Unless they have changed from a few years ago, I would be cautious with them. I built several of the 10’6” H and XH that all ended up breaking about 14 to 18 inches down the blank. Perhaps it was a batch of bad blanks? It seemed ironic that they would all break in generally the same area of the blank. Most of the breakage was during a normal cast with not oversized musky baits. I know of another
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Hey all, I’m looking for a casting seat with a very small inside diameter so I don’t need to build up or use a foam arbor for the seat. Does anyone know of such a reel seat? Thanks for your help! Trinity
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Like Roger said, the predator blanks would work. The St. Croix blanks tend to be labeled a little lighter than they are capable of. I have built on several of the Legend Tournament musky blanks. The 9’ heavy “Big Nasty” will handle the baits you mentioned above. If he really wants the XH blank, you could get the “Big Dawg” 8’6” and extend it to 9 feet. To date I don’t believe that 5he 10’ Legend
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St. Croix makes an 8 foot blank that would fit the bill. here's the model number: PGM80HM
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Agree with Spencer... You're going to need to apply a pretty substantial force to break a trigger off a reel seat. I've done this to all of my own rods from light cranking rods for bass all the way up to 10'6" XXH musky rods. I've yet to run into an issue. If you are that desperate for a hook keeper, the hood of the reel seat along the foot of the reel works well, or the reel itself... I
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A super easy way to install a hook keeper: Drill a hole in the trigger of the reel seat and sand the edges of the hole. Done. No wraps, no tangles.
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I've bought a couple of the boxes of returns from St. Croix. There are no blanks in the boxes, just returned rods in need of repair, or completely beyond repair. As Dennis said, they are a great source of supplies to build from. I teach a rod building class at the middle school I work at and have been able to supply my students with some high quality components at a fraction of the retail, or
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It also depends on how hard you go at it. If you are leisurely and don't press, it can take a day easily. If you keep your nose to the grind it can be done in a few hours...
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Sitting in my shop last night I thought about trying to use a permanent marker to turn a regular spool of thread into a "tiger wrap" by randomly marking it with the marker. Has anyone ever done this with success? Will the marker bleed when finish is applied? Thanks for any hints or info in advance.
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I use the bottom of a pop can to mix my finish. I use a science probe, like ones used in a biology class to mix and apply my finish. It has a 45 degree angle to it. Much like Joseph says, I usually mix pretty fast and do get a bubbles. I have found that the concave surface of the bottom of the can allows finish to settle/run back to the center even when "pulling" it up the sides while
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As a musky fisherman and rod builder I would recommend the St. Croix 9' "Big Nasty" blank. It is a legend tournament series SCIV blank. It will handle any bull dawg they want to throw, plus it is an awesome big bucktail blank as well. I have two of them that I built myself and use them for exactly what these guys are looking for. One always has a bucktail on it and the other usually
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I build all of my musky rods spiral wrapped, I have yet to have a guide pull off. I have even used size 4 alconite fly guides as running guides with no problem.
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I believe St. Croix is coming out with a 2 piece blank in the SC II musky series this year. I'm not sure if it has been released yet...
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got any pictures?
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Might be a St. Croix musky blank in the SCIV series that will work...
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I have built several musky rods and all of them except for two for a friend have been spiral wrapped. The only reason he didn't go spiral is because of how it looks. I just finished up a 9 foot SCIV Big Nasty for another guy with a Fuji ECSM blank exposed seat, split rear grip, no fore grip, with micro single foot guides. We'll see how the guides hold up, I have fished my own 8 footer with mic
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I just ordered the back issue of rodmaker...that will likely be easier than trying to figure it out by trial and error...
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Anyone ever "tack" guides in place with super glue or something else then cover with flexcoat or whatever? I think it might look kinda cool and at worst I end up wrapping guides if it doesn't hold up... Any insight welcome and appreciated. Trinity
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Stick jackets are great in teh rod locker in my opinion. Definitely a good thing to keep rods from tangling and protects the finish as well.
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So I read the article about extending blanks in the library and then just read the topic about ferrules on this page... Anyone ever use a metal ferrule to to extend a blank? If they are made in a size large enough to do so, it may be a neat way to extend a rod. Or not, I am not sure...just typing and thinking aloud...
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St. Croix's all the way. I have built several muskie rods and highly recommend St. Croix. I personaly like the Legend Tournament line of blanks, but the others will work well also.
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St. Croix's all the way. I have built several muskie rods and highly recommend St. Croix. I personaly like the Legend Tournament line of blanks, but the others will work well also.
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St croix and Castaway are my two favorites right now. I started out building on Loomis, but became less and less impressed with their blanks after shimano bought them out....
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How does the weight of the bark rings compare to that of cork? Heavier I would guess... They sure look nice regardless of weight.
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I use a probe that you would find in a biology classroom. Similar to a spatula and can reach into the hard to get at area with micros.
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Does the rod tip point to the floor or up? If its to the floor you are good to go...
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I will third the castaway blanks. The 965 is an awesome crankin stick!
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SC 4's are great too.
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I use a probe from a biology class for disecting. It has a nice curve and angle to it that I like...
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I built the 965 and love it too! you can really launch baits with these 8 footers!
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