Why guys, so.., i found my poor tica with a bent tip top.. As in the tip top was on about a 45° angle.. This is what i get for letting soneone borrow a rod.. Its a tica ultralight rod.. 5'6" i removed the tip top and the entire tip was completly shattered and splintered inside the pipe, to the point it next to fell off... I (as cleanly as possible) used my hacksaw to remove the top 1 1/2.. (I know it's a bad idea, that you should only remove up to 6" of the butt) butTook a tip top off a sacrificial rod, the tip top is slightly bigger in diameter then the original, without having it in frony of me i would say by about 2 mm... The original tip top is trash... and now the rod feels... Wrong...not as sensitive, and doesnt cast smoothly

. Any suggestions on how to remedy this conundrum? What did i do wrong? (Other then using a bigger tip top... It was not repairable, i had to remove it, as stated. Above it almost fell off itself...) Im afraid there might be some cracks along the blank that arent immediately apparent.. Is there a way to stop more damage from occurring? (Like adding thread wraps between the tip top and first running guide, or puting a weave on the entire blank to help distribute stress) Or is the rod just scrap now? It wouldn't break my heart to have that as a doner rod, but if theres a way to fix it, i would run that route first.. Until then, im out a ultra light....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/2018 05:49AM by Anthony Unger.

Anthony,
What you have now is a slower actioned, stiffer tip as you well know, because it feels wrong. What the blank gives you really can't be fixed. Some of the old timers would use bigger but same height guides in the tip area, using the extra swing weight to mitigate the stiffness, but it won't help on the sensitivity front. Adding thread and finish, I think, will just make it worse as far as stiffness goes.

Did you remove 1 1/2 inches or feet? Hopefully only 1 1/2 inches.

Generally, shortening a rod from the top increases speed / action but power remains unchanged. Shortening from the butt reduces power and slows action.

As for the horribly subjective "feel" (we all know what it is even though it defies objective definition), everything impacts everything else where the only suspense is by how much.

Trimming from either end slows the action. Taking off 1-1/2 inch will have a noticeable effect. Spencer mentioned that you some builders add heavier and/or more guides which will create a bit more inertia when you move the rod, but this greatly affects rod speed (will be slower). The rod certainly wouldn't be as crisp if you do that. Thread and finish will make it even "softer" and slower in the same regard.

Most likely you'll have to find another use for that. It may work well for another type of fishing you do. In the meantime, build another.

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

Anthony,
As Donald said, I hope that you only removed 1 1/2 inches and not 1 1/2 feet.

Also, it sounds like you may have removed 1 1/2 feet and with its larger gut size of the freshly cut piece, simply slipped it and the blank over the end of the existing rod? Was this your repair procedure?

If you did you use this procedure to "repair" the rod, you have effectively changed the rod to be a completely different rod that will act completely different than the original rod.

Especially if a rod has a softer tip, - often removing even 1/2 of an inch can change the action of the rod dramatically.

If you really removed 1 1/2 feet of rod and used a blank section that is larger than the original rod, I suggest that you give the rod to someone else and move on.

If you wanted to fix the rod, pick up an identical blank and build a new rod with the same components, or cut the original rod about 2 feet in front of the handle, and then cut the new blank section so that it will fit nicely over the cut off handle section. Then, glue it together to form a new rod with the same action as the original, but somewhat longer to accommodate the change in rod length required by use of an over lap blank splice. Then, reattach the guides, likely adding an extra guide to accommodate the extra length, apply finish and go fishing. This will give you a new, slightly longer rod, with virtually identical action to your original rod but you will have saved the cost of the grips, reel seats and the work involved to place those components on the blank.

Good luck

Inchs.. Not feet. Im kind of blown away by the amount it changed the entire dynamics of the rod.. I knew i would be sacrificing a little power and action.. But its significantly more then i expected..

I removed the tip top off of a doner rod cleanly..then removed the tip top off the tica, the tip of the rod was twisted and splintered.. I removed 1 and a half inchs of material.. So that was about 3/4 of a inch past the original tip top tube.. Basically just behind the thread wraps.. The tip top from the doner rod has a larger id, so removing blank material helped with the fit...

Well, it is what it is... Thats a shame.. Its a perfectly fishable rod.. Just very very different. Thanks for the input guys..

So if i can get ahold of a lighter, smaller tip top, even though the blank is permanently changed, i could increase the tip speed by reducing weight slightly, that should also bring some sensitivity back correct? or is my thinking more wishful thinking? (The doner rod is a cheaper rod, bulkier guides, cheap guide inserts)

Anthony,
The loss in "feel" most likely is do to the size (weight) increase of your replacement tip top.
You can use a smaller dia tip with a titanium frame or a std loop fly top.
Either will be lighter.
If you opt for the fly loop when it grooves, just replace.
Increase in mass at the rod tip is the worst place to make changes. The tip top has the largest component for increase of inertia.
Once this change has been made to rod will still not "feel" the same but you may like the end results better.

Gene

I fully get that the rod will never be the same.. But you think it will be a noticable enough diffrence to justify puting her back on the operating table? I know that question is about as answerable as asking you what this rash is on my arm.. Without seeing it first hand its a impossible auestion to answer.. Im nist asking suggested opinions.. (I do not have a rash on my arm btw)

Anthony,
I agree with Eugene's comment.
Remove the current tip and replace it with the lightest tip possible.

Good luck

Ok, as soon as i can get to the tackle shop ill see if it makes the diffrence

Get a Fuji micro tip.

About the lightest I found except for flyrod tip tops are Minima Rod Tops Model MVT.