Having built a few rods from rod kits I will now start building from components. I plan to build saltwater rods for 1) big red drum from the NC surf with mono 2) blues (up to 12 lbs), black drum to 8 lbs, and nuisance shark and ray that come by( mono or fireline) 3) inshore rod for flounder, speckled trout and smaller blues, black bass and sheepshead by boat (fireline). I think I have a general
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One thing I learned doing my first surf two piece was to put both pieces together and mark where the wrap, and trim wrap, will start and end after marking the butt guide. I wrapped all the top piece guides and then wrapped the butt guide on the bottom piece only to find when the the two pieces were put back together the butt guide wrap would not allow the two pieces to completely join. I had t
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Don, normally I do not cast anything over 8 oz but there are times on the Outer Banks when the drift is so strong that 8 oz is not enough. Usually I cast 5-8 oz plus cut bait. Very rarely up there can I get by with 4 oz. Almost never with 3 oz.
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Why do you guys like Batson?
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I used my first built surf rod last week in the Outer Banks. It was a kit with a LSBT1202M Lamiglass 10 ft blank to which I added a Stradic 6000 spinning with 14 lb line. Second day there I landed a 41 in and 30 in red drum from the surf and later a 5 ft ray after a 35 min fight. The rod held up great and it is really casts better than any of my commercial ones like Tica, Shakespear, and Penn
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I have a two piece surf casting rod that I cannot separate the top section from the bottom. Is there a suggestion?
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I got a Shimano Stradic ST6000FI spinning for this one. Seems to fit pretty well. I put 14 lb suffix on. Going to Ocracoke to get some big red drum. Normally I use an 11 - 13 ft rod so this one will be a little less. I adjusted the reel seat so it it feels better while I'm holding the rod in the surf. This was interesting, never having built a surf rod, I just closed my eyes put my hand whe
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I spoke to the company today. They have a builder who used to work for lamiglass. The blank is a composite, it was just misprinted in the catalog as graphite. So the "blemish" is really just the transition from graphite to glass. The entire rod is smooth with no ridges and should be fine. I'm not sure I would notice it except I was studying the blank when I set up my guides. They
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So this is a LSBT1202M blank-10 ft 12-30 line wt that I purchased as a surf rocket spinning kit. I am a new rod builder and did not check the top piece that closely until I started placing the guides. The catalog says the blank is a graphite ( so not a composite). I remeasured the blemish. It is actually 50 in from the tip top beginning as a V and then the black portion covers about 50% of th
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Tom Took your suggestion and called Lamiglass. They said the black shiny finish is usually sanded off the blank to reveal the charcoal gray beneath and it probably did not get sanded properly.
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Its a lamiglass kit specially made for one of the large builders supply company and the shiny black area is only on one side and sort of spirals. Does not appear to affect integrity.
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I received a surf rod kit from a large company and after gluing up the seat and grip to the first piece I noticed the top piece had a surface blemish that I missed when I first got the blank. The blank has a grayish coating all over except on a section of the second top piece and it looks like a coating that did not completely cover the blank and runs at least fifteen inches long ending in a V p
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I actually just did this over the weekend. My first one. I added some contact cement to the start and finish as I saw on a Youtube video. I believe it helps keep the ends from fraying. I may wrap some thread as well. Starting it was not difficult, although there are no instructions with the kit. I ran a masking tape around the blank and used this to measure the length of the angle so the tip
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I can spline a single blank pretty easily but I have a two piece 10 ft surf rod blank. How do you spline this? The bottom segment is too stiff and the top segment does not seem to settle to the spine when rolled on the floor. I figure you should not try to spline with both segments attached, right?
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Your client might get more distance by simply using a different sinker such as Frog tongue sinker and placing the rod in some type of extension on the pier. Fifteen footers would be fairly awkward to cast especially on a pier that might be crowded.
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Bert Sent you an email.
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In the process of setting up a shop and am fabricating a 12 ft long bench. 1. What would be the best bench top surface and color? Solid surface, laminate? 2. Somewhere I read that a pale green color is best and elsewhere that a white top is best esp when working with micro guides. Suggestions? 3. Would a rolled "drip edge" be useful to help prevent things from rolling off? Ma
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I'm looking at the class in Orlando for mid Sept. Are all the classes similar? Thought it might give me a chance to drop by the showroom over the weekend before I left. Jacksonville is closer but I'll be on the surf in NC that week hooking up with big red drum.
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I am located in Columbia, SC and fish mostly Ocracoke Island surf and inland waters. The directory lists two folks about 2 hours away on the coast.
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I am just getting interested in rod building ( am an avid salt water angler). I have all the books and DVDs but have not purchased any parts or equipment yet. How useful do you think a basic rod building class would be, say one of the ones offered by Mudhole?
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Thanks for the prompt replies. I have started reading some books already including Dale Clemons Adv Rod Building, Custom Thread Art, Kirkmans Rod Building, and Build Your Own Rod book plus an asst of CDs of back issues of this mag/journal. It's a whole new world, but I'm pretty handy and detailed oriented so it seems like a nice interest. I remember a couple years ago when I was fishing on Oca
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I'm just getting interested in making custom rods and would like some advice. I am in the process of adding a 16 x 16 shop space that I would like to use for rod building as well as wood working. I am an avid Outer Banks surf and inshore saltwater angler and would like to design some rods for myself and friends. What type of bench or benches and equipment should I start out with? It seems th
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