Hi Bill, Here is a couple of possible blanks that may work for your catfish rod build, MHX Euro Catfish 9 foot 2 piece trimmed down to 8.6 ft or CRB Tuna Popping blank at 7.6 ft 2 piece than extend the handle 1 ft. Maybe Mudhole or someone that has used these blanks can tell you if they would work. I checked out and bent some Euro Catfish blanks at the rod expo and I was impressed with th
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Hi Danny, Looks like they have a St Croix Steelhead blank that is overstock sale priced 25 % off that sounds like what you are looking for.8'6",2 piece,3 oz rod weight and lure 3/8-1.5oz. I am hoping to build a similar rod in the future for flounder/fluke after I get my surf rods done. I would give Mudhole a call or maybe someone here that use that particular scII blank can chime in.
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Swap silver for gold. I think it would look awesome.
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I don't know if it will work great for tiger wrap but red looks great with black and gold to me.
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Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The interesting thing is that although we claim to > have these free trade agreements, it doesn't seem > to be something that our partners participate in. > You can ship me whatever from your end and I won't > be charged any duties or import fees. But if I > send something to you, you'll get hit
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Thanks for the article and help Tom!
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Hi Frank, Check out the Pac Bay FX single foot guides in the Titanium alloy frame with deep pressed zirconia rings for your choke and runners. They are very sturdy built guides and the price is excellent. I have them in a 8 and size 10 and they are very strong. I would look at the size 7 and maybe 6 for your build. The Ti ion ring lock tip tops from American Tackle looks very nice for the m
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I should of also stated that I was thinking of incorporating this technique for a surf rod handle since my St Croix Avid has a slim butt at .8 inch. Then have a Fuji plate reel seat attached on to the foam handle. Will the plasti-dip provide too much cushion to use a plate reel seat that is thread wrapped on? Will it be better to use an abalone sheet underneath the plate reel seat area and
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I am really enjoying the articles in the latest Rodmaker magazine especially the improved Tennessee handle and the laser grip inlays! Is the Plasti-dip spray more durable than using heat shrink over the 8 lb density foam? What is the durability/ strength difference vs a carbon skinned handle with a 6 lb core? Thanks
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Frank Balas Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > David Miller Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Hi Frank, > > > > I am going to be working on a plugging/ metal > lure > > rod soon as well and 28 inches from butt to > the > > middle of the spinning reel seat seems a little &
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Hi Frank, I am going to be working on a plugging/ metal lure rod soon as well and 28 inches from butt to the middle of the spinning reel seat seems a little much unless you have some very long arms. I am 6'2" and I find my max length would be 25 inches for any surf spinning rod. For my plug rod I am planning on using the measurement of the middle my hand to elbow which will be around 14
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I have been busy lately and forgot to send my email to you Bob, I will send it to you. Hopefully we can round up enough folks for a meeting in July or August after people get over Spring Fever and far enough time away from the expo. I should have at least one surf rod done by then that I can bring for construstive critisism for future builds. Thanks, Dave
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Thanks for the input Lou, yeah I am going to do some experimenting before I do the wraps. For now my plan is to use the Castaway microwave down to a size 8 A frame to 7 choke and runners in the American Tackle Atlas fly frame in black finish with nanolite ring with a size 8 tip top. Or use the Pac Bay Minima Match Tich 8 as the transition to size 6 or 7 minimas for choke and runners to an 8 tip t
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I will hopefully start working on my 11 ' surf rod build soon as well and I have decided to use the Castaway microwave from Swampland as my first guide to get the line down quickly from a Shimano 6000 reel. The only issue I have is with the tip top for a 7.5 tip the smallest ring is a 8 that I can find so it does not make sense to me to go down to a smaller size guide ring for the transiti
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My wife's baby shower is May 3 at our house from 3-6 in the afternoon so that day would be ideal !! But really any weekend or Wednesday early May works great for me and Lunch. Interested in learning about tiger wraps, marbling and cord grip techniques. I have an old UL fiberglass rod that I refinished with PG and wrapped new guides for my wife's cousin's little boy that shows what happ
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Count me in! I am new to rod building so getting to know folks locally that can give advice in person can't be beat. Maybe seminars that go over some of the techniques that are in Rodmaker magazines after we receive them would be great. I am looking forward to reading the next issue about integrated carbon and Tennessee grips. The last issue with the crinkled foil technique has given me an i
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Before I bought the St Croix Avid 11' blank at the ICRB I was looking to buy a MHX Euro Catfish blank with the same length and lure range but Mudhole only brought the 10' version but I took a long look at those because for the money they are very nice blanks. The slate grey finish is great and I was told that is less prone to showing scratches vs gloss finish. The Euro Cat also has tight fitting
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My first decent rod that I saved up for to buy when I was in high school was a Falcon Open Hook Special which I paid around $100 back in 1997. At the time I thought that for a fishing rod it couldn't get much better. I still have the rod and fish with it but looking at it now it really is not all that great. It has aluminum oxide guides with a uneven epoxy finish and is very simple looking. M
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Rolly, Buying a USA blank from Mudhole ,Hydra,Angler's Workshop ,Bingham Enterprises or any other US distributor supports more American jobs than buying an import blank. I still order supplies from Utmost Ent, as well. Wouldn't you buy a rod blank made in Canada if the price, quality and warranty was to your liking? All I was saying is that people should not disregard blanks made in t
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Hey Marc, I like to support USA jobs and keep more of our $ here just like you whenever possible. For me buying a blank for a personal build it is worth paying extra to get a quality USA product that will hopefully be used for a long time. I would certainly check out the Hydra NG, St Croix SCIII Avid and Anglers Workshop which I believe to made by Talon. These are very nice USA blanks at r
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So you were fine with paying 25% shipping charge from orders $120 to $200 and even higher % charge for under $120 orders with the $30 international shipping charge minimum. I am guessing components and Torzite guides for 3 rods will be well over $400 which $100 for FedEx would be 25% of shipping cost at $400 and would be less % over that amount. International shipping insurance which cover
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Any company can put the handling and packaging cost into the price of their goods. But that is not fair for the folks that buy big orders or do pickup in person.
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As someone that has shipped many packages of live tropical fish through USPS and FedEx, shipping cost and packaging keeps rising and it is very tough to be 100% exact on a shipping quote especially an online ordering system that many volume rod building supply companies have. Shipping cost can jump up drastically depending on weight ,volume and distance in transit. Why not ask for a lower pri
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Thanks for the help Lou! Yeah I like the look of the Tichrome, plus this St Croix Avid red flake paint has enough bling on it's own. I like the microwave guides but I think that the shock knot might have an issue with the 8 mm ceramic especially if I go up to a 70 or 80 lb shock line. I wish they made it in the tichrome finish with a size 10 or 12 reduction guide but it sounds like the cast
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I bought a St Croix Avid 11 foot 3-8 ounce lure surf blank at the expo and I am going to order Pac Bay minima guides for the build to keep the rod light weight and also not have to worry about cracked ceramics. I will be using a Shimano Spheros 6000 spinning reel which I am thinking that a size 30 minima would be best for the first reduction guide closest to the reel and then quickly down to a s
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He responded back and said the current system handles 160 lbs of pressure and there is a rod builder using them in rods up to 14 foot in Europe. He also said they are developing an even heavier duty version to come out in the fall of this year with up to 20 inches of extension. For myself and other folks like me that travel to beach on family trips can surely see the huge plus of having a c
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Terry from Manley rods said that it can handle the pressure easily for the surf plugging rod. I just now responded back and asked him what would be the limit to lure weight and surf rod length just for curiosity sake.
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The lighthouse rod is a work of ART!!! As a newbie rod builder I don't know much at all about weaving but just by staring at the rod for a long time I know that it took a lot of creativity, skill and patience to a make a work of art of that caliber!
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I don't go out of town often but when I do I check out websites such as Hotwire.com to get better deals. I went to an aquarium fish convention in Washington DC in the summer of 2012 and I found a room with 2 beds in a very nice hotel for less than $80 a night including tax. My friend and I split the room and gas so the trip was not too costly at all especially to DC. From the deals that I
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I forgot to ask Manley Rods if the adjust-a-butt would work for an Allstar 1266 surf blank. If it would it sure sounds like it would be perfect to have the butt length of the rod going from the palm of my hand to my elbow for using plugs and stingsilvers with a spinning rod ,then have the extended butt for fighting a fish if needed or using light bait rig up to 4 ounces.
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