I have size 3 micro's on all three of my shakey head rods. I have Suffix 832 10# braid with a 10# fluoro leader attached with a knot called a Alberto knot. This is a modified albright knot and i have been using it to join all my braid / fluoro leaders for probably five years now. Very strong and the knot is very slim. Takes a little time to learn to tie but well worth it. I found it on the Strip
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I have been building custom bass rods for myself for 20 years or so. I build them because I can not buy a commercial rod that can even come close to the quality and specific specifications that I can build for myself. I build mostly on St. Croix SC-V Blanks. The first thing i do to the blank is void it's warrenty be removing all the paint/finish from it. This reduces the blanks weight thereby mak
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I have built probably 25 baitcasting bass rods using the spiral wrap with micro's. My butt guide of choice in these rods was the Fuji SVSG6 double foot followed by a single foot 5 and then a 4 to get the micro 3 running guides and these rods perform very well. I have also built at least 12 micro casting rods with all the guides on top being #3's including the butt guide which is usually about 18
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I hold my micro's with a hemostate on their leg and just lighty file them to just put a slight tapor on the end of the foot. You probably wrap them without dressing them up in most cases.
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I have built two St. Croix 4C710HF swimbait blanks for fishing A-rigs. I used Fuji LSG3.5 micro's all mounted at 0 degrees or all on top. I am using Curado 300E casting reels with 70# Samauri braid. The A-rigs weigh from 1 1/8oz to 2 3/4oz. On casting rods the first guide is actually on the reel as far as I see it. Why make the first guide on the rod any larger than what is on the reel. The excep
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Thank you both for your help. Tom
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Hi. I saw a handle on the photo board and a recommendation to use blank board gasket material to improve it's appearance. I have never heard of this material. Would someone, Tom K. maybe, explain what it is and where to purchase some of it. I make a lot of cork, burl corl and gasket 1/16" thick material grips and would like to possibly try this. Thanks. Tom
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Tom, it is not in my junk mail folder. When I pull up my personal profile and hit edit e-mail settings I get the following. My e-mail address from five years ago is in the top righthand box and directly below it ask for verification of the new e-mail address which it calls the one I dropped several days ago when it went with another provider. When I enter my new address in the top right box and h
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I have tried six times unsuccessfully to change my e-mail address. It keeps asking for confirmation 3 but i never get one sent to me. Any help appreciated.
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I live in Benton, Ky on Kentucky Lake. I build custom rods and fish Ky Lake often.
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I live in Benton, Ky on Kentucky Lake. I build custom rods and fish Ky Lake often. TPRANGER@WK.NET
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Roger, I agree with the 5C68MXF not suitable for 1/16oz lures. I read the thread and saw shakyhead - stout butt - extra fast tip. I just didn't read the title very clearly. I do throw my favorite shakyhead jigs of 3/16oz and 1/4oz most of the time without any problems. I put ceramic bearings in my Shimano Mg50 and with the 10# Power Pro I get very good distance on the 3/16oz shakyhead.
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St. Croix 5C68MXF - Casting with LSG3.5 micro's all on top, Shimano Mg 50 with 10# Sunline Shooter Fluoro line. St. Croix 5C68MXF - Spin Rod with BMHG 16 - 7 - 5 and LSG4's to tip., Shimano Stradic CI4 1000F with 10# Power Pro & 10# fluoro leader, uni/uni knot. I built both of these rods and have used them both extensively here on the ledges of Kentucky Lake. I can't imagine a lighter se
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Sorrry for late reply Tony. I have no problems with the uni-uni knot passing through the micro's. Multiple test casts with 10# Power Pro / 12# Fluoro Leader averaged 100' with 1/8oz Shaky head and 110' with a 1/4oz head. These are actual measured distances done in my yard with the following setup: St. Croix 5C68MXF-B YSG 16-12-7-4's to tip with the #16 buttguide 21" from Diawa SS700 spo
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St. Croix 5C68MXF-B Blank is my choice in both spinning and as a casting rod. I built one as a spinning rod with 16-10-6-3.5's to tip. Diawa SS700 / 10# Power Pro /!0# Fluoro leader / uni-uni. Same blank built as a casting rod with micro's. Shimano Mg50 same line system as above. I use shaky heads from 3/32oz to 3/8oz and footballs to 3/8oz. My footballs are made with light wire Gama hooks. I f
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If your looking for a rod to handle large crankbaits ( Poe's 400's, DD22's etc.) in depth ranges of 10' to 15' you might want to look at the St. Croix 3C70HM. I built this blank several months ago. I extended it to 7'6" and spiral wrapped it with LSG3.5's. It performed very well on cranking the ledges here on Kentucky Lake. An added bonus is that it will throw a Rat-l-trap a country mile wit
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Thank you Tom
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Article on NGC System in Rodmaker Volume 10 - Issue 4 is somewhat confusing to me. The paragraph on running guides calls for all of them to be spaced equidistant from the choke guide to the tip top. In the example photographs #2 and #4 they appear to have been located by a different procedure. Could anyone clarify this for me. Thanks.
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I just removed the butt guide from a fairly new 5C70MF rod that I had built last year. To my dismay the brown pearlized finish came off and the rod looks terrible .The carbon grey base color is now showing in this area. The guide had been installed orginally with CP and LS Supreme. I have removed and repaired many rods but have never seen this happen before. Most of the previous rods have been Lo
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Steve, Thanks for taking the time to reply to my question. I too am a bass fisherman / rod builder.
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For Steve Gardner. I read in one of your posts that on your casting rods you did not use the bumper spiral. I am interested in what spiral wrap system you are using. I have been building a few rods with small guides and have been using the bumper with fairly good results. Just very curious after reading your article in Rodmaker. Enjoyed the article very much.
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Bryan, I have been using a St. Croix GI176LM for crankbaits and rattle trap's for black and large whitebass as well as some rockfish. It does an excellent job. Caught some rockfish up to 10#'s on it this fall. It has a moderate to slow action and you can throw a 3/8 oz bait a long way. Also the moderate action does not allow the fish any leverage to throw your bait. I built mine as a spinning ro
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I have built six light bass casting rods using the O'Qinn system. I have set up the transition guides so that the line touches each of them on the bottom of the ring. I set them up with the rod blank straight or under no load. Later when I load the rod to do the static guide placement for the running guides I notice that the line no longer is close to the bottom of my transion guides and in fact
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