Above photo: A flared reel seat and a swelled butt just above the winding check are some of the subtle details on this newly completed Payne 97. (click on any photo for magnification) Often, I have customers ask me to make them tapers from yesteryear. The Jim Payne 97 is popular, to say the least. This 7' 4wt. Unlike the Payne 98, is a straight-up 4wt. that has quite a following indeed. Jim Payne was of the lineage of great makers, namely his father Everett Payne, who worked with Hiram Leonard, who many consider the father of American bamboo fly rods.  The Payne 97 is an intuitively responsive medium-action cane rod. It is, in my opinion, a Swiss Army Knife of 7-footers because it can handle the most delicate dry or midge fishing, but also has enough backbone to throw a weighted nymph or a small streamer. I would go so far as to say that if it were the only classic taper available for my applications on Northeastern spring creeks, it would be this one. For me, it's my tier 1 CQ...