Check out the Black Hole nano popping range. Have built a few now with only positive feedback. The clients were using for big GT's out of Exmouth and the Mackerals. Stu Klose Denmark, Western Australia
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Yes. Focussing on depths up to 50 metres deep.
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Hi everyone I am seeking slow pitch jigging blanks to work jigs from 100g - 150g. A slow pitch jigging blank has a faster tip than a standard jigging blank (more a moderate action). Several big name makers are now coming out with rods but there are not really any blanks available that I can see. Thanks in advance. Stu Klose
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Hi all I am looking for some cross cut Eva grips that will fit the Phenix Titan 603ml and 563ml blanks. They are both around 11mm butt diameter so the 1/2inch ID grip I can find are not suitable. Any recommendations as a substitute? Stu
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Chris what specific jigging do you recommend the Xzoga blanks for as the two i will be building are specifically for Demersal Jigging with Fanky jigs (slow jiging) not speed jigging with knife jigs? Kevin can you provide me with your email address as i am keen to ask you a few questions? Stu
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Hi everybody I am chasing a couple of vertical (butterfly) jigging blanks. The first one is for PE 4 line jigging 100 - 200g in 40 - 60m of water. This rod will use a Shimano Talica 8 II reel. The second one is similiar but in spin form using a Daiwa Saltiga 4500H. I am currently looking at the Phenix Titan 563ML for conventional and the 606ML for the spin. Has anyone had any exper
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William with the 1000 size reel use the 27X calculation to place your size 6 K guide then simply place your size 12 and 20 guide as per NGC instructions. Then space out the rest of the size 6 guides equally to the tip no more than 5 inches apart. I prefer to have that space closer to 4 inches. From memory the distance between spool and stripper is about 25 inches not the prescribed 18-22. I wa
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I have done a dozen UL rod builds now with the K guides and using the new guide concept and have found that the stripper guides are moving further away but for some reason i am finding around a 5% increase in casting distance with the benefit of reduced tangling at the top end. I am matching 7ft or 6'6" 4-8lb blanks to 1000 size Shimano reels with the K guides and 6lb line and am having t
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Thankyou everyone for your help. Stu
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Hi everybody I am looking for a good supplier to produce a few tournament shirts for the guys i support with rods. I would like dye sub shirts so if anybody can recommend someone that would be greatly appreciated. Stu
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Thanks everyone for your advice. I am going to have a crack at the Seeker Hercules. Does anyone have billy's email so i can pick his brain? Stu
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Hi all I am looking for recommendations on a blank and set up for targeting fish in 30 - 70m of water running 50 - 65lb braid and dropping between 12 and 16oz of lead. The fish range in weight from 5 - 17kg in weight. I would prefer 6 or 6'6" in length in spin configuration. The reel will be a Daiwa Saltist 4500. I would like to develop this into a model in my range as spin for this purpo
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Mike not sure what length you want but here are three from United that will work very well for what info you have posted. United Composites: 6ft - PU 601 6'6" - PU661 7ft - PU 700 Stu
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Richard it should be fine. Its more likely that the cork will split if it is too tight. when you install the glue should lubricate the grip and it will slide down just right. Stu
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Thank you everyone for the very valuable info. I will go with the RX8+ and use lightwire snake guides. Eugene if you don't mind have you got a suggested guide size and spacing for this particular blank. RX8+ 5wt 4pce. Thanks again.
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This has been a popular setup in Australia for UL spin rods in the past. The Loomis DSR820 GLX came setup with Sic stripper and tip with the rec guides inbetween. Only downside was people experience slightly more tangles with the recs around the last couple of guides when casting light weight in windy conditions.
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I have narrowed down the blanks i am going to use for a 5wt fly build. One of the blanks i like is the Rainshadow RX8+, looking at their suggested guide spacings they suggest single foot fly guides. Can double foot snake guides be used instead of and what disadvantages may i get if i go down that path? Also what size snake guides would replace size 3 and 4 single foot fly guides? Stu
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Thank you all This is my first build on fly but i have built over 30 spin and conventional rods so i am happy with my building skill at the moment (plenty more to learn though). Blanks i am considering are: Saxe Z Axis 590-4 ZX Winston Boron 11x FA0509004 Thomas and Thomas Horizon II HII905-4 TFO TiCr X TFTX905 Northfork CTF 905-2 Any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated
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I wrap using 7 or 8 turns of C grade at the base of the guide (tape down the start of the foot) then remove tape and wrap as normal then cut off C grade when you get to it. Taping and bands didn't work for me.
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I am about to order goods for my first fly rod build and have identified that a 9ft 5wt rod is best suited to the species i plan to target. Having looked at a wide range of blanks i am still undecided. The brands i am looking at are TFO, Northfork, Sage and the other higher end blanks in a fast taper. I have read a lot about TFO punching well above its price range and like the sounds of the
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I have used around 15 blanks from United since Peter took over and the quality is great and they are developing new models all the time and having spoken to Peter about some ideas that would suit us in Australia he is more than open to investigating new concepts.
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Jim Tell him to contact Gary Howard, he distributes both CTS and North Fork in Australia. Stuart
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Hi all I am getting ready to build my first fly rod and need help in choosing parts and maybe even a recipe. I have had a great deal of interest in clients wanting fly rods built but i have had little experience with using or building one. I want to target saltwater species in Australia like Bonefish, Giant Trevally, Queenfish etc. It has been recommended that i build a 9wt for this purpose.
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Hi All I have a customer who fishes the continental shelf in Australia who wants a jig rod to jig upto 300m of water using jigs upto 600grams. He wants a conventional setup using a shimano tld50w. I am thinking of the hercules GTS60XH as the blank of choice. The questions are: 1. Do you think this is the best blank for the application? 2. What handle setup (including reel seet) do you
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What is a good general rule for drag % on a blank. I have been recommending with my builds that the user should not exceed 50% of the blank weight rating for their drag setting. Any thoughts? Stu Klose RapidFire Rods
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Not sure of the price in the US but my favourite UL light 7ft blank is a United Composites PU 70UL. We use UL 7ft rods alot in Australia and the PU 70UL is by far the best blank for the cost.
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Daiwa Fuego or Shimano Stella 1000fd will last and can hamdle a range of both salt and fresh UL uses. 7KG drag on the stella.
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You should be able to buy a thermostat that you can plug youre globes into that will regulate the temp automatically so you could be more precise with the temp. In Australia i bought mine from a homebrew supplies shop. Stu Klose
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Ray just comparing a TATSG and a Y frame 25, they are both the same height to within a mm or 2.
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Thanks for your reply ken. No i'm pretty sure i wrapped then with 'normal' tension because when i aligned then prior to epoxying they were quite difficult to move even a little. I have removed all the guides and cleaned the blank. Where one guide was there is a definite impression so my thinking is it was wrapped too tight. It is really puzzling, i even thought that the blank may have warped o
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