Raymond, Just came back from Medford / Yreka yesterday - Great couple of days you picked to be there! If you have the time, the rivers are up but I picked up one steelie (6 pounds buck), broke one off, and missed a third in 90 minutes at Casey Park on the Rogue. While you're up there, see Bob Meiser and / or Steve Godshall in Medford (if you can make in over Siskiyou Pass). Good guys, great
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Wow - thanks for all the responses! And Steve, it ain't hijacking when the info is good. Thanks for this forum (and the magazine), Tom - the wealth of experience here never ceases to amaze me.
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I'm about to try turning my first EVA grip, and I've got a couple of questions. Can you turn it the same way you do with cork, using sandpaper, or do you get better results using other methods? And are there other ways to finish the butt rather than a butt cap, like cutting a plug from the block to plug the bore? This is a camo grip for my eight year old son, so I'm probably more concerned abo
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Martin, I can add my vote for the 1007FT, although I find I haven't used it two-handed all that often. One of the things that most impressed me about the rod was the time that I crashed a Comet into it in the midst of a (two handed) cast, and the blank suffered no ill effects. I've also landed steelies to nearly ten pounds on it on 4x tippet. Good luck! Wayne
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Martin, I built my 10' 7wt Dan Craft as a switch rod, using an old REC reel seat with a 4" telescoping fighting butt and a 9.5" fore grip. It's mostly used for central valley and some coastal steelhead and shad. I've found that I rarely use it in the two hand setup, and the longer foregrip has actually made single-handed casting a little uncomfortable. If I were to redo it, I eith
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I've used the Dan Craft FT1008-4 for the last 2 seasons and cannot say enough good about it. It's slightly slower than his 9' FT's, and A) is soft enough to handle Trinity steelies to 10 pounds on 4x tippet, B) can sling a fairly substantial hunk of lead, and C) held up fine when I overpowered one of the first casts I made with it and crashed a heavily weighted size 2 comet into it. Plus, Dan'
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It's great to hear Eddie's is still in business, and I recommend stopping in there. I hung out there more than I should have in college, for several reasons (a targeted potential girlfriend had an apartment next door), and that was in the early '80's. Even if you're staying in the Bangor area, get up to the Baxter SP / Golden Road / Millinocket area and the Moosehead region. There also used to
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I'm still working out bugs in my new rod wrapper, and the thread tension system I came up with is one of the buggiest - so, yeah, thread tension could well be it. As always, great quick responses - it's a great resource you've put together, Tom. Thanks. Wayne
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I've built several fly rods over the years, but am building my first spinning rod (Rainshadow IS, 5.5' 2 piece ultralight). I had just finished wrapping the guides (fuji single foot), and had run the line through the guides to check my spacing. Under moderate load, say what a 12 inch smallmouth would do, the tip broke right at the upper end of the wrap on the second guide, about 11 inches from
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Stan, I did cast the new FTL at a Sportsman's show this past winter - I don't know the Austin blank you list, but the the FTL is an incredible rod. I think it was an 8.5' 4wt, and was dead accurate at about 50 ft into a moderate wind. V ery smooth, medium-fast. Wayne
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Todd, I'm a little late to the party, but just to my $0.02 - most CA (super) glues have very poor water resistance on top of the fast set speed. As Spencer pointed out, Gorilla glue and the other polyurethanes expand quite a bit, and would at least move if not completelt remove the tip-top. I've never had a problem with a 5 minute epoxy tip top, and they do remove easily (although I often re
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My six year old has become addicted to casting his medium weight spinning rod (an old fenwick fiberglass pack rod), and I thought I'd build him an ultralight to better match up with the bluegill and small stream trout we usually fish for. I've only built fly rods, and suddenly realized I know exactly diddly about spinning blanks. Any suggestions for 5-5.5', preferably 2 piece blanks? Durablilt
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Mick, Great idea. I assume those are aluminum bars that you're using for shims - where did you track those down? Wayne Chubb
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Ray, The carp are up on flats on Folsom in April (I hear the bikinis are as well - I don't notice such things myself), I assume the bass are active as well, and the bluebacks are up on caddis on the Lower American - one of those might not be a bad choice. Wayne Chubb Fair Oaks
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I'll echo (some of) Dennis' sentiments. While I wouldn't call it better than sex unless you're doing both wrong, it is one very sweet casting and accurate rod. And Ken, Dennis' work on both grips and weaves is incredible, if you're looking for someone to build a considerable upgrade to the rod you described. Wayne Chubb Fair Oaks, CA
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Dan, I assume you'll have a booth in the fly fishing hall? I'll be tying there on Sunday, but hope to spend Saturday there wasting time. Any chance you'll have any other lines, Sig V or III? Look forward to meeting you and testing a few more of your "kids". Wayne Chubb
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Iwan, I used my new 10' 7 wt FT that I built as a switch rod for steelies on the Trinity this past fall. We had to go to 4x tippets, and the rod was soft enough in the tip to handle that light a leader and still land fish up to 7-8 pounds. I was looking forward to the opener on the American here in Sacto tomorrow to test it on larger fish with heavier leaders, but it's currently flowing at 2
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Tim, I've used the drill press / lathe setup on my shopsmith to turn several grips, without using a tool rest, with very satisfactory results. I've simply used strips of 80, 100 and 120 grit to rough out and finish the shape (after laying it out on 1/4 graph paper). I don't know if it will translate to a vertical press, but it can be done. Wayne Chubb
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Jeff, I built what amounted to a 10'6" switch rod out of an FT 1007-4. I love it with both the 7 wt. and various shooting heads, and it held up fine when, on one of the inaugural casts this spring, I overpowered a two handed cast and crashed a heavy (size 2) comet into it. I wasn't as happy with how it handles an 8 wt. Airflo Delta Float line (not the Delta Spey) - it became a little to
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I've heard it suggested that one way to get into bamboo rods inexpensively is to buy one of the lesser vintage rods, such as a Montague or H-I, and strip it back down to a blank, and rebuild it. Has anyone here ever tried it? Any thoughts would be appreciated. Wayne Chubb
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Woodworkers Hardware (www.woodworkershardware.com) is another great source. Their catalog isn't as pretty as WoodCraft, but their hardware selection is more extensive and more competitively priced. You won't go wrong with either one. Wayne
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Has anyone built many (any) of the Batson speys? I was looking at the 13' 8/9 for our Central Valley steelies and shad, and some of the smaller coastal rivers - medium density lines and medium flies for the most part. I don't expect something comarable to my more well-heeled buddy's Burkheimers, but the price is tough to ignore. I notice that they are listed as IM6/IM7, and 33 million modul
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Russ, I'm not the builder that these others are, but I have been using single foot ceramics for 25 years on my own rods. Except for an occaisonal loss of an insert - and we're talking maybe 3 or 4 out of a couple hundred guides over 25 years - they perform well. I started using them because I liked the look and they required only one wrap per guide. I have no doubt that they also may increas
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Easily, epoxy finishing. After all the good, creative work is finished, you have to put a bunch of glossy junk on, and like the forward pass, three things can happen and two are bad. Actually, I've found alot more than two can go bad, but the saying fit. Have Fun!! Wayne
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Al, I built a 10' 7wt FT earlier this year, with a 9.5" "extended full wells" (I guess that's the best description) foregrip and REC's old telescoping rear grip, the thought being that the longer fore grip would facilitate 2 handed casting. If I had to do it over again, I'd use a standard 7.5" foregrip. Whether it is the longer grip or the heavy reel seat, or both, it th
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Dave, I noticed that Andy Dear (Lamar Reel Seats) will be closing out his Burkheimer blanks, beginning in June. I'm not sure where they will be priced - they aren't cheap - but they are an incredible rod. Wayne
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The next best life preserver is not fishing alone. A few years back, I took a head first fall on the McCloud river, landed face fist on lava outcrop. Ended up with a broken wrist, concussion, skull fracture and a nasty forehead scar. Had I not been with 2 friends (the first time I'd ever shown anybody this "secret spot"), my body would probably still be there. Two kids and a good li
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Sam, I'd have to echo the above sentiments regarding the Dan Craft rods, but my experience has been slighly different. I built the FT1004-7 as a steelhead / shad switch rod. and it actually has more flex (a softer butt) than I expected. It's a little stiffer than my old, dearly loved fenwick HMG, but if I had it to do over I'd probably order the 8 wt and fish it as a seven if I were going to
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I'm getting ready to try turning a hardwood insert for my next grip, but was wondering how you ream out the grip to fit the blank? Is it tapered, stepped, etc? And how many blanks can I expect to crush before I get it down? Thanks, Wayne Chubb
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Stefan, I just finished the 10' 7 FT using Dan Craft's spacing, and I've been very satisfied with the rod (although I missed the end of the Steelhead run on the American, and haven't tested it under a "live load"). Just email Dan and ask about his spacing chart, or email me and I'll forward it. If you do use static spacing, would you mind sharing your results? Wayne
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