Any well built rod, especially on a Calstar blank will "stand up" to an occasional hundred pound cat assuming the reel and line are appropriately matched. Keep in mind that doesn't mean it will be able to muscle such a fish in, just that it should be doable. Plenty of flatheads over 30lbs get caught up here on 8lb walleye gear, it just isn't an efficient way to do it- and its hard on
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I should have added in the original post that some of the rods I have been able to cast with using this reel were using as small as size 12 strippers, some larger but not a 20 ring. Would't find that on a muskie rod, more so on a boat rod, hence the original question. I prefer to keep my hand back at the reel or barely in front when fighting a fish, as opposed to using the fore grip. This lends
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Question is about as simple as the title- I'm building a muskie rod with a Penn Fathom 15 as the reel and size 8 KW runners. I will do a decent amount of trolling with this setup but I have had good experiences casting with this reel and I want good casting characteristics out of this rod. I had decent results with some very old school guide trains on older factory rods but that's about all the
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While there are dozens of great guides available there is something to be said for using Fuji guides, especially the new K series. If you're building a spinning rod you can benefit from the GPS features through Angler's Resource, and no matter what you're building you will find dozens of people on here who will have first hand experience with that guide and can help you out. I would also reco
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Phil- I somewhat recently bought my first true conventional (no levelwind or cast control/brake). Having fished baitcasters my whole life it was a humbling process adapting to a totally free floating spool, but for certain kinds of fishing I prefer these reels. I still have my reasons for preferring a spinning rod in this case though.
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I let you guys talk me in to my first KR build. It was a great learning experience. I don't think a kit would have helped me. Learning how the theory works and how to build it for my specific outfit was what made the idea work for me. Kit or not, people aren't inclined to take some newfangled idea that makes no sense to them and try to build a rod with it. You guys put a lot of effort in
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I always HATED split grips until I started building. I don't get so involved with this hobby as to start making my own grips. Building rods with split grips gives you a lot more flexibility in your grip design using ready made components. This is especially true if you, like me, need a longer rear grip (tall fisherman, long rod or both) but don't want a fat 1.1" piece of cork back there t
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Thanks for all the advice guys! Took it all to heart and did some testing. First off, Thanks to Norman for noticing the typo. My spool is 2" so that would make my choke point 55." That's what I have on the rod. I used Roger's advice and started with the 30 stripper at 25" and then went 25-20-12 for the rest of the reduction train. I lost the snap weight I use to test cast p
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I just finished taping guides on a heavy (30# braid) spinning rod I've been working on. I've always test casted rods, but I thought the term line slap was a bit over used- until I tested this rod. The blank is a Seeker CBW709, guides are all KW's wit the right to change the top couple runners our for KT's if I feel like it. I located my choke point using the table top method (which agrees with
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Sometimes it feels like bringing up color preserver on here is like bringing up politics at Thanksgiving dinner. I've read pages of different opinions on color preserver and colorfast thread with good arguments for and against. For me the biggest benefit is if you're trying to get vibrant colors it will save you a lot of guessing as to what thread color is going to give you the look you're aft
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Phil Erickson Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I would be very interested to hear from the users > of TM1, as to the benefits they achieve other > than, the time saved and mix error risks. For me it isn't even time, it's waste. I don't have a multi rod dryer, so I can only work on one project at a time, no matter how small it is. I got sick of mix
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I do find the laser alignment tool somewhat useful to align the stripper guide. I'll use tape or guide foot adhesive for the initial layout, then use a combination of the laser tool and the reel to help get the stripper on straight. All that really does is give you a starting point for the rest of the guides though. The guys saying learn the old way are correct, there is no silver bullet for g
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herb canter Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Seems like braid and the Minima's are not a > favorite combination , any reason why you prefer > not to use braid with them ? The benefits of minimas are that they are light and there is no ceramic ring to pop out or break. The pitfalls are that they are softer and not as slick as ceramic inserts, making
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My experience with the recoil guides is on a MH spinning rod with 15lb braid. It was a noisier rod than most but it wasn't unbearable. I also used to have a St. Croix Panfish series rod that had a minima lookiing guide (maybe somebody can verify if those rods used pac bay minimas or a similar looking knock off) that I only ever used with mono, 4 lb test. I absolutely loved that rod. If I were
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I just wanted to get everybody's take on the use of double foot guides on heavy (#30 and up) spinning rods. I typically build single foot only on spinning rods, but I've never built a spinning rod for anything above #20. Currently I'm planning a #30 outfit for catfish. I'd like to be able to spool up #40 as well for heavy cover, so I'm looking at blanks in the 15-30 or 40# range for up to 2 ou
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Joe- Interesting comment. I have used hot shot rods for bass fishing before, might that be a name for the technique you're referencing? I searched for HS9000 on mudhole and found out that MHX makes a HS9000 rod in their salmon/steelhead line. It has identical line, lure, action, and power ratings as well as an identical 4.5 tip, but a different butt, with the HS9000 having a narrower butt secti
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I'll admit the FG knot is new to me. I found it fairly straightforward to tie and it is very smooth and quiet through the guides. It'll take me a year to learn to trust it completely but I will be using it this season. This rod was never going to have a runner smaller than a size 6 for a variety of reasons, but being able to make a knot that small opens the door to micro runners in a few othe
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Spine is very hard to notice on a finished rod. If you want stability when fighting fish the find the spine as accurately as you can and use it. Other priorities may dictate building a different way. Spinning rods naturally want to ride reel down and are very stable. Even a perfectly spined casting rod is a bit unstable when ben5 because the guides are on top. You just do the best you can.
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Thanks for all the input everybody! Intriguing to see some recommendations for size 5 runners or smaller with leader knots. 20lb flourocarbon (my heavier leader) is tough to make a compact knot with but I still can't imagine busting out running guides with it! Actually my insistence on the 6 runners is more cold weather related than anything. Michael- I'd agree with all of that. Good perform
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Norman that tip on building for the largest reel clears up the waters a good bit, but the day I put anything smaller than size 6 runners on a rod like this gives me the shakes.
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Robert Tanner Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > How about a 25 12 8 6's........ The KR gps kicks out this exact layout but with a 7 before the 6 runners. Wondering if the 8 would also be a good choice in front of 7 runners. Tom- I'm fully aware there's no need to use all or even half the guide sizes. On rods heavier than a walleye rod I've always built w
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I'm building a 7.5' MH Spinning Rod for use with both 20lb braid and 15lb mono and a 2500 to 4000 reel. I want to use the KL or KL-H guides for aesthetics and the tanglefree design. However I'm concerned that between heavy mono and the stress on the mid section of the rod a 3 guide reduction train and a small choker might not make sense. Typically on a rod like this i would do a 25, 16, 10, 8, 7,
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