Hi Kelly, I am a custom rod builder located in Cody, Wyoming. In my opinion, the best fly rod blanks are: PacBay Quickline for price performance and CTS overall. I have and fish both on a regular basis.
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Kelly, I am a custom rod builder (www.dcrodbuilding.com). In my opinion, the PacBay Quickline is the best blank available for the money and CTS is the best blank available in the world. I have both and use both. I have customers that swear by either. Dave
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I'm a custom rod builder in Cody, Wyoming. After building three Quickline and several MHX, I prefer the Quickline feel. Both are excellent quality blanks. As for the 10' 4wt blank, it makes a great Czech nymphing rod. I have one each for my wife and I and as demo test rods. If you make one into a switch rod, I would line it as if it were a 2wt switch. I don't believe it will do well with 240 grai
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I agree very much. I'm a custom rod builder in Cody, Wyoming. Just built a 9' 4wt single hand and two 10' 4wt czech nymphing rods. All blanks were very high quality and have built excellent performing rods. I believe the CCS data is spot on. Bravo to Pac Bay.
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I would not worry about the ERN of the FT. I have a 9' FT 4wt that I've fished all last summer out of a pontoon boat and love it. It throws the best loops that I've ever cast and I had no trouble breaking off fish with an intermediate line and 4 to 5x tippet. The CCS data seem a bit misleading to me on this blank. The relatively light tip throws a tight fast loop up to about 30 feet. The power of
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Unless I missed it, you didn't mention what type of blanks you were interested in. If it was fly rods, I did notice that nobody mentioned Dan Craft, which was surprising. I've used Sage for years, have built a lot of SC V rods and I believe the Dan Craft blanks are every bit as fine a blank as any of these. On average, I've found the Dan Craft blanks to be straighter and I personally find the SC
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I have built an 8wt FT with ceramics. I'm careful with my knot size and almost always use loop to loop connections. I used down to a size 6 on mine but if I were to do it over, I wouldn't go smaller than an 8. Usually tip tops are available in a 6 or an 8.
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I've professionally built a number of both the IV and V. If I were building for me, I would probably build the IV as the difference isn't that great in either weight or casting ability. From a professional standpoint, I almost always build the V because my difference in cost isn't that much and the perception in the public eye is that the V is worth a lot more, just comparing factory list price.
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Thanks very much for your input. I was unaware of the Batson alternative.
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I have a customer that wants a 3 or 4 piece spinning rod, 6' to 6' 6" in length, for 4-8 lb line & 1/16 to 1/4 oz lures. I understand it will primarily be for jig fishing. Multi piece spinning blanks are rare to say the least. I've only found a SC II that's a 4pc 6' for essentially these specs. I believe Sage offers a 6' 3pc for 4-10 lb line & 1/8 to 3/8 oz lures but I think the pric
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Incedentely, the blank was a Sig V and not a Sig IV. Just noticed that I started the thread with the wrong blank model.
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The ferrules started out clean when the customer purchased and fished the rod. When he returned it, I began working with clean ferrules and then went to Ferrule Lube. Neither would stop the disconnect issue. In the end, I cleaned the ferrules and added a single coat of polyurethane rod finish, allowed it to dry for a couple of days and then lightly buffed with steel wool. The adhesion seems much
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I would be careful dealing with Rocky Mountain Rodbuilding. They currently owe me about $60 in backordered merchandise and won't answer emails or the phone.
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I built up this blank for a customer, only to have him return the rod because it separated at both ferrules excessively during fishing. On his first morning with the rod, it separated 6 times. I have test cast it since the return and find I must agree with him, even with U-40 Ferrule Lube applied. I suspect it's due to the extreme slickness of the sanded blank with no finish. What can I do to
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Pac Bays are titanium carbide plated while the Recoils are a titanium alloy. I've used the Pac Bays a lot and have been happy with their longevity.
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Thanks very much for the replies. Guess I neglected to mention that I'm only working with the symetrical hood. Thanks again.
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What kind of dremel tool is best for this function and where can I get it. What I've tried so far does not make clean cut edges and is very hard to keep centered. I don't have a drill press, only a variable speed 1/4" hand drill.
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In the process of beveling a cork grip, I managed to do some light scratches in the cocobolo wood reel seat insert. Since they were 90 degrees to the wood grain, I was forced to do a fair amount of sanding to remove the scratches. What's the best product to refinish the insert. I don't really care whether the end result is gloss or matte.
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My personal observation is that motion is far more critical. I wear drab colors but regardless of what your wearing or the rod color, if a trout detects motion from your arm, your rod or the line, the jigs up.
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I have been using a DB Dun Bombproof rod carrier for 4 or 5 years now on trips to Alaska. It always gets checked and I've never had a rod damaged in any way. It has a 4" pvc tube that will carry 6-10 rods in their rod sacks. Certainly not the cheapest rod carrier at $90 but it works well and has a built in zipper lock. Dave
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Do you have any idea who makes the H&H XT51 blanks?
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