Okay, David, I'll tell you about my early April project. Just scored a mint Zebco snoopy rod at a yard sale. Those suckers let me walk away with it for only $75, but I had to take this drum labeled "hazmat" off their hands to get that special price. Gonna strip the guides and handle off it, then extend it out to 7' with woven graphite tubing (it's 4' long now). A Tennessee handle w
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I think you are on the right track David and I can tell you're a pro by your use of lots of technical jargon. It definitely makes a lot of sense to target bluefin and finger mullet with the same rod because, you know, they both live in salt water. Make sure the guides are titanium alloy to prevent corrosion. That's all I'd add to your recipe for a do-it-all saltwater rod.
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Mark Steffen of Flagstaff, AZ builds his blanks with spigot ferrules. He makes blanks out of S-glass fiberglass and 42-million modulus graphite (2 separte lines of blanks). Because he makes his own blanks, one at a time to order, I'm sure he would be willing to work with you to make you what you are looking for, even if it means making something not exactly like his regular offerrings. He made
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Oh, that makes more sense. I thought it meant whether the poster's home state fought for the union or the confederate side. When you live 10 miles from the Mason Dixon line and 22 miles from Gettysburg those colors have different meanings.
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Correction Mike, it's on the RodMaker home page, featured on the cover of issue 5-4. NPS downlocking with short butt grip flared to the rear and almost no foregrip.
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Mike, If you go to the RodMaker site and look on the covers of back issues in the last couple years you will see the handle as Tom describes. He featured it on a smallmouth spinning rod project he described in that issue. I had never used the handle but I built myself that rod with that handle after reading the article. I have to agree with Tom that the handle is very comfortable to fish al
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Emory, I could be wrong but I don't think that Tim said he is using the CCS - he is just deflecting both some to compare which has faster action. That seems like a valid comparison to me. Certainly as valid or more valid than the old "tip into the floor or ceiling" test.
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I think what you say makes sense. Also, and this should make you feel in good company and reassured, Bob Meiser built that rod with only 6 or 7 guides total and said it performed like a champ as a switch rod and handling some major grain loads. If you search his name, you'll find his posts from late summer or fall of last year.
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It all depends on how much power your blank actually has and how far you plan to be casting it and how you want the blank to feel while you're casting. I have the Forecast 662 in the 4pc. version but haven't built it yet. I tested mine with the CCS and mine has an ERN of 2.67. Given that I'll probably never put 30' of line in the air with that rod in the places I plan to fish it, I'll probably
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If you haven't read and/or tried the repair techniques in Ralph's article (Tom has included it in the Library), I can vouch that they are easy to follow and they work great. In the last year, I have done 3 or 4 repairs using the article as a guide and tutorial. The most complicated one was over this past weekend. The rod was crushed in the same way Ralph's "example #4" was. It looke
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Don, I don't know what fishing for Redfish is all about so I'd rather let someone who does that answer your question. My FT1004-4 project will probably get used as a two handed rod on big warmwater for swinging smallmouth streamers and on trout water for fishing nymph and split shot rigs. Seems like it ought to have plenty of power to fish a 6-7wt. line and handle large fish. From what peop
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Ditto
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That's great Stan. Hopefully, John Launstein will also add a bunch of data points soon too. I know he carries Five Rivers and uses the CCS a lot. You are right, these 9' models don't run out of power easily. They can flat out send it. I haven't built or fished the 10' models but as you know Bob Meiser and John L. have raved about them. Gonna try the FT1004-4 for myself as a switch rod/nymph
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Bruce, congratulations and great job. Now, do yourself a favor before the addiction takes hold too strongly. Delete this site from your favorites list, never come back here again, destroy your computer, and go fish that surf rod like crazy. As you describe it, "all the rods spinning around in your head" will eventually drive you insane. Steve
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I agree with all the Sig. V 894-3 recommendations. If you really have to have 9' total length, just extend the butt section a few inches underneath the reel seat. They are available in sanded natural graphite (grey) or unsanded which are glossy and darker with fine ridges from the tape and epoxy in the manufacturing process - sort of like the old Orvis Superfine (in appearance only!). Moderate
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Here are the test results for each model in full and 3/4 length. 9' models are 6'9.5" w/ butt dropped and 10' models are 7'6" w/ butt dropped. These have been proofed for errors and double checked where unexpected readings resulted. YES, the 10' numbers are correct. A year ago there were good explanations made about how you can gain power by dropping the butt and I don't have time t
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Tony, I wish I could help more but most of the 3/4 Tiger Eyes I've built have been short ones and many of them were built pre-CCS. For what it's worth, most have seemed to be sensibly rated based on their ERNs and actions. As an example, the 7034-2 I built had an ERN of 3.86 and the 8656-4 I build was in the upper 5s. I have also noticed that they don't feel particularly crisp in longer model
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I do it exactly as Steve R. describes and it is very easy and works very well. Put some masking tape on the blank to prevent damage while sanding the hosel to final size and shape.
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Whoa, thanks Tony. I'm glad the input is helpful to you and others. But, to be perfectly honest, you might be giving me too much credit. Don't confuse my nerdish obsession with this stuff with altruistic behavior. Anyway, it's great that the database is there (thanks to Bob Hesser) and that the system exists and was published (thanks to Hanneman and Kirkman). I appreciate your note. Ste
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