Well I'm sorry Tom! I was heavily medicated at the Expo as I had henia surgery the day before I got on the plane to fly up there! So maybe I was just dreaming it was you when actually it was someone else. But I think I know what I saw and after reading Bill & Rena's posts I guess I didn't just dream it up! What you wrote Rena is kinda what I remembered and the handle came out great when he (
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I attended the 2009 Custom Rod Expo and was lucky enough to see Tom K. giving a sminar on some useful tricks used by the pro's. I saw him aplying some super glue out of a large squeeze bottle onto the cork handdle while it was on a rod laith. Then he spun the handle and sanded the cork which put a nice hole fee finish on the cork. My question is for you Tom> I'm sure you told us but I forgot!
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Bob, I hope I can help a little. I sold electric supplies and lighting for over 20 years. About 10 years ago the stopped making (or were suposed to) cool white and warm white fluorecent lamps or the F40T12CW & F40T12WW. These were rthe 4' version tubes everyone used. They started making and selling the T8 lamps which are the same lenth but a smaller diameter and are energy efficiant!! These
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I just finished a 71/2' Batson RX7 one piece spinning rod w/ micro guides and a split cork handle for snook / redfish / seatrout down here on the west coast of Fla. It was my first micro guide / split grip rod I have made for myself> made 2 for my sons. I was throwing a Skitterwalk the other day to reds and gator trout and I was amazed by two things about this rod. One> it cast farther tha
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If you don't mind me asking, what size and how many guides did you use on the bottom half?? I want to cast from Homosassa to Padre Island!
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The Batsons outdone themselves w/ thier new catolog. It is hands down the finest, easiest to read and most beutiful rod building matterials catolog I've ever seen! If you haven't seen it yet, they have a copy online to veiw but I still love looking at rod building or any fishing related catalogs I get in the mail, I've been getting piles of them every year for more than 45 years it still excites
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I've had snook peel the plastic coating off the flyline under a nail not leaving me covered in flyline dumbfounded w/ my fish in the safety of the mangroves! I now always make a loop in the flyline like Dave but I use Plybond instad of head cement. It last longer than a mono loop and just seems stronger. I admit I still use a nail or needle knot while fishing fresh water as the loop to loop seems
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Hi Trinity, My experiance for large fish on fly is in salt water but I can tell you this about #8 & #9 weight rods. It really depends on the manufacturer, some #8 rods fish better w/ #9 or even #10 lines and some fish better with #7 ines. I've learned to use the manufacturers suggestion as a starting place and try several size lines on them to see which fits best for my style casting! The Ve
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I'm sorry this post is so late in coming! Two days after the Expo, I had triple cervical disk fusion in my neck and couldn't get to a computor till now. I had the most outragous time and learned about 10 years worth of rod building tricks & techniques from the seminars and talking to all the pros! I stocked up from all the great vendor's deals and met so many friendly guys & gals who I ca
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Karry, I'll bet it would be an awsome snook rod too! Hmmmm? Guss I'm going to have to start saving my nickles! I've been using my RX7-7weight 9&1/2' 3peice (just love it!) w/ a 8 weight forward taper line for inshore flats redfish, seatrout, baby tarpon and snook but haven't tangled w/ anything much over 10lbs. yet on it. I think the 8 weight or even a 9 weight would be great for bigger mangr
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Those Matrix rods sure are pretty! I have a #3 in black & a #5 in green I use for trout streams whenever I get up north. I just love them! But haven't tried a larger Matrix flyrod yet. I'll bet they are great and just so sweet looking!
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I built an RX 7, 9&1/2', 7weight , 3 peice and use it here in S. Fla. for insore but have also used it for bass on lakes here. It's a great tool and has enough power to bring in some big girls. My largest bass on it was 6&1/2lbs. and I had no problem beating her on this rod. The extra length is nice for picking up line over weeds. Good luck!
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Woops! Thanks Tom! My wife scheduled my plane tickets about a month ago and had me going to the wrong airport! I'm really glad you set me straight or Snooker would have had been in for a shock getting of the plane in the wrong town! We fixed the tickets last night and now am going to the right GREEN!
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I'll be coming in alone from Charlotte on US Air Flight #4396 arriving in Greenville @10:25am Friday 2/20. If anyone is on that flight or at the airpor around then, I'd be glad to share a cab! It will be hard to mis me, I'm 6'3 and 295lbs and will have my CRB symbol stuck on a backpack or duffel!
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Hey Pete, I'm have only been doing this for a little over two years and have made about 10 fly rods. I have been salwater flyfishing for over 20, fresh water over 40. My favorite so far, (I;m on a limited budget mind you) is a Batson #IF976 which is a 9&1/2' med./fast 7 weight 2 peice. The blank list for $80.38 in this years catolog but our vendors will cut a good prtion off that and you can
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Hey Paul, I had read about these long two handed rods and like you became intrugued with them but living in S. Florida I'd never seen one in action. Well about a year and a half ago, I took a trip up to Bremerton Washington to see my son stationed on The USS John Stenis, one of our largerst air craft carriers. While he was on duty one morning I took a ride up to Olympic National Park and saw se
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Thanks Tom, sounds great! I didn't want to rent a car as I'll never leave the Expo / Hotel!
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Hi guys, I've never been to the Big Expo before and will be attending this year and am so excited I'm just like a kid waiting for Christmas! I will be flying up by myself from S.E. Florida and need to know how to get to the Show from the airport? Not directions but but transportation. Is there a shuttle, limo service, cab or do I need to watch for someone wearing rod building hats or jackets and
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Thanks Roger, very cool and sounds like a great deal!
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Hey Roger, What do you put on the jaws to fit rods w/o damaging them? Rubber, cork, felt? Thanks!
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Thanks guys, Yea, I'll try the air first but the fine dark cork dust seems to imbed itself into all the deformities of the cork. I think I'll have to use the white eraser too. I knew you would have an answer!
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Hey Guys, I am doing a spinning rod for my son for Christmas and descided to match dark brown cork w/ regular light cork for the handle. My problem is when I sand it on my laithe the dust from the dark cork dirties and inbeds into the light cork. How can I clean this dust off the light cork? Thanks in advance!
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Thanks guys for your help! Clean hands & stop touching the thread. Tom, thats great info for newbee's who like me are probably toutching the thread way to much! I will practice trying to keep my hands away from the blank & thread before any epoxy is aplied. One more thing, I use the blue painters masking tape and sometimes stick it on the wrap itself. Is that a no-no also does this type t
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Good morning Guys, I have looked but haven't found any information on what to clean my thread with after wrapping. There must be hand oil and masking tape residual left on my wraps after I'm finished. Do I use denatured alcohol or is there something else I should be using befor putting on color preservative? Sorry if this has been answered 100 times befor, newbe, ya know!!! Thanks
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And I thought only beginners like me made mistakes like that! I corked sealed my workbench a couple months ago but was too imbarasted to post about it!
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Thanks guys, I've learned more about the mechanics and science of rods on this forum in the last 6 months than in the past 45 years of fishing and buying tacle! Heck, I actually though I was fairly well schooled, especially w/ fly rods. Boy was I wrong, I was like one of the people who came into Andy's shop. Man, I love this forum & Rodmaker Mag. I just can't wait to get a real education in
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I just wanted to put a good word in for this sponsoring vendor. I sent in an order early this A.M. aand not only did I get back a reciept right away, I also got a very personal e-mail asuring me that all items were in stock and would be shipping out today! KUDOS to Dean and the rest of the Donart folks!!!
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I have only built fly rods on RX6 & RX7 blanks althoug I have and am planning on building a spinning rod on RX7. With the fly blanks, the RX6 makes a slower rod, prefered by flyfishers who like the traditional slower feel even though Batson says it's meduim-fast. The RX7 builds a faster rod, which I prefer although it's not lightning fast like their RX8 blanks. I just LOVE my RX7 rods!! I gue
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I bought a Pac Bay lathe a couple of months ago after reading reviews about several different models here in this forum. Most guys felt this was the best for the money. I was going to buy the upgraded chuck but the vendors were out of them at the time. I have built about 1/2 dozen rods (fly & spinning) on it w/ the plastic chuck and by putting masking tape tightly around the blank, holding th
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Sorry Bill, Being fairly new here, I didn't know where you were from although I did see the LSU end cap you had in the picture. Yep, neither the Gators or the Tigers are doing as well as they have in the past couple years. Sorry everyone for being off topic but as long as we are talking football & rods, is there any copyright infringement problems when you build a LSU rod w/ their colors?? I
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