I am looking at building a rod for a Shimano Stella reel for heavy jigging gear. I had posted quite a while back and based upon Simon Oakley's recommendation I think I will use the Calstar 760L as a blank choice. Next I need to select a good set of guides to match....

Any thoughts on guides and sizing would be well appreciated!! Any other pointers are appreciated. This will be my first rod of this type. I am sure the rod should be as light as possible, but is a graphite reel seat strong enough?

Thanks!

John,

i have had great luck with Batson VS3 guides. Not familiar with this blank, but the VS3's are very tough depending on what line you plan on using with the rod.

Also, I would stray as far as possible from a hylon reel seat. They are cheap looking and IMHO, a good ALPS or anodized reel seat is much stronger and looks far better than a nylon seat.

Paul

I would lean towards a graphite reel seat with aluminum hoods. This way you are not adding much weight but you are adding strength where it could make a big difference.

LNSG or TLNSG for the guides. At any given point under load each guide should only incur a maximum of 3-5 pounds of pressure. This is well within what the frame can withstand. I remember a while back someone posted that it took 40+ pounds of direct force away from the guide frame to distort the frame enough to come out of the wraps. The wrap never failed.

75 lbs if you use the Forhan wrap.

I was talking about a double foot guide where a forhan wrap is annoying to do.

I understand...I concur. The Forhan is a nightmare to do on double footed guides.

Why would you want to use a forhan locking wrap on a double foot guide? I have never heard of anyone using it for that style of guides.

Rolly Beenen
Rovic Custom Rods

Go with Fuji ICMNSG 40, 20, 12 x 4 and tip ICMNST 12 ( either 3.6 or 4.0 depending on whether you are going to trim the tip). If you are using 60/100 lb (braid/shock leader) and above on the 10,000/20,000, you may want to go 40, 25, 16 x 4 and tip 16.

I have built many rods with the above combination on various blanks including the 760L. Over here, most anglers like it trimmed to 5'6" or shorter. If it's below 5'6" you will only need 5+1 guide set.

Cheers,

Anthony Lee

You could start with 40, 25, 16, 12, 12, 12 and a 12 tip. I often build on the Calstar GF760L cut down to around 5'8" and go 40, 25, 20, 16, 12, 12 and a 12 tip. If you want guide spacings just email me. As far as guides are concerned I use the Fuji MN framed guides (MNSG, ICMNSG, CMNSG) but I have found out that ALPS have made a size 40 in the XN style frames and you should be able to get them around mid November in the USA. The ALPS XN guides are stronger then the Fuji MN guides and the ALPS are made with 316 stainless steel where the Fuji's are made with 304 stainless so the ALPS are much better with corrosion resistance

Hi John,
From your choice of blank I take it that you're intending to use braid of 60lb or more for your jigging. For your weght issues you will find that a good quality graphite reel seat is more than adequate. I have Fuji reel seats all my heavy jigging and popping rods. They have held up just fine for me over a couple of seasons use, and I have never heard of anyone else having any issues with them for heavy jigging. Indeed, if you care to take a look at the heavy jigging specific rods that are manufactured by the high end Japanese companies such as Carpenter, Fisherman, or Ripple Fisher, you will find that they have fitted Fuji graphite seats to all their models. For the positioning of the reel seat on the butt you need to place the butt under your arm pitt and hold the blank with the same arm slightly extended to a position where it is comfortable to turn the reel handle without any hindrance from your stomach or loose clothing. This would be somwhere about 15-18 inches up, but obviously this depends on you.
Also its advisable to be sure to use a more firm EVA grip material such as "Mooseskin", or you'll fatigue your hands more easily when jigging.
For guides I would recomend the Fuji MNSG Concept Sic guides( MNSG=gun smoke finish, ICMNSG=Titanium coated, or CMNSG=Chrome finish), or the Fuji BMNAG Concept Alconite series or the ALPS XN series with the Zirconium inserts. Models from 40mm down to 12mm would be the norm for this type of rod.
I would also sugest that you underwrap and double or triple overwrap the guides as this type of fishing really pounds the rod. I usually triple wrap the stripper guide and double wrap the runners.
What ever you decide, you will need to get quality components for any durability to stand up to the rigors of heavy jigging.

Thank you all for the great info. The rod is for a Stella 10,000 FA, the reel is capable of producing 65lbs of drag..... No man can handle that much drag, but the reel can deliver it..... The line will be 60# braid and up. It will be built for a guy who I have built some other rods for and he hopes to take it to Australia at some point.

Thanks again, anymore input is appreciated.....

John,

I just got back from a trip during which I used a 760M & a Stella 20000FA, spooled with Jerry Brown 65lb spectra, to jig for YFT and AJs. I agree with Earl's post wholeheartedly.

I built the 760M a while back using Fuji MNSG (40, 25, 16 x 2, 12, x3, MNST 12) with an underwarp & double overwrapped, Fuji DPSH-24 reel seat, EVA grips, and aluminum gimbal. I think I overdid the number of guides but with static testing and test casting, that's what I ended up with. The rod is very light and can handle heavy jigs (400 - 500 gm) well. I suspect the 760L would have even been better since the 760M was a bit stiff at the tip.

The tally was a ~ 60 lb YFT & a 40+ lb AJ that was no problem at all. The YFT was actually caught whie casting a swimbait. I would not hesitate to use the Fuji DPSH for this type of application.

Terry