Fishiowa

The pictures just don't do this rod justice. Not a knock on Steve's photography skills but rather a compliment to his attention to detail, quality workmanship and pride in a job well done. The rod looks and feels phenomenal. My first custom rod and couldn't have picked a better builder to walk me through the process and to build such a beautiful rod. Thank you Steve.

You could just take a small piece of 1x of whatever wood you like and screw it on the underside of the desk in the knee hole opening. Have it protrude a couple inches and clamp your vise to that.

Numerous purchases from him and all went smoothly.

The J. Stockard practical vise would fit the bill at $7. No frills, think a scaled down made in India Thompson A with a 5/16" shaft and 3/8" collet and light duty c-clamp. Very basic and compact. I tied a couple flies on it and it seemed to provide good hook holding and access, can't speak to longevity but hey, it's $7

St. Croix Imperial would fit the bill. I have the 7'6" 2 piece and it is a good solid rod. I think it was $180ish

2 through 6 but mostly 3s & 4s .

I have one in my travel kit that was designed as a manicure set. It has small elastic loops with a zip closure around the outside.

I use that lamp in my travel kit. Gives a little extra help for my old eyes in a dim motel room. I modified mine by taking off the base and attached a flat piece of brass. I slide the brass plate under the C-clamp for my vice. Makes it much more portable.

And I thought I had an original idea, should have known better. I do the same thing but use business card holder sheets.

My biggest problem is no fly shops nearby and lack of planning. I run out of something so I go online to buy a spool of thread, now I need to buy enough to qualify for the free shipping. I've ended up with several $100 spools of thread. Makes me wonder how free the shipping really is :-)

I hope you let the air out of a couple tires before you left

I have good luck with the Air-Flo tungsten putty - Sink do?- just a little on the last knot holds better than on a smooth part of the leader/tippet.

There are more of us than you think. What part of Iowa are you from? I'm in the northeast.