What John and Tom said! Short section of heavy mono attached to the line with a nail knot and a perfection loop in the other end. Semi permanent set up that makes changing leaders a snap. Albright knots and loops in the line are just too bulky for me. I also use a nail knot to attach the backing to the line. I'm not one for crutches or gimmicks but the little nail knot tools (I think they'
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FWIW, ive built two fly rods using the Titan "NIF" fly guides. I fished the daylights out of one of those rods last summer throwing huge flies (and catching large fish!) and the Titan's performed very well. In fact, I've got another fly stick build in progress right now again using the NIF guides. For this last rod I also got the Titan Ring lock stripping guides. I'm not sure what t
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How about Polycrylic Varnish??? I had a fly rod grip that had a lot of pits and checks in it that I wanted to dress up a bit so I used the Elmer's light oak wood filler and Polycrylic Varnish. Polycrylic Varinish is water based and looks exactly like Flex Coat color preserver. Anyway, I filled the voids in the grip, sanded smooth and then applied two coats of Polycrylic. After it dried a
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I think the early braided Kevlar line that I dealt with was Spiderwire. It was either Spiderwire or Spiderline but I'm not sure which anymore.
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Take a look at the Mudhole LSB1502. It's the same as the Lami 1502 at less than half the price. The 1502 can be loaded by even small or less muscular casters. Some blanks can take a considerable amount of arse to bend them and make them cast correctly. You should consider that in your choice of blanks.
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Yeah, what Ted said...... The Kevlar lines WERE abrasive but the newer Spectra lines are not. However, the reputation is still there and many people continue to believe that all braided lines are highly abrasive.
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Sorry to hear that! That is a great blank even at the price Fishsticks was charging for it. I thought they were going to continue to stock them but at the much higher price of $170 a copy. One of my rodbuilder friends tells me that you can still get them but you have to buy 25 at a time! :>(
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Fishsticks4U still has them. That is a GREAT blank! It loves 6Nbait and can handle 8Nbait with no problems. Fishsticks is a sponsor and they have a link over on the left of this page.
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Thanks all for the responses! I've never tried the "tamer" guide but I'm going to have to play around with that and see how it works out. On the extra ceramics or strippers, I can see an advantage from a wear standpoint on heavier rods. I've built several fly rods over 8 feet utilizing American Tackle Titan single foot guides with the nanolite ring and solid titanium frame. Us
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OK, I should have been more clear. I'm not talking about the two strippers close together, I'm talking about a second or even third stripper located at the normal guide spacing. I really can't see any need for that second or third stripper other than maybe aesthetics.
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There recently was a thread on double stripping guides on tuna rods and the purpose of same. I didn't want to hijack that thread but I have the same question as it applies to fly rods. What is the purpose of more than one stripping guide on a fly rod? It seems to me that the stripping guide on a fly rod will be subjected to stresses that the running guides will never see so a double footed,
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Thanks for the responses.....I appreciate the help.
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Is there any rhyme or reason to fly rod reel seat sizes? I mean you have UL (or DL) 3's, 5's, 8's, etc. but the numbers don't don't seem to coincide with increases in seat sizes. It seems to me that the only thing to go on is the actual dimensions of the seat, i.e. length, diameter, etc. If all fly reel feet were a standard size it wouldn't be an issue and I believe most newly manufactured f
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Denis, IF the problem was line twist, you'd of course be right. The purpose of my post was to point out that rather than line twist, the problem may very well be the reel itself. And if it is the reel, Fireline would generate fewer problems than the extrememly limp Power Pro.
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Power Pro and most all braids can be a problem because they are so limp. Some reels are designed to handle "braid" better than others. Look at the reel spool after cranking in all the line. Is the line stacked in the front and rear of the spool sorta in an hour glass shape? If it is, your reel is not braid friendly. With a reel like this, loops of line can "fall " off the
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Fly line weights are determined by the first 30 feet of line. If you're carrying 40 feet of line IN THE AIR then the 10 additional feet might actually mean that the line is heavier than the rod is rated for. So then it would be appropriate to drop down a line size so that the weight of the 40 feet of line matches up with the line rating of the rod. At least that's the theory. In practice, y
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First of all, this is a little like asking what make of car you should buy. Just like cars, there are a lot of different makes and models of surf rods out there and everyone has their own opinion on what's good. Second, you don't say what weight you'll be throwing. While a rod may be rated for 2 to 12 ounces, I know of no rods that will actually throw that range of payload AND THROW IT WELL.
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Spencer, you're probably correct as far as messing up the action goes. I tried fishing it yesterday WITH a 7wt. line and it was horrible. This morning I did the boiling water thing and the reel seat came right off. I played around with the cork grip but I think that's hopeless so I'll have to cut that off. The rod will be rebuilt as a four piece. Thanks for your input, it's much appreciate
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I attempted to make a short three piece fly rod out of a four piece by dropping the butt section and putting the grip and seat on the second section. Just as an FYI, it was an American Tackle Matrix 9' 6wt blank that I used. The finished product was 6'9" which was good but the line rating ended up being a 7 or maybe even an 8 while what I was looking for was a 6. The rod's rating is
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Thanks Uncle Russ.....that was great! And thanks to everyone else for their input! In all fairness to the guy who was suggesting a 20mm tip top, he supported his choice by recounting those occasions when he was crotch deep in the surf and reaching the top to clear the weeds would be difficult. Again, thanks for sharing your expert opinion. George
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What size tip top ring would you surf rod builders recommend for a "heaver" type conventional surf rod? I'm talking about a twelve foot rod that's comfortable throwing eight ounces of lead plus a chunk of bait. Probable line size would be 20lb with a 50lb shock leader added. I know some custom builders go with size 16 because they figure that they'll have to pass large knots. I t
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I've been fooling around with waterslide decals for over a year now with only marginal success. I followed David's very detailed instructions and hit a home run on my first try! Thanks David for posting a VERY informative tutorial!
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well, look at it this way.....with the current system, they're selling more Perma Gloss. :>( Question on the thickening.....Is there a solvent that can be used to thin it back out again?
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Tom, the method you describe is the way I was taught and the way I've always done it. Whew, there for awhile I thought I've been living on the hairy edge of disaster all these years! Thanks for the info! George
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So what is the proper procedure for landing a fish when you're standing knee deep in moving water with a trout on the end of your nine foot fly rod? I've been fly fishing for fifty years and reading this thread leads me to believe that I've been very lucky because I've never broken a rod.
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David, great job! That one's been saved! Thanks alot!
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Angelo, thanks for the heads up! I thought I had seen them somewhere but I looked all over the place for them and came up empty. I thought maybe I'd been dreaming. Anyway, that sounds like a good option. Thanks again!
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Steve, I've built two rods with the single foot wire guides but I seriously doubt that I'll ever build another. They do have advantages in light weight and maybe longer casts but if they're going to allow the line to wear through the finish and the windings, what's the point? If the guides were made with a little extension between the ring and foot (like the single foot with the insert) they'd
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David, On single foot WIRE guides, at least the ones I've used anyway, the outer circumference of the guide ring actually touches the rod blank. In other words, they sit very low on the blank as Bill M. said. If the guide feet on those guides are the same diameter as the guide loop, then anything added to the top of the guide foot, even just the thread, would intrude into the inside circumferen
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I'm having trouble understanding this one. I have two fly rods that are wrapped using Pac Bay single foot wire snake guides. The actual guide ring sits right down on the blank with these guides. Add the thread wrap on top of the foot and then the epoxy finish on top of the thread and your finishing work has now intruded INTO the circumference of the guide. If there's a way of wrapping these g
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