Hi Folks,
I'm building a 4 wt fiberglass rod and for my hook keeper I went with a strap and ring. I've got everything wrapped and ready to finish and it occurred to me that when I rotate the rod, the ring on the hook keeper flops down and hits the thread wraps. This will obviously be an issue when applying epoxy. I've thought of a few things that might keep the ring out of my finish, but I was wondering if there's a 'right' way to handle this.

Thanks,
Chris

You could use just the strap to hold the hook, and there would be no keeper flapping around

Unfortunately the bend in the strap is way too small.

I use a toothpick jammed in between the ring and the strap

Thanks Sam. That was one of my ideas. The other is to tape a toothpick to the grip, with the other end going through the ring.

I'm probably not envisioning this correctly but why not apply your epoxy and have it dry before you add the hook keeper ?

OK , as I thought I didn't even know what these things were or called now I do. This is easy , even a piece of playdoh molded on top of the ring and onto the base will hold that ring up out of the way for epoxy finishing then just remove it . Even a thin strip of duct tape will fix that temporary problem or try John Martines rubber band idea.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2021 08:32PM by chris c nash.

Hey Sam. If you mean the ring, it's soldered so it can't be removed once the strap is secured with thred.

Cut a thin rubber band and wrap it around the ring (push it thru with a toothpick or some tool if necessary) until the rubber band forces the ring to stand out, trim the rubber band and apply thread finish.

After the finish is cured gently remove the rubber band.

Have fun

Good work arounds, but in the future you might consider a different keeper design. I will never use a keeper with a moving part.

Almost all my customers prefer not to have a hook keeper on their fly rods. Instead they keep the entire leader out of the tip and wrap it around the reel and put the hook on a guide up the rod. This way, when ready to cast you are not having to strip the leader knots through the guides and tip top again..

I do like Phil does. I use the frame of one of the first two double foot guides. While it's not likely that it would happen, lack of a keeper means there is nothing for the line to get caught on.

I also use the first guide to keep my hook. The guy I'm making the rod for wanted a hook keeper and I thought the ring and strap looked nice. I didn't think it through. As Michael suggested, I will never use a hook keeper with any moving parts in the future.

Thanks for all of the good suggestions.

I had that same issue with a 3-wt rod where I used a Nickle-Silver strap & ring. What I did was tape a couple tall guides on either side and run an elastic line from one to the other and through the ring. This kept the ring at the top of the pocket and away from the blank, enabling me to apply the rod finish without gluing the ring to the blank.