed and shimmed to fit the blank.

# 8 – Lightly sand the edge of the triggered reel seat to fit the edge of your EVA bushing flush.

# 9 – Attach the single cam locking nut to your reel-seat.

# 10 – It is very important that you do not forget to check the spine of the blank. You can do this very easily by flexing the blank on a flat surface and rolling the blank. You will immediately feel the spot that will give to one side.

# 11 – China mark all your parts on the blanks so when you start gluing you know which ones go where on the different section of the rear blank.

# 12 – Once your blank is marked head to you mixing station and mix 1-to-1 equal parts resin to hardener. Mix for at least 5 minutes working from the outside in to get a good consistency.

# 13 – This is when you need to work fast as your glue will harden pretty quickly and is starting to thicken. Work from the rear fore grip keeping your EVA and Arbors to the front of the rear blank individually separated. Start placing your arbors and EVA to the correct locations marked by the chalk pencil and liberally glue over the bushing. This can get very messy so make sure you have DNA (cleaner) to keep your hands free of the glue and off the parts that do not need it.

# 14 – Make sure your spine marks align as you glue.

# 15 – Keep moving forward gluing the reel seat and then the fore grip. Glue a little past your china marks since when you clamp the rod the glue will start to move south when settling.

# 16- When sliding your fore-grip and rear grip carbon fiber over the arbors twisting  and rolling the carbon fiber tubing over the arbors to insure good glue consistency.

# 17- Put your glue on the inside of the blank where it fits with the butt-cap. It is important to get a solid amount of glue inside the gap of the butt cap and blank. This is a high impact part of your rod that will see abuse from rocks and various abuses through the course of the rods life.

# 18 Push all the parts down to make sure they are securely tight with one another.

# 19 Clean off any excess glue with a clean paper towel getting all the spots the glue has seeped. This should take you a good 20 minutes making sure you get everything clean even the blank. Don’t keep using the same towel and get new ones often.

# 20- Place the rod in clamps making sure the front bushings are not too tight and become a permante fixture to the clamps.

# 21 – Get your clean towel with DNA and start cleaning again.

# 22- Hang to dry for 2.5 hours and can come back to start the wrapping process.

# 23- Keep checking the rod for any excess glue that will come out and clean some more.