I'm building a few Calstar GF755H trolling rods, 6' with unibutts. Plan on using a roller tip and stripper, and HBSG for the standard guides. Aftco Wind-on 47 for the stripper, and a SHD tip. Reels are Avet 30 EXWs.

I'm thinking 47 Aftco Wind-on, then Fuji HBSG 16-12-12-10-10- SHD tip. Or would a 47-20-16-16-12-12 work better? I'm switching everything over to JB hollow core and wind-ons---loop to loop connections this season.

This is the first time I'm building with both the wind-on Aftcos and the HBSG and am unsure if this recipe would line up correctly, heightwise, etc. I don't have all of them to lay out and test, (yet), so was hoping someone could save me from ordering a bunch of the wrong guides.

Any advice (besides Winthrops ;)....

thanks..
jim

Jim Pizzale
JpStyleCustom Rods



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/2007 06:02PM by Jim Pizzale.

With FUJI series guides, when there is a Hardloy version of the more expensive SIC or Nitride guides, you can order a complete array of the far less expensive Hardloys and use them to size your Guide Layout before ordering the premium Rings. This works for several of the Fuji series guides that have exactly the same guide FRAME, but different guide RINGS - they have the same Ring Height and Foot-Print.

Unfortunately, the Fuji HB series may not be available yet in a Hardloy or Alconite Ring version of the HB series. At least it is not listed in the MudHole 2007 Catalog (hard copy) that I consulted.

In the grand scheme of things, it may not be a bad idea to have an extra one or two of the smaller HBSG guides on hand anyway, as on-hand replacements for a future repair, or as on-hand inventory for future new rod projects.

Sometimes spending $5-20 extra now can save you a lot of time and re-ordering hassles or 2nd S&H costs later, ... IMO,... -Cliff Hall, FL-USA.

Good advice, I was planning on buying a few extras, so as to lay them out and see what it looked like. Just was hoping to avoid too many extras, as the cost adds up quick. I always have a few extra of just about everything I build, and it seems the collection grows and grows, and everytime I look in those drawers I think "what am I doing with all these guides???" ;)

jim

Jim: Worried about the cost of a couple of guides for tuna trooling? We have gone all standups - started drifting chuming and bump trolling live bait - can not afford the fuel to run all day! A slick butt blank through build with spiral wrap will save you a ton of money! Just funnin! Where are you that you can be rodbuilding this late in the year for tuna season.

Gon Fishn

Bill-

I'm in the NE, we troll canyons starting in may/june depending on water. Had CTS blanks on order from Nov., and had to cancel the order as they still hadnt delivered as of march 15th, so went with graphiters which I got in a week. A bit behind my original shedule. I have built some spirals, but am doing these conventional. I've already cut and assembled uni-butts and grips., just wanted some advice from people that have built with what I'm planning. Not really woried about the costs of the guides, more looking for ideas on guide size and heights. A lot of times I see a recipe, and know right away something that would work better from experience. These 2 poles are for my flatines, and to double as chunk rods/stand-ups. Rest of the spread are 755XHs with full rollers (8 total). I hear you on the fuel costs, and looks like it's gonna be another bad summer! We run 80-100 miles each way just to get to the fishing grounds!

Jim

The Aftco Wind ons have a very large foot print. I put them on a Seeker stand up last year and they look rather large for them. It fished well, but unless the rod is beefy, you may want to look at All American rollers. They have a smaller foot size and are about the same in knot clearance. I have been switching over to these instead of Aftco Wind-ons.

Winthrops do look like the cats meow...

A couple of more questions...I just looked up the GF755 series and saw the butt was 0.86...How much can you cut off and still keep the 0.86 range on the butt so you don't have to shim so much..? A few of my customers won't try slick butts and want only Uni butts and they are always looking for new blanks to try out.

Are they as stiff as the boomer series?

ernie



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/2007 07:40AM by Ernie Johnson.

ernie-

I'm building these as 6' poles w/ unibutt, so had to cut 10" off, and do some fancy shimming. Unlikely they will ever fail, although takes a lot of work to make certain the blank comes out of the unibutt totally straight, etc. One of the reasons I wanted to use CTS is they make a bluewater blank for unibutt construction that requires zero cutting/ shimming, in a 3'11" or 4'5", plus whatver butt you choose, for a 5'6 or 6' end result. Why other manufactureres don't do this is a mystery to me. BUT, I waited for so many months, and they (CTS) could not give me a date, so I had to go with Calstar. Supposedly CTS is getting their act togther, and will be able to meet demand in the next few months. I have a few of their blanks, and they are very, very nice quality.

Not sure how the blank compares to the boomer series, most of the guys in our area are building with the 755/760/765 blanks for tuna trolling, so that's how I arrived at that choice (scientific, huh??).

Thanks Jim for the update on CTS. I have been looking for a blue water blank that will fit the unibutt . I spoke with leon at Calstar a few months back about this and they had no interest in this. It is a mystery to me also..

Who will be carrying these Bluewater CTS blanks?

Ernie-

Contact Andy Dear at Lamar and he can steer you in the right direction, he's the US importer for CTS.
I'd be up front with him if you have a deadline, as I had a pretty lousy experience. This was NOT his doing, it was
CTS, and even had the president of the company send me an apology letter for not being able to deliver in a timely manner.

For the Calstars, had a friend with a machine shop lathe and bore some aluminum stock, and we made some full length shims that fit the blanks
and the unibutt ferrule perfectly. Straight as an arrow! Certainly would have been easier to have perfect size blanks. Some do it with wraps of masking tape, drywall screen, or wood. Probably doesnt matter much, but I feel better if I ever hook into a 500 lb. blue marlin, knowing the failure probably won't be at the ferrule.

Thanks Jim,

Understand on the CTS. I looked at them on the web and they look sweet.

Which model were you looking at for trolling for Tuna?

I usually use Drywall for unibutt, but that aluminum stock sounds neat.

How thick is the stock? Just curious.

Ernie

Ernie-

I was going to use the 80 lb. Gamemaster blanks.
The aluminum stock he had was one inch. We bored a 24" section, and then lathed it down to .875. Drill pressed each section
to the correct blank diameter. Some very nice shims, rodbonded the whole thing together, blank and shim. I can email some pics
in a day or so if you'd like to see what we did. Like I said, probably overkill, but what the heck....rather overbuild a system that to have a
failure mid fight on a bruiser.

Jim

Yes,

Please email some pictures.

makomakoman@yahoo.com

thanks,

Ernie

Will do....
Give me a day or so, and I'll shoot them over to you.

jim

jim..if you dont mind please send me a copy also, thanks

NERBS

If it were me, I'd not use the wind-on stripper.

The regular AFTCO HD series can handle loop to loop spectra connections of 300 lbs easy. Although If I was doing large diameter mono (80 lb plus) with big knots, I suppose the Wind On would work.

One other consideration is reel size. If a "70" size or larger, a Wind-on has good height so there is not a steep angle for the line from the top of the reel to feed into the stripper. Some guys use it for this reason.

Still, I'd probably use a HD - which is what I use up to the 80ST size reel and 200 lb spectra.

Whit