Purpleheart Fly-Fishing Net

Welcome back to the Wayward Woodshop. Today, we’re doing another custom fly-fishing net project for a client, only this time, we’re dealing with a new species of wood! This particular client gave me carte blanche to create a fun aesthetic for his wife’s gift, a handmade fly-fishing net. In the end, we settled on the idea to use an image of his wife and father-in-law fly fishing together.

After we uploaded and resized the photo, I traced the outline of the portrait before going back and adding details around their faces and their gear. Once the client approved the design, I got to work on building the net itself. This very special net was made of Purpleheart with ebony pinstripes and an all-walnut hoop, a fun departure form our usual hickory, cherry and walnut combination. We love to take the opportunity to use new species of wood when we can, and using it for such a special gift was a real treat.

I had this beautiful piece of purpleheart and added a few eighth-inch pieces of ebony to compliment the vertical lines in my portrait. After laminating the net’s handle and bending the hoop, I uploaded the design to the laser and painted the silhouette of the image white to make it pop off the net’s dark, earthy tones. A final coat of sealing oil and this beautiful fly-fishing net is river ready.

Be sure to check out our other projects, including hand-crafted epoxy river tables, handmade fly boxes that go absolutely perfect alongside our personalized fly-fishing nets, and much, much more. Don’t forget to like and follow Wayward Trading Post and subscribe to us on all social media platforms so you can stay up to date with all the cool projects we’re working on here at the Wayward Wood Shop.