Has anyone built and used the 8', 3 piece 8wt Dorber fly rod mentioned above? I just emailed them for more info on the blank and hope to hear back soon, but I'm especially interested in hearing from someone that has built one, or any of their other fly blanks for that matter. John Gertz
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Eugene, Good point! Come to think of it, I've done CCS tests on a lot of short rods in the 5-6 wt. catagory that tested 7-8 wt. I'll bet I could hunt one of those down in a 3 or 4 pc. John Gertz
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Great suggestions, I'll follow up on these and see what I can do. I really wish St. Croix, Batson, or any blank builder would make these available. I think the shorter length in heavier line weights is just right for many situations.
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Is anyone making available a short (7'-6" to 8'-0") 8 wt., 3 or 4 pc. fly blank? I want to build one and can't find a supplier that makes them available. I know Reddington (Predator), Sage (Bass) and Ross (FlyStik) sell them, but am wondering if others do, or plan to. I wish Batson or St. Croix had them available. I've tossed around the idea of building one based on the multi-piece bas
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The newer dark green color PT+ blanks are very nice. So are the bright green Tradition II blanks. The PT+ is made in the U.S. if it matters to you. I've built several of both and I prefer the PT+ over the Tradition II because it's right on when I do CCS tests of the blanks. The Tradition II is faster and tends to be at least a line weight above what Cabela's lists (again according to CCS tets). T
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This is an interesting topic. I used to work in the retail ski business years ago and watched as the big name ski manufacturers squeezed out the big box retailers and moved all ski equipment related sales into "specialty" ski shops. There wasn't really anything special about the shops at all, but the exclusivity myth was born and henceforth ski equipment pricing was controlled by the in
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For someone new to fly fishing I'd pay particular attention to making sure that the rod's line weight and fly line weight match up. The Batson RX6 blanks are good blanks to learn on and I've found if Batson calls an RX6 a 5 weight, or a 6 weight, etc., it is. The Cabela's PT+ are fantastic fly blanks too. I've built a number of them now, both 2 pc and 4 pc. I do CCS tests on all blanks and the PT
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I think you have a Angler's Workshop Chalkstream blank. I have built a few and they are outstanding for small stream trout fishing. Moderate actions, and right on for the line weight(s) stated, if not a little under in some cases (per my CCS tests). The blanks are made in the U.S.A. for Angler's Workshop and have a very nice deep blue finish too. You got a great deal for $10.00! John Gertz
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I went back and checked the loop on the fly line and it's bigger than it needs to be. I wonder if the same loop is used on all line weights? This loop is just too big for a 4 weight line. I'm going to cut it off and nail knot a mono loop to the end and put a small perfection loop in the end of the leader. That should pass the LSG 6's just fine. I'll also check the loops on new fly lines from now
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With all the loop to loop connectors now factory installed on fly lines I'm finding I have to move up in guide size to let these buggers pass. I just tested a fly rod (8'-6" 4 wt.) with Fuji LSG 6's at the tip section and found I had to force the loop to loop connector through the guides. It wasn't easy; infact I can't use them. I taped on a set of 7's and had no problems. I want to stay wit
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Thanks for the help Tom. Is CA the same as Super Glue?
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I've recently experienced two cases of loss of adhesive bond between wood inserts and nickle sliver reel seat parts. Both times it's been the butt cap on uplocking fly reel seats. The epoxy is very much bonded to the wood, but breaks cleanly from the nickle silver part. I use Scotchbrite (gray color) pads to clean the metal parts, mix the epoxy correctly, assemble and don't mess with things for 2
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I think Diamondback rods are now made, or at least assembled overseas. I used to buy a lot of the Classic Trout blanks, the ones with the distinctive diamond weave graphite and loved them. Not many blanks made a better trout rod in my opinion. Winston WT's, Scott G2's and the Orvis Superfine's come to mind. I am thoroughly bummed. I contacted Diamondback late last year to inquire about the blanks
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Tom, what's the advantage of putting the threads toward the tip? I was told to put the threads down, which made me wonder if that meant down locking (threads toward the tip), or literally threads down toward the butt? I can't reach the person who suggested this until next week and would like to install the reel seat and handle this weekend. I was hoping someone here could help me clear up what w
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I'm in the process of putting together a spinning rod and have a question about attaching the spinning reel seat with threads up or threads down. I was advised by a reputable manufacturer to put the reel seat "threads down" to avoid holding the threads while fishing. I'm a bit confused by this. Does this mean literally threads toward the butt, or does this mean down locking, which would
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Thank you all for the great advice, this has narrowed my search a lot. I'll take a close look at all the recommendations. When I was approached about doing this rod I was told the sockeye fishing was combat fishing so I have good advice here. Thanks again. John Gertz
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I would appreciate some recommendations on a spinning rod that would work well for sockeye (red) salmon on Alaskan rivers. Some silver salmon too. The blank needs to be 2 piece and will be used by a rather petit woman. I'm told she also likes to fish northerns and I was asked if the salmon rod could cover both. I fish for northern, but not salmon so any advice would be great. I want to keep it li
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Thanks for the advice, Paul. I think I'm going to build the salmon rod on the St. Croix Imperial blank I have, which is an 8 weight. I wish I had bought more of those blanks when I had the chance. I noticed that the Batson Forecast and Diamondback's Diamondfly blanks are very similar to the Imperial's CCS numbers listed in an above posting. I would think those blanks would also be good choices.
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Thanks Spencer. I happen to have a St. Croix Imperial (now discontinued) in a 9'-0", 8 weight, 4 pc. The blank is St. Croix's SC II, which I think is 33 million modulus. She is very good with a fly rod, but not advanced. The CCS numbers I got from the Imperial blank are: ERN - 9.2, AA - 65. She might like that a lot. Thanks for your help.
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Thanks for the information, Bob. I'll look at the Dan Craft FT, and am I correct in assuming it's a 7 weight that can really handle an 8 or 9 weight line? I think I remember something about the FT's being rated like that. Thanks again for your advice.
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I'm going to build a salmon fly rod for a woman (a gift), and need some recommendations on line weights, blanks, etc. She'll be fishing in Alaska. I can build it, but I don't have experience fishing Alaskan silvers and other such critters. The rod budget is around $200.00. I'm also leaning toward ceramic guides and would appreciate your thoughts on that too, as I'm a little concerned about using
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I thought I'd post this here as well as at the end of a thread posted earlier so others might read this. I e-mailed ATC with questions about the fly blank line and got a nice response back from Fred Gasparach, sales manager. He informed me that the ATCIII fly blank is the same as before, which would be the Shikari SHIII. Good news to me since I just ordered two of the ATC blanks hoping that would
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I e-mailed ATC with a question about the fly blank line and got a nice response back from Fred Gasparach, sales manager. Mr. Gasparach stated that the ATCIII fly blank is the same as before, which I take to mean that it is the same as the Shikari SHIII. Great news! He also addressed the issue of where ATC blanks are made, and was very clear in saying that all ATC blanks are being produced at thei
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The 2007 ATC blank catalog states... "built from scratch" American blanks. If I'm interpreting that right, I don't think they have blanks built outside the US.
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Bill, Would you use two Fuji titanium/sic strippers with Recoil snakes and top on the Sage SLT 5 weight? If so, would this set up seem good: 12 (stripper), 8 (stripper), 3,1,1,1,1,1,1 (Recoil snakes), tip top (Recoil std loop top). I think this would be very nice. It's a little different than what I usually do, but that's the fun part. All said and done, this would still be lighter than the Hop
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I just ordered ATC fly blanks and assumed that they were the same as the Shikari SHIII's because they have identical specs, blank color etc. How naive is that! I''ve used many fly blanks from the three ranges Shikari provided and thought they were some of the very best blanks out there. The bottom range SHII 8'-6" 4 weight is still one of my all time favorite trout rods (if anyone has some g
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Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll think about using the single foot guides, and I'm already planning to use the Fuji titanium/Sic stripper. What makes the Recoil top catch a knot compared to a standard tip top? regarding my preference for snake guides, it's purely looks, I just like the traditional appearance. I know I'd be giving up some performance using them, that's why I want to keep th
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Spencer, I do use a loop-to-loop connector so I think 2/0 might be too small. I'm using a standard loop tip top so I'd like to keep the snakes nearest it about the same size. I've read some don't like the light wire Recoil guides, something about them being too springy under the wraps, and the heavier Recoil snake (RSNX) only goes down to size 1. I'd have to go with the H&H snakes to get th
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I'm building a Sage SLT 8'-6", 5 weight, and want to keep it light. The blank is small diameter and the blank's weight is very light. I prefer snake guides and am considering Hopkins & Holloway or REC Recoil guides. The stripping guide will be Fuji titanium (TLNSG). I'm planning to use a 12 (stripper), 4,2,1,1,1,1,1,1, tip top. Do you think the Recoil snakes and top are the way to go?
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I always check tip size and butt diameters when I get a new blank. Perhaps I'm really anal about this, but it always bothers me when the specs published by the manufacturer's vary from the ones I take. I know that the manufacturing process of rolling blanks on mandrels and cutting them down can change things, but some are very consistent, St. Croix for example (almost creepy how consistent), and
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