I'm looking seriously at the Forecast 13' 8/9 spey rod kit being offered at Hook & Hackle for under $90 bucks!, but I'm wondering if I should order some larger ceramic stripping guides? Does anyone have any experiance with these rod kits from H&H? Are the kit components decent? Don't know if I should order just the blank and upgrade the components? Any thoughts?

Be careful in using guides that are larger than needed. Because of the length involved and the modulus of the Forecast blanks, the worst thing you can do is to hang any extra weight out there 13 feet from the end of the rod. You can greatly undermine the performance of the rod and your enjoyment in using it. Just use guides that are large enough to pass your line and connections and no larger. On some rods this wouldn't be a really big deal, on something this long it can be.

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Although I can't give you info specific to the spey blank, I have made a couple rods with their IM6 blanks. The blanks are excellent quality, but one I bought the kit, and was disappointed with the choice of reel seat, and ended up working the grip to suit me. I've never done that before with anyone else's grip. If I build another rod on their blank, I will choose my own components like I did the first time.

Hope that helps a little.

Dave

Hi
I have built two spey rods on this blank, one with a kit and one I did myself
To be honest the kit was adequate but I did better for very little more money.
The blank from H&H is fantastic value and worth spending money on the components.
Dave Olley
Scotland

I built a 14 footer with one of their kits, and it was OK, but if I could do it again I would not get a kit. I don't really like the straight foregrip that came with it, and the stripper guides seemed very cheap. I love H&H for their great deals, but I would advise you to pick out the components yourself. You'll love the blanks! Very nice for the price IMHO.

Ray,
Juneau, AK

Thanks for all of your advise. I went ahead and ordered the kit from H&H and than decided to upgrade to Batson's cork grip and their reel seat. The reel seat is a blue woven graphite insert with gun metal aluminum parts. If the stripping guides don't meet my expectations than I'll trade them out also. Even with the extras, I still think this is a great buy.