The Okuma SLV is a good reel for around $60. You can find it on sale cheaper if you're patient too. It is cast aluminum instead of machined which means it's not the lightest reel out there but I've been happy with mine. The echo ion is another good option.
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I'm happy to share. Tom, if you'd rather I email the brand names, delete this and I'll do so. I use both Coats and Clark Trilobal Polyester embroidery thread and a couple different threads from a company called Superior Threads. The Coats and Clark is nice because I can find it at my local fabric store in a hundred colors or more. I've never verified with them that it is not coated but I hav
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Mike, The thread will definitely darken when covered with perma gloss but it will not fisheye on thread that has been coated with silicone. If you want to maintain thread color the definitely use CP. they both serve the purpose of sealing the thread so you will not have bad reactions with the epoxy finish. This only matters if the thread is coated. I use two different brands of poly embroidery
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It depends on the thread. Embroidery thread can be made of a number of materials, some of which work well and some don't. I use trilobal polyester embroidery thread all the time. It is typically not coated in silicone, which will cause problems with your finish, can be purchased locally so you can see the actual color before buying and, with a coupon, is cheap. It also comes in a huge array of co
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I've built an 8 wt BVK and i like it very much. You do have to plan on a long butt wrap to cover the ugly logo though. I built it with a carbon fiber grip, Struble salt water seat, Recoil guides and AmTac Titan strippers. It is very light and almost corrosion proof and for not much more money than the factory rod with awful components. I don't know that it is markedly better than some of the othe
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Keep in mind that what one manufacturer calls a really fast 5 wt may be labeled as a 6 wt by a different manufacturer or even the same company on a different rod line. You can always build a 6 wt blank and fish it with a 5 wt line if it accomplishes your purposes. In reality, that sage method is probably closer to a typical 7 wt than a typical 5 wt if you were to look at the ccs data.
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I'm not sure at what point Sage changed there guide spacing page, but it used to be fairly clear that a "J" on the spacing chart indicated that a Fuji stripping guide was used. It doesn't seem to say that anywhere but my assumption would be that the meaning hasn't changed. I also wouldn't have any problem going to a size 10 stripper on a 2 wt, especially one that really isn't intended
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I found the Bellinger seats when I was looking and they are very nice but they do not show a double slide band seat on their website which means if that is what you wanted you would have to buy to sets of hardware, doubling the already high cost, and wind up scrapping a bunch of it. I never did call them but maybe if you did, they would be willing to put something custom together for you.
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His email is hidden but I did figure out how to unhide mine so Laurent, if you're interested shoot me an email.
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You can get black aluminum slip rings at Janns Netcraft but they are wider than I like, more suited for use as a spinning reel seat which is what they are marketed as. Janns also caries a preformed grip/reelseat with slide bands as well but they are not black. You can also find cap and ring skeleton/hardware sets made by struble or others on most of the sites on the left but if you need two rin
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I'm going to give you another non-response to your actual question because the BVK I just finished was an 8 wt and I used REC snakes instead of single-foots. I can comment on the Struble U15-HF. It is super nice and the green one looks sharp with a carbon fiber grip (Thanks to Dick Ross) and metalic green trim on black wraps. It is very slim. Slimmer even than the seats on most of my trout ro
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I haven't used their blanks but I have purchased a few other things from them and I've been happy with my purchases. In fact, 2 of their reels and a bunch of fly tying hooks should be delivered today. I haven't seen many reviews on the rods they have because they are new but I'd be interested in trying the blanks. With all that said, I am fairly skeptical of the specs they have posted for thos
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