I bought a Tsunami slow pitch acid wrapped rod that is giving me a problem. The line often gets wrapped around the tip. Anyway I want to rewrap the rod into the conventional straight guide format.The only issue is that I`m having trouble finding the spine of the rod. I don`t know if the true spine was established on this store bought rod at all.

My guess is that the spine wasn't even attempted to be found. When I wrap, I usually will roll the blank on a flat surface to find the spine. Havent had any real issues with the spine. I would suppose its more important with big game fish.

wrapping it conventional won't solve your tip wrap problem and may make it worse.
you might try a different tip fist .one of the styles designed to be more tangle free.

How are you using this rod. If you are suing it for flipping or pitching it may have more to do with your casting style then the tip

+1 On Steve's comment. Try a tip top with a sleeker cage design. Rotating the guides to the top may indeed make tip wrapping worse.

As far as finding the spine, I never do. Like may others here I build on the straightest axis.

Peter,
Don't make life difficult for you.
Since you already have the rod, I assume that the reel seat is on the rod and than you have removed the guides.

If so, just put your guides on the rod in alignment with the existing reel seat.

By the way, If you can't easily locate the spine, it may very well be - because there isn't a very pronounced spine.

Also, if that is the case, no point in looking for a spine.

But, in any event, don't worry about the spine. Wrap on the guides to align with the reel seat.

Also, since you are having line tip wrapping issues, maybe the only thing that you need to do, is to remove the current tip that is on the rod, and replace the tip with an anti wrap tip top with long swelled tip braces to minimize tip wrapping.

[hydrafishing.com]

Other examples of tangle free tip tops.
[www.getbitoutdoors.com]

If you haven't done any thing on the rod yet, purchase the appropriate tangle free tip top, install it and give it a go. Nothing wrong at all with an acid wrapped guide train.

Be safe

I was using the rod while bucktailing fluke in Long Island Sound. It involves steadily jigging the bucktail and the line would wrap around the last guide and tip. The last few guides and tip are of the micro variety

Peter,
May I ask what type and lb test line you were using?

Also, did you have a couple of swivels in your line a few feet above the jig.

I wonder, if your jig was spinning as you were jigging. If so, and if the line developed a lot of twist, the line would want to wrap up any time that the line were slack.

Also, when you jigged, how high and at what angle were you moving the rod. If you were up near the 60 degree point with a quick drop, you will be putting a lot of slack in the line so that any inherent line twist would tend to wrap the line.

Also, was there much wind going on at the time. Sometimes, if there is a lot of wind and a slack line, the wind can catch the line and cause it to wrap a tip on a slack line.

In any event, you might strip the line off the reeel, put on fresh line and add a couple of ball bearing swivels a few feet above your jig and try again to see if the tip looping continues. Also, at the same time, replace the tip top with a tip top with one that is reputed to be more free of tangles.

Best wishes.

I was using 20lb.braid with a mono top shot (20lb) jigging the bottom about 1 foot off the bottom. No swivels used.I mostly used rods I made.This is the first store bought rod with an acid wrap that I bought. I bought it because it is a slow pitch rod and the price was right. Think I`m going to put the guides in line

Peter,
Think about it.
Having a guide setup in an acid wrap configuration, really does not do anything to create loops around the tip.

The only way that the loops will occur if the line is twisted past the tip of the rod.

When the line comes off the bait casting reel and goes around to the bottom of the rod, there are 0 loops put into the line because the line moved from the top to the bottom of the rod.

However, if the lure or jig spins, then, the spinning action of the bait, jig or lure - will certainly put twists in the line which will then coil around the tip of the rod, if the line goes slack as in a quick drop of the rod tip when jigging.

Shorten your top shot, and add a pair of swivels a few feet above your jig, and I expect that you looping and knot issue would evaporate.

Strip all of the line off of your reel and replace it with fresh line to insure that you are starting with 0 twists in the line and go for it with a couple of swivels in the top shot and enjoy your tangle free fishing.

Be safe



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2019 02:38PM by roger wilson.