[BMTAngler]

So I was fishing down at Smith Point yesterday with my girlfriend's dad and one of his friends. He was telling me that a lot of the custom rod builders like to take the barbs off of the stingrays and boil them to get the extra meat off. Then when they are just sitting around they rub the barb with there finger and when its done long enough the oil from your fingers turns the barb into a Ivory looking color.
He then whent on to add that they inlay the barb somewhere on the rod as a decoration.
I was wanting to know if anyone on this board has heard/done/or seen this done.

 

[pg542]

I've heard of many things being "inlaid". Hat/lapel pins, coins,insects,feathers, actual beer can logos(aluminum and all) but I don't believe I've ever heard of a stingray barb. If it would lay flat enough and the finish would build high enough (as not to cause a hump), I don't see why it couldn't be done.Insure that all "meat" and tissue were boiled/bleached out first. Most likely it would be inlaid into the grip somehow. Inlays are common in cork and foam grips, just never seen a barb before. I have seen the "doves" from inside a sand dollar inlaid into cork and finished over......