Lee has constructed his own set of snake makers. He inserts wire into the appropriate sized maker, gives 'em a twist, cuts to length and then pounds out the feet. Then they are tuned and filed to make snake guides. The wire can be tungsten (blued) or stainless steel.

The photo at left shows a hand twisted tungsten guide (1/0). These are the guides you see Phil pounding on in the movie Vandalia Angler.

We also use lightwire guides from Pacific Bay or Snake Brand Guides. Both are very nice and come in a variety of finishes.

We have experimented with a variety of silk rod whipping threads. We discuss some of our favorites extensively in Vandalia Angler. Harvest gold, copper, Chinese red, orange and peach tipped with black or dark green all look good. We've used navy, olive, mahogany brown, yellow, gray and probably some others that I'm not thinking of. Darker colors normally look best with no tipping.

There are a variety of ways we can do tipping. Best to discuss in person.

The colors of the silk change dramatically when spar varnish is coated on the wraps. Color preserver helps if you really want to maintain the original color, but even then it will change some. Most cane rods do not traditionally use color preserver and the CP will affect the transparency of the wraps.

I will have more photos here in the future to show specific colors.