I recommended the Seeker but said in my original post that it was expensive that is why I've been building the Gators. I also said that GUSA Wahoo looks like a great blank for this type of fishing but the original poster said he typically makes "rods on the cheap". I'm not arguing with you just trying to best fit his original specs.
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I thought the Wahoo was composite still a lot of money compared with the Gator Glass. I've never needed much sensitivity, especially grouper fishing, and the Gator Glass is a work horse. A lot of people, including myself, like to over build rods with the best components available, but for bottom fishing, cheap strong fiberglass and hardloy or NSG guides will work just as good, IMO.
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Billy, I hadn't heard of the Wahoo but looks bad ars. That would be great for grouper but not so much for Wahoo?? Just a little to much $$$ for a bottom stick. I can see the increase in sensitivity but weight savings would be negligible after strapping a 6/0 to it.
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I use a double foot for my butt guide and the rest are the single foot heavy duty boat guides (I've used both the turbo and boat guide for the butt guide. It's all about personal preference. Here is a pic of my typical setup and a close up of the single foot and the double foot boat guide I use a 20,16,12,12,10,10,10,10 for my sizing and for the butt cap any rubber "do
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I build quite a few of these types of rods and the most popular blanks are the Seeker JB80H (expensive) and the Gator Glass T80XH (Cheap). Both are 8' blanks but are made in 7' lengths also. Because of the price the Gator Glass are the most popular and I build for some commercial grouper guys and I have yet to have one break. As for guides I use either the single foot boat guides (hardloy) or
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Is Doc Ski going to be there? I've wanted to meet him but after seeing the pics of the last ICRBE and the WCS I'm a little scared.
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I must be using the wrong drywall screen because it take FOREVER to take any material off. I am using my rod wrapper not a lathe tho.
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drywall mesh sandpaper to form, finish with 400 grit sand paper.
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Did you all go fishing with Tommy Butler?
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Thanks, I've been anxious waiting for them to come back and am glad to hear they are still going forward. If someone has a contact for them please e-mail. They aren't responding to the e-mail address Doc gave me a while back.
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I was told the unveiling of the new Harrington production was supposed to have happened at the West Coast Show. Did they or are they dead in the water?
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Why not tie the planer to the back cleat?
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depends on your definition? I know a lot of people that have built rods before, do you consider them a custom rod builder?
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solid glass
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I use double sided tape to hold the threads but after a few passes you have to use a new piece of tape. Sometimes the thread releases from the tape but I still find it faster than cutting little pieces of masking tape. When I did use pieces of masking tape I found that if you build up the tape to high the tension from the thread will eventuallyt pull the pile of tape over SO if you go with this m
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The blank doesn't go through the reel seat and rear grip. The blank is glued into a ferrule which attaches at the top of the reel seat. It is still a one piece rod the reel seat and rear grip is detachable.
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I agree with Bill above, pick up that RM issue. Usually I pick up concepts in the articles fairly easily but needed to take notes when reading that article. When I was done with it I had over 2 pages of notes alone.
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They were popular on livebait kingfish trolling rods but I don't see them that often anymore. Fuji advertises them as boat rod guides and I'd think they'd be too big for a bass rod, especially the high frame, double foot butt guide
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The Rod Maker Tom mentioned is a must have for anyone wanting to build a stand up rod.
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That's why I said 99% of the spinning reels with the Penn 9000 Eddie mentioned included. But I still don't see why a high speed reel (conventional or spinning) is needed? I can see using a spinner for butterfly jigging but IMO a high-torque conventional will beat any spinner for typical live bait bottom fishing.
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I agree with those above. 99% of spinning reels don't have the drag or turning power for grouper. Senator or Daiwa "H" models is what you find on all the commercial and charter boats for good reason.
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I catch my strippers on brass poles
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Thanks Russ, I'll give that a try.
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I had the same problem with the FC so i switched over to the Gudbrod stuff. I still have a bottle of their old formula and from what I hear the new stuff is not all that great. To tell you the truth I get bubbles with the old stuff also that when they dry you can see a white circle where they were. I've always used NCP thread and if I can't get the hang of the CP before this bottle is done I'm pr
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Good Advice from everyone so far. When finishing a wrap just cut your tag 1/8" long after pulling the loop tight so that it tucks under your wrap. The way I do my trim bands leaves a tag, for that I've found the cuticle clippers to be the best tool for cutting as close as possible to the wrap. In other situations when I need a blade, like the Exacto knife, I use a surgeon's scalpel. you can
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I'm in St. Pete, I'm probably fishing a few of those tournaments in the same class so I change my original recommendation to the first one on the list, in pink of course If you want some help with the build let me know.
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Either one of those would be a great substitute. I would lean more to the ML, where are you located?
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Looking forward to it Tom
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