Freshwater species are a coin toss if you are targeting fish under 20lbs - I can't seem to feel or notice any major advantage having fished both configurations for bass. However many rod lockers will eat your guides if you aren't careful.

Saltwater species targeting >25-30lb grade fish? Acid wrap all the way. It makes a massive difference - much easier to manage the rod, the reel, and the fish.

When you get into rods 8 to 12 ft. long and you are fishing by yourself in a pitching boat, with a long net in one hand, the rod in the other while trying to beat the sea lions who want an easy meal, I appreciate not having to fight the rod also when I have to grab it wherever works best. Spiral wraps always. Takes very little load to stabilize even with a 20 oz. reel on.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2023 12:36AM by Spencer Phipps.

This particular post has been dead for over 20 years; I miss the old format.

Mark Talmo
FISHING IS NOT AN ESCAPE FROM LIFE BUT RATHER A DEEPER IMMERSION INTO IT!!! BUILDING YOUR OWN SIMPLY ENHANCES THE EXPERIENCE.

Mark Talmo Wrote:
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> This particular post has been dead for over 20
> years; I miss the old format.

I can't argue with Mark's statement based on this single example (there are several if you search for "spiral wrap"). Part of why I love this site - so much useful info hidden in here.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

I set the original format and for good reasons. However, the new owner has stated several times that the ability to use this site with the new RBO APP requires that it be set so that topics bounce back to the top if they are responded to. Thus returning to the old format does not appear to be an option. Best thing to do if you do not wish to read an older thread is just skip it and go on to a newer topic.

..........

Tom, what was the reason for preventing old threads such as this one from bouncing back to the top?

The reason was because you'd get a couple guys going back and forth on their own argument, long after interest from others had wanted, which kept pushing new, fresh topics down the page. It has always been possible to have the forum notify you when a reply has been posted to any topic, so there really wasn't any issue in thinking that you might miss a reply if the topic didn't automatically bounce back to the top.

The "bounce" feature was also used by some for advertising purposes ("bumping") and this was rampant on most other rod building forums. The fact that this forum wasn't set up that way was just another reason why it prospered for over 2 decades while most of the others faded into obscurity. Now we are at point where it is required in order for the App to work with it so folks will just have to make the best of it and skip threads that they're no longer interested in.

.............

Am I the only one who uses the app on an Android and finds that I cannot jump to the most recent post of a thread? I have to scroll down through the subject to get to the most recent post, and with threads like the CCS data base thread, that's a major problem. The icon that on most programs goes to the end of the thread does not seem to work for me.

I’m on iPhone… but these arrows on the right will bring me to the newest post.

Tom, I believe John's talking about 2 different rods here. I don't think he casts the ice rod.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/06/2023 09:26PM by Lynn Behler.

"I’m on iPhone… but these arrows on the right will bring me to the newest post. " Thanks, But they do not on my Android phone. I think I'll uninstall and start over. Maybe that will work. It would seem like the owner of the app would chime in with some advice.

"It would seem like the owner of the app would chime in with some advice." Seriously?

What would make anyone think that the owner of the app would expect questions about how the site's android app works, in a thread titled Pros and Cons of Spiral Wrapped Guides?

I started building spiral wrapped rods in 2010, mostly for inshore bay rods. That is also the time I started using micro guides. I have found that with micro guides you do not need as many on a spiral wrap as you would if they were conventional on top. The other advantage with wading rods is that your recovery time is slightly faster because the reel isn't spinning in your hand when landing a fish, so once you get unhooked you are already in a position to cast again. It makes a difference when there is a school of fish to work.

I had talked to Gary Loomis about it at fishing exhibitions / shows sometime after I started building spiral wraps and was surprised that he was such an advocate of them. He told me that the only disadvantage that he could come up with was that if you are trolling in the river (for salmon) that with the rod tip being down, you may not detect a subtle bite as the fish swims with the bait and that the rod tip up would be more easily detected.

As far as casting; any rod that is built correctly will cast, there is no disadvantage and there may be a more slight advantage in accuracy when casting to a target. The advantages in offshore rods is obvious, especially a stand up rod.

I quit caring about what something looks like a long time ago, you will get used to it.

Many years ago on an Albacore overnight trip that I would take annually with a guy and his two grown sons I was sitting in the cabin with one of the sons. The Dad liked to go to garage sales and if he found a long glass rod like a Fenwick that he liked he would buy it and have me upgrade the guides. The dad happened to have an Albacore on at that moment with a good bend in that limber rod and i pointed out how the rod was twisted. The tiptop instead of being at zero degrees, it was now around 135 degrees demonstrating how the fisherman what also fighting the rod torque. So the Son impressed with what he saw, had me build him a Spiral wrap salmon mooching/trolling rod. Years later I saw him at Costco and he said that rod was the best of all his rods, he absolutely loved it!

@Mark and Tom a lot of people complain when somebody makes a NEW thread about old topics, people respond with "just search, don't make a new thread, there's lots of old ones." Then somebody replies to an old thread because they searched and instead of making a new thread bring up a little piece of the past for the rest of us to enjoy, while following the advice of not making a new thread - then they're still met with "don't get any fresh perspectives on this topic, just read the 20 year old posts you find when the search function works properly. I've posted threads that have been talked about before, because I want to know what people have to say now - I also look at the old stuff because there is wisdom in the counsel of many and sometimes the old ways happen to still be the better ways.

Having posts bump threads to the top just makes sense, look at the amount of engagement it produces, sure sometimes its a couple people - that's exactly what this forum is for right? People talking to people about building? If you are over the whole "spine/straightest axis" debate then just don't click it, I think I'm following like 5 topics - and its not because they are new and relevant - a couple of them are so old that they are hard to find, and following them makes for an easy way to reference them.

I almost never look at page 2, never mind any pages beyond that unless its through the search, and others have shared the same sentiment.

Multiple people have asked multiple times for the CCS log thread to be stickied, people want it to be at the top - so they'll have to keep posting in it to keep it there.

Obviously a spiral wrapped rod will be more noticeably beneficial on bigger fish, but if your not concerned about a rod locker or stepping on your rod I see no reason not to spiral wrap. For me even if the only benefit is less braid getting caught up and around the tip that works for me, but there's obviously more to it. I see more benefit than not just foe the sake of it regardless.

Building rods in MA, Building the community around the world



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2023 09:17AM by El Bolinger.

22 years of practical experience here proved that bouncing posts back to the top when they are replied to was not the best way to do things. Don't have to guess - we proved it. But, the new APP requires posts to bounce back up so that's the way it will be from now on.

..............

Perfect, progress!

Building rods in MA, Building the community around the world

There were over sixty sponsors on this site when Tom sold it. There are less than half that number now. So much for progress.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2023 12:22PM by Mike Ballard.

@Mike Actually one of the sponsors bought the site... can't get any more sponsored than that haha

Building rods in MA, Building the community around the world

My next rod is going to be on a Northfork Composites MB 662-1 and I want to set it up as a bait finesse system rod (BFS=light setup but a casting reel if you didn't know).

Is this too light/too short for spiral guides? I mostly fish for bass, and am tempted to break some "rules" with this rod.

Also, would using a spiral wrap mean that mainline to leader knots would catch on the guides more often?

Thanks in advance.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/10/2023 07:17PM by Brian Petters.