Above photo: One of my drawers filled with Spalted maple, Spalted Koa, and Spalted Alder. Reel seats create a cadence and a transition point between the rod, the reel, and the hand. I often wonder what it would be like to actually grow a tree from a sapling and decades later cut one of its branches to create a reel seat. Wood spacers can provide a striking look to any bamboo fly rod, and I carefully decide where the spacer is turned, which end receives the cork check, and which end gets a butt cap. A ot of thought goes into each spacer. The mortise is strategically positioned based on the blank's figuring. Each blank is stabilized and then left to dry for 6 months. Koa is one of my preferred woods to use for reel seats. It is the hardwood that I grew up with in the islands. Outrigger canoes were made from this very dense hardwood, and many have survived for generations. The spalted Koa seats take on a wonderful amber glow when polished. I have a select few that bear the spalted fig...