mudhole use to offer their MHX blanks in one-piece for 7-12 wts. They discontinued them a few years back, but might be worth a call to see if they have any tucked away somewhere. I have the 7wt, a few 8's, a few 9's, and 4 10's. They make great rods. Biscayne rods offers a 1-piece Billy Baroo. NFC makes some 1-piece blanks. And for the doubters, the 1-piece rods are legit. I've been a co
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I think the Batson Rainshadows are a step up, and reasonably priced. Their inshore series and their bass series are both very light in hand, very sensitive, and very durable.
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Aeromarine 300/21 resin/hardner. I've tried a lot, including West Systems, and the Aeromarine has a lot of very good properties. It's also the epoxy that Capt Mike sold on his old website.
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No, never do. I finish sanding with 320 grit, remove residual dust with gray scotchbrite pad, and recoat. I've built over 100 of these grips, and never experienced anything like this. Finish room is solely dedicated to such, so I think whatever is happening is the result of whatever new materials I'm using from the current order. I'm running a few experiments to try to isolate the issue. th
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Second Spencer's recommendation. I've built a few of the 9'9" rods referred to, and paired with an OPST shooting head they can really sling a large fly a great distance. I've built mine with a somewhat short switch-style fore-aft grip for two-handed overhead. The 8/9 weight equates somewhat to an 11wt single hand rating, and that's the rod I use for muskie. And the blanks are tough.
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Anyone used the CFX 5:1 resin/hardener from MH? I've used the Aero Marine 300/21 (same as Riley use to supply) for several years, but thought I'd try the CFX product. The reason for the switch is the minimum size of the Aero is 1.5 quarts, which I cannot use in a year (Riley use to supply smaller sizes). My first results were a bit disappointing with the CFX, and wanted to hear other's experie
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Phil Erickson Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bryan, I don't understand how a loop-to-loop > Versileader connection gets hung up on the guides, > as it is outside the tip top when casting. I also > think ones are a little small, I'd go with two's. landing fish. The loop-to-loop from an OPST or similar to shooting line isn't much smaller, but
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Tom, I'm currently building a Meiser 5wt, and planning to throw an OPST on it. The 1s mentioned above will be way, way to small. Those heads are huge. I settled on 3's for the smallest guides after sizing that loop-to-loop with a versileader with a variety of guide types and sizes. I have an 11' 4/5 Meiser that I built with size 7 minimas (much smaller diameter than snake guide sizing), fis
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Thanks, all. I always use the MW guide spacing requirements for the first three guides, and plan on doing the same here. The extra weight of adding additional runners on such a long, light rod is something to consider when adding extra runners, and I will load test and adjust. To Spencer's point, the issue is not so much the style of guide, but the SYSTEM's application to a particular blank
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Thought I'd throw this out here to get other's experience with MicroWave guides on long light power rods. I use MW guides on most of my builds, but have a 9' 2-6lb light action spinning blank, on which I'll be throwing 1/16oz jigs. Just wondering if anyone has run into any problems with the MW system on longer rods. I realize I'll need several additional running guides, and I'm wondering if
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I don't recommend single foot guides on SW rods for durability reasons. SW rods in a boat take a beating, more so getting to-from than from fighting fish. My trusty RPLX's with single foot guides all required re-wrapping after 6 months of boat use due to broken guides, twisted frames, corroded frames, loose inserts. Since then (over 20 years since), I've gone with snakes and not regretted it.
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Chris, I extended the blank by extending a few inches of fiberglass blank into the butt to give me the added length. The aluminum screw-on butts I've had issues with (breaking) on mini-spey conversion rods, and given the torque applied when doing figure-8's, not to mention casting, I did not want to take another chance on those. You can use any carbon or glass blanks (I use broken rods kept ar
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The only thing I would add is the comment over rod length......11-12' is great when wading or from the beach, but a real pain in a boat (storage, getting a fish to the net). My current favorite musky rod is a Meiser 9' 9" built just for hucking monster flies two-handed from the boat. But my back-ups are the 10wt and 11wt MHX 1-piece built as described above. They all do a great job, can b
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Chris, I use the same blank and do some musky fishing with it. No need to underwrap.....none of my tarpon rods have ever had underwraps, nor my offshore fly rods, so no need for musky. The REC snakes are great, especially for a dedicated boat rod since they can take a lot of abuse. Use the regular wire and not the light wire. The noise is very annoying, especially if you are using a textured
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eric zamora Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I have a one-piece 7 foot fly rod. It's a pain > trying to travel with it, but barely manageable. > My thought: Never again! > > eric > fresno, ca. yes, traveling is a pain, but that's what multi-piece rods are for. Most people who use these regularly have in-car or car-top carriers (e.g.,
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I love 'em in weights 7-11. Guides in the keys / S. Florida are using them a lot in the same weights, and they stay on the boat most of the time. There is a little bit of interest in them for throwing streamers for trout and such in the heartland, 7-9 wts, but it's a limited market. Although a small market, the people who use them are pretty enthusiastic about them. I'd love to see a fast acti
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I just mounted an older battenkill LA 9/10 to one of my rods with the triangle seat.......no slop, fits tight. Good luck with your build
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A particular reel not perfectly fitting a particular seat is not uncommon; I have some reels that don't fit some seats as well as others. I've had good luck with most of the Alps seats I've used. A larger concern for me would be the use of a vented seat on a saltwater rod. The more nooks/crannies for salt to collect in will only cause issues in the long run. I'm very careful cleaning my gear
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unblock your email address, and I'll send you the one I use.
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As roger said, it does happen, especially for parts left exposed to UV (i.e., not keeping rod in bag/tube). Red seems very susceptible. I have several anodized parts that have faded over time, and not only rod parts. That being said, there are certainly different levels of anodizing, and quality can vary.
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On some CF grips I use a hole saw mounted on my mandrel as outlined by Mike Pederson at Riley Rods. I've also used the forstner bit technique that has been discussed on the forum in the past. Try doing a search for a lot of discussion on this topic, but here is a thread to get you started......
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T/G = "touch and go" casting. Sustained anchor is aka skagit style casting. Two different two-handed casting techniques.
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TFO DC: moderate action. very smooth. Designed in part by R Meiser. Nice rod, but that color is a bit bright for my taste, and I'd opt for the meiser Highlander Classic series 11' for that reason alone. The newer 11'1" is a bit more expensive (and a much better rod), but you might be able to still get the older 11' blanks that are more similar to the TFO. Revelation: moderate fast a
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X2 on the robin's egg, and a rich gold color......something that would compliment gold metallic.
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They are my preferred blank. Light in hand, light swing weight, very fast actions. I liken them to the fast-action Sage or Orvis Helios blanks in performance. If you are looking for a dry-fly blank, maybe a graphite Winston or Sage Mod or Circa would be a better option, but if you want a fast blank they are hard to beat, especially considering the price difference.
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Built a few kids rods on the PacBay Tradition II and Rainforest blanks. Graphite, moderate action, and pretty tough given some of the abuse I've seen them take.
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Tom, I have to respectfully disagree with you on the performance and durability issue. Preface by acknowledging the subjective nature of "feel" and your experience, but with so many guides and anglers asking for the rods even with the transport headache, this may be more than a trend or fad. The Crosscurrent Pro-1 came out over 10 years ago, and though a niche, guides have asked their
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Mark - I'm a proponent of 1-pc rods in the larger sizes. There is a thread farther down the forum on this issue. There are casting benefits if you are an aggressive caster and don't have to travel much with them. Many of the guides in the Keys have been using these rods for over a decade (or longer in the case of the Biscayne Rod users) and the reasons why are many (great casting feel, lighter
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As Tom and Michael pointed out, CF grips are excellent. I'm not going back to cork, and the people for whom I've built CF fly grips don't want to go back to cork either. If you haven't tried them, you owe it yourself to give them a shot.
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Your guide train sounds good to me.
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