Marty, Senkos are heavy. The 5 inch weighs near a half ounce....You can throw those plenty far on a flipping stick.... The issue is with the power and the multi piece. Check for the multi piece first, then look for a rod with the power you want. Trust me, you won't have ANY trouble casting them. Buddy
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Daniel, I've 'tested' the 5mm guides and they work fine with 3 and 4 wt. fly lines. I use loop to loop connections, and they pass easily. You'd have to test anything smaller than that yourself. On my second to last 3 wt, I used one #7 for the stripper, two 6's for the rest of the taming set, and the rest 5s. On the last one, I tried ALL #5s. Both cast just fine, really can't tell the
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Bill, Yes, wrap the ends of the spigot ferrules. About 1/1/2 times the diameter of the blank at that location is about right. The spacings you list don't look anything like any I'd ever use on a 4 wt. Looks like they came off a chart. I'd support the tip better on a light blank and the first guide would be closer to the tip. If it's a 9 foot blank, your last guide is 32 inches up from t
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Rick, I use the ceramic guides on EVERY fly rod. I build a lot of two and three weights. I doubt it matters much for distance in this situation, but there are other advantages and I prefer to use the best quality components I can afford. We've evolved way past wire guides. I've built a lot on the Rainshadow RX7s. Their 6 1/2 foot 2 wt. is a dream rod for small streams, and their 9' 3 wt
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Marc, I have a few of those older spinning rods myself. Most are fiberglass, but a few are composite rods. Tough rods. Strong rods. Caught a lot of fish on them. I do notice that the first guide is a lot farther away from the reel seat than is the 'norm' today. I bought all of them for bass fishing, and the focus of the time was 'fast taper', and all of mine have strong, stiff butt sec
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Chris, I know we agree on the fishing part. I've not been for a couple of months, and the fishing is fantastic all around me right now. Unfortunitly, this is also my 'busy season' for work, so little chance of getting out for another month or two. Then, I'll get my share. By the way, on the spinnerbait thing...try a heavier bait. I know it sounds odd, but you'll 'feel' more with a
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Todd, No, single foots are what you should be using on any fly rod now. Spacing can be different fom blank to blank. I highly recommend that you go to the library here and read about the static placement method. Works the best of any that I've tried. If you don't already have your guides, try to go with the smallest size that you can and still pass all your connections. I only use sin
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Phil, A few of us that fish for bass with a fly rod have discoverd that you really can use blanks intended for other purposes and turn them into outstanding fly rods. I have several, my last one a 6 1/2 foot 8 wt. built on a fast action spinning blank. Perfect topwater rod. Good Luck! Buddy
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Chris, I'm not upset. I actually enjoy these intelectual discussions. I also get your 'point' but I believe it's just wrong from a physics standpoint. You speak of the 'feel', but that is just a personal perception. Adjusting the reel forward is fine, up to a point, but moving the reel forward will eventually shorten the useable length of the rod, and for many that long rod length is s
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Steve, I get it, you beleive that bass fishing is somehow 'different' or more 'specialized' in it's rod requirements. I'm there with you, but, I've bass fished for over 30 years. NO ONE can balance a bass rod of ANY kind. It's not possible. I was there when flipping and pitching were developed. I have done the several day tournament with the flipping stick in my hands. One reason I st
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I'm totaly against adding ANY extra weight to 'balance' a rod. It's NEVER balanced while you are fishing with it. It's just flat out impossible, and I don't understand all this infatuation with achieving something that's meaningless. An extra ounce of weight is almost 1/3 more than a quality built bass rod weighs. Why bother to use a high performance light weight blank then add weight to
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Trevor, Lots of guys out there making all wood grips. Rods function just fine. Buddy
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Charlie, If you want to do a 'throw back' type rod, then use Silk. Regular nylon works just fine too, but many cane rod enthusiasts feel that anything other than silk is a sacriledge. Buddy
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I've always used 10 pound SpiderWire for my pull through loops. The fibers used to make these 'super' likes are very slick, so they slide easily under the wraps without grabbing. Also use it to spin deer hair. Good for lots of 'other than fishing' stuff. Buddy
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Gavin, Do you want the best reel seat, or the most expensive/prettiest? REC for the latter, Fuji cushioned hood graphite for the former (lighter, holds the reel better, won't corrode or warp, ugly as sin). Buddy
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Scott, Just to add some more to this; Other than cosmetics or 'abuse', I can't think of a reason to use an underwrap on ANY rod that a fisherman will hold while fighting a fish. It's not stronger, not 'better', and certainly is detrimental to the performance of the rod (maybe only a little, but still there). Prep the guide foot properly. Wrap the foot to the blank. Finish the wrap.
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I think it's indicative that almost everyone who uses some kind of tool tells how they use the tool then always adds something like ' I will sight down it and tweak the ones that are out of alignment or: then goe outside to sight and tweak the guide location as needed or :you may have to tweak ever so slightly after alignment " Blanks aren't straight. Since you are going to have to t
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Tim, The DevCon will work fine. It's what I use routinely for bonding things like grips, reel seats, etc. Buddy
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Scott, I've done a few grips like the ones you are planning. I've always sued Tru Oil for mine. To keep the cork clear of the finish, just put a piece of masking tape along the edge of the wood portion. I apply the Tru Oil by hand, and if you are careful you should have no problems. The tape also protects the cork while sanding the wood between coats of finish. I do put one coat of T
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I'm confused here. I've built bass rods for decades. I've built them then tested them to 'fail' by tying them off the back end of a truck and intentionally 'breaking' them. I've lifted weights with them until they broke. Most bass rods won't come close to lifting five pounds straight up. Try it. Never, not once, ever has a 'guide' pulled out during these tests. Many times, I put the
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Mike, Consider the beauty and ease of feather inlays.... A nice section of feathers on either side of your inscription would look classy, not be an obvious coverup, and is quick and easy to do...you can 'cover' several inches of 'oops' on either side with this... Just a thought... Buddy
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Tony, If you have a really well stocked hardware store, sometimes they will have as many as four or even FIVE different configurations of rat tail files. That being said, the chances that they will have the exact, or even close to the exact, taper you want is just a matter of chance. Sometimes you get lucky.... I like the metal files myself, but eventually you'll find that if you want t
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I have used the Dave Whitlock 'method' Tom mentioned for securing fly tying thread for years on many different fly patterns. It's especially useful on deer hair stuff. My only concern with using it on a rod are how it will look once the finish is applied. CA glues will 'wick' into the adjoining threads, they dry 'hard' and will 'seal' the thread, stopping any penetration where they have
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I know we've been into this before, but: My premise is that it's impossible to 'balance' a fly rod in any meaningful way. 'Static' balance, that whole 'one inch below the end of the grip stuff' is useless as far as fishing the rod goes. Once you do ANYTHING but carry the rod, it's out of balance, it's out of balance continually, and won't function properly if it was IN 'balance'. Out of
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Josh, It's your customer, but, I'd tell him I wouldn't even attempt such a thing. I'd tell I'd build him the lightest possible rod with the specified components. If he's foolish enough to believe he can balance a fly rod, let him play with it. But, if you really want to do this, build it 'tip heavy'. Put a couple of extra guides, Use double foots, long thread wraps, 'football'
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Ben, I've built a bunch of fly rods, and I've never used anything but single foot guides on all of them. 2 to 12 weights, for everything from small bluegills to tuna and sailfish. No need for double foot guides, even for the stripper. The single foot titanium guides you're talking about will be so many times stronger than your blank that it won't be an issue. By the way, just so I'm on
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Tim, I always clean everything before I begin the building process. I use an old rifle cleaning rod for the larger diameter sections, and mono and a patch that will fit on the smaller ones. Soap and water. Clean, rinse, let dry. Buddy
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Sean, For 'all around' small waters: 6 wt rod. 8 wt. line if there is wind or larger flies for your farm pond. 8 foot is a good length for an 'all around' pond bass rod. Since I do a LOT of fly fishing for bass, I treat it just like I did when I fished with conventional tackle...I have about fifteen rods, many of them for specific techniques. Rods from 6 1/2 to 9 feet, weights from
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Cody, Two completely different things. Tru Oil is a 'finish', it dries hard and dries hard quickly. It was designed for gunstocks, i.e; it was meant to be 'handled', meant to be used in the outdoors-water isn't a problem for it. I like how it darkens and protects the cork. I use a mix of burl and plain cork on my grips, and this stuff makes the burl look sharp, evens out the color co
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Sean, Send me your SnailMail address and I'll send you some flies. Go to whichever lake you like for topwater action in the spring/summer, and fish some of the topwater flies I'll send you. You'll sell all your conventional gear.... Buddy
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