I fished one of my demo. rods last weekend. Unfortunately, when I returned home, I forgot to remove the rod from the sock and let dry. Consequently, when I removed the rod a few days back, there was an unsightly water stain on the front end of my insert. Not surprisingly, the stain is the exact size of the NS slip ring. I've had it out of the sock for a couple of days, and the stain doesn't seem to be going away. Will the water eventually dry (and the stain disappear), or do I need to do something else to fix it?

I guess I could just leave it there, as a warning to all potential customers--"This is what happens when you don't dry your rod!"

If the insert is finished, then what you have is a stain on the finish itself. Water stains can be removed in various ways. There are lots of old "family remedies" for this sort of thing. Try a stab at some of the woodworking sites for the Q&A on this sort of thing. Your local library may also have some woodworking books that will help you out. It is possible you can rectify the problem without having to refinish, depending upon how bad the water stain is.

Regular unfinished cocobolo usually doesn't water stain. It's too resinous to absorb water. If is does, all you'd have to do is sand the insert and re-polish and it would be good as new.

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Andrew ,

As Tom said try some wood working remedies.

I would try making a paste with pummice and rottenstone with an oil such as linseed . Pummice first then rotten stone and try polishing the stain out. Ive polished out some pretty deep scrathes and discolorations with the two different compounds on a variety of woods and plastic . Golden witch sells both pumace and rotten stone for $5-$6 a box it will last you for years.

Is your spacer stabalized or natural, it will work on both types of wood though stabalized wood will polish up to a high gloss due to impregneted resins.

Happy wraps "John"

I almost hate to toss this in, but I have heard of people using mayonaise to rub out water stains on furniture finishes. I have no idea if it actually works, but I have heard of more than one person doing this. Try it at your own risk, however.

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I've also read about using toothpaste to take out surface water stains in wood.

To jump in:

If the rod was cold when you put it in the tube, then the problem is caused by water condensing on the cold nickle silver ring. Let the rod warm up to room temperature before casing it.

What did you finish the insert with? Most likely the stain is in the finish rather than the wood. And if the wood is stained the finish is no good anyway.

I think you should refinish the insert with something better. after all, it is a fishing rod and it will get wet again.