One thing to consider on the wrap color is to base them on the dominant prime light color (RGB) that makes up the blank color. That is to go to one side or the other on a color wheel. In the case of a green blank toward Red (the "warmer" light greens to yellow variations to brown to red (although this makes the rod look like a "Christmas" rod in my opinion) or toward the Blues
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I've come to rely on a supplier (one of the sponsors). He carries a line-up of manufacturers which I consider reputable and in which I've built confidence based on experience with blanks I build on frequently. I've come to rely on his detailed knowledge of the different models within each of the manufacturers line-ups. This relationship has been very beneficial for me in determining which specifi
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Mike - I have had rods "from @#$%&" over the years. Ones that seem determined not to be built. I even had one that after many reworks that I broke the tip in a car door on the first trip (I threw it away thinking that I didn't want its bad mojo back in my shop). I don't have a rational explanation for these rods but have come to the conclusion they exist to help me develop the skills of
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Ken - I fly fish for Bass and most of the rods I build are on RX7 blanks. I come down on the side of the 6wt recommendations. My personal favorite and one that I build for a lot of anglers is the IF906-4. It works for the majority of river and open lake fishing. Based on your comments about the lake you will be fishing most I think this blank would be a good match up. My guess is you will get add
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It's not 3pc and it's 6.5' but one of my favorite builds for small SE/Appl mtn fishing is the Batson IF662 (RX7). They make this blank in RX6 in a 4pc. I've never built on it (for a personal rod I'm sure I'd lose a piece) but the other RX6 blanks I used have been quality blanks and built into very good rods.
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In my experience the Actions between the 2 are very close for a given model. The difference being the RX7 weighs less and has a higher recovery speed. I think there is a difference in potential durability because the RX7s can get the lighter weight from smaller diameters, thinner walls, etc. If I'm building for someone that expects and appreciates a sensitivity/speed potential, that there is a sm
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I was confused by the comments too. I don't understand how pre-loading changes the power (resistance to bending) of the tip. If anything it would seem besides the inertia issue the rod will be pre-bent further down and deeper into the increasing power of the taper thus taking more force to bend incrementally further. As I understand Tim's question more it would seem the lighter guides would be le
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Sensitive Swam Boyz. If this doesn't prove that we are in times of change what does :) . Looking forward to leaning more about the new line-up. Will give me a new response to the Family CFO - I had to build this rod to match how sensitive I've become.
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"Not trying to correlate sensitivety to action" Tim - I think there is a link to "visible tip movement sensitivity" and how the action was achieved via the taper. I also think my thinking is similiar to Denis' in this regard but I'm not sure. Denis please let me know where I'm off. I think if the "fast" action is achieved in a taper having a dramatic drop in p
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I agree that it is the customer's choice. I've found however that when I explain that it is in fact a choice and not dictated by some Fly Fishing Law of Convention customers usually choose uplocking for the advantages mentioned above. The exception being very small stream rods - <7' and "1 & 2wt" - then I suggest a cap & ring on an all cork seat/grip.
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I use them on 6wts and above (some 5wts). I do this because of targeted species and the fight, not the rod's power. In our area "6wts" are the low-end weight for cross over fishing for trophy tailwater trout, river bass and inshore SW. A fighting butt - in the right diameter as mentioned - is very useful for the reasons given above. It is also a functional way to differentiate my rods f
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Peter - imo they work exceptionally well in combination with the line that is part of the combo. In fact I think the lines for each model is a big part of the secret sauce. The rod that I've used is a "shooting machine" for big flies in the 60' range. btw, the Smallmouth is often said to be an "8wt". The grain weight of the Smallmouth line is actually ~ to 11wt in AFTMA standa
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Denis - I appreciate your opening comments regarding the "theory stuff" and understanding the parameters and relationships in order to make informed decisions. I do think however based on your posts there's more to it and "it" might best be described by Richard Feynman's (Nobel Laurette in Physics) title to his collection of essays: "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out&quo
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I'm sorry. I admitted confusion in my post and I admitt continuing confusion. The stroke mechanics was in regards to my expressed personal experience with fly rods and fly fishing and which as you point out is not relevant to this core thread. I hold any one who can cast as you describe in high regard. And, I do appreciate you including the caster as part of the System. However, I do not app
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Bill - I think I'm confused, and maybe so is Bob, because Eugene uses his fly rod experience as examples for most of his responses (e.g., "The fastest rod I own 7.8 ERN and 78 degrees AA or I use #2 single foot titanium for rods 5 weight under and #2 titanium double foot for rods to 8 Weight"). Also, this thread carries forward from a "discussion" of the merits or lack of of
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"blank reviewed by many of the CCS respondents". I don't agree with this point. The blanks weren't reviewed. CCS data was simply entered into the data base. The data base is not intendted for and does not have a column for judgements of design execution and/or value - design and manufacturing execution for the price (an important static quantity). It does imo have data that is critical
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All my senses ("feel"?) tell me this is a troll. But, I can't help myself. Eugene - Dr Hanneman never assumes (or says he assumes) "that rod characteristics can be described by static measurements alone." . He simply provides an easily repeatable method to measure on a relative scale 3 inherent static properties of a blank. Two of which, Action Angle and Effective Rod Numbe
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I mount in the lathe and turn round to the largest diameter possible from the stock. Then I drill. Then I mount on a mandrel and finish.
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imo, there was, is and always will be an art form in a custom craft. That is to take the state-of-the-market in functional design and make it distinctively better asthetically, at least in the eyes of some beholders. There will be masters of the art forms. In our case engraving, thread art, weaving, grip inlays, etc. imo, these will be one of a kind pieces of functional art. If they are in fact a
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imo, the issue is not if multi-piece blanks are inherenty less structurally sound, but if ferrule design and manufacturing provides sufficient structural integrity to withstand the stresses that are incurred in the fishing for which the blank is intended - species and size, line & lure sizing, techniques, etc. And, accomplish this task without unduly negatively impacting other factors - actio
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These threads remind me of Voltaire's observation: "Perfect is the enemy of good".
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To illustrate Tom's point regarding joining: I was recently fishing a creek on the sound side of the OBX for Specs.. A nice guy new to fishing (his assessment) was just down from me. He kept casting the tip off and out into the creek. He was getting frustrated and his discussion with his rod as well as the tip hitting the water was not helping the fishing. So I asked if I could help. I joined the
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Put your subject line in the keyword search and you will get a ton of infomation.
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As I'm sure Tom's attorney is advising there are potential legal reasons that a license fee is warranted, even if it is a small one. Without copyright protection with a written agreement between parties reinforced by a fee that establishes value for the intellectual property then it could be argued that the symbol is part of the public domain. If the symbol were to move to this status then it wou
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Lance - I think you make a important point when you add your geography to your list of variables because that narrows down target species and habitat and therefore narrows down the range of tasks/lures/techniques. If you broaden the scope of SW fishing to include other destinations I think SW starts to approach FW in terms of gear, if not exceed. As mentioned, if the SW angler is heading to SW FL
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Harold makes an excellent point about mono versus flouro for drys versus sinking respectively. Also, the reason to go down in tippet size for "spooky" fish has more to do with flexibility and the elimination of the potential for micro drag and its visibility than visibility of the line itself. A change in X size is linear in diameter, .001", and is negligible in terms of change in
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Scott - I was in Nags Head last week. A friend and I took my kids out of Broad Creek to the inlet to watch you guys make the run to the bridge and through the inlet on Tues morning. It was quite a sight. I heard 99 boats were in the tournament. We were in a Regulator and left the offshore to you guys. Trolled the beach up to S Nags Head and picked up some Spanish. I think it's important to no
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Took me a long time too. I'm the Poster Old Guy for "if a little works, a lot is better" mindset.
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I'll join the chorus on the SCIII. Great blank. I build for a tournament guy on these blanks. I think there is one thing to consider - where the customer going to fish most often and when you say Bass is it LM or SM. Here in the SE a ML is considered too light for most LM Bass fishing. It's not just that we have larger Bass :), it's also because we do a lot of structure fishing and have to &q
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I built a rod for basically the same purposes. I used a Batson RX6 (old Forecast) 7'9" 3wt and built the grip and reel seat on an 12" extension per the instructions in Rodmaker (sorry can't remember the volume). This gave me the extra length I wanted and a little faster action. I use a size 2500 reel spooled with 15 lb Power Pro with 4-5' 6 lb flouro leader. It works perfect for throwi
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