Yeah Lynn, I just read about that on another message board that I frequent. What a bummer. In watching Aaron on many tournaments he had a personality that could rub you the wrong way at times, but he was a heck of a fisherman. He could put them in the boat with the best of them. Especially if it was finesse bite. One of if not the best drop shot fisherman on tour. He will be missed.
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Michael, the Pro Wrap 831 Silver Smoke, is the color I am having the trouble with. As far as the trouble with the mid shade tan you mentioned, that kind of makes me worry about my most recent build. I used Pro Wrap 755 Chestnut on it. I will be seriously bummed if it ends up streaking eventually, because it turned out to be a gorgeous deep brown color with a goldish sheen to it. I'm keeping my fi
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I've only used three different manufacturers thread over the 5 or so years that I have been building rods. For one of my builds I used the Fuji Ultra Poly, and really liked it. I wrap with pretty high thread tension, and it just seemed to pack a little easier than others I have used. Less fuzzies. I've used FishHawk on a couple of my rods. It wraps nicely as well, but it's pretty much the same as
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Spencer and Thomas thank you very much for your replies, they are very much appreciated. Spencer, I really like seeing you mention that some of your builds are approaching 15 years, and haven't faded. I've seen Sulky mentioned in pretty much glowing terms on this forum, so I will definitely be checking out what they have to offer as soon as I am done with this reply. Once again, thank you guys.
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Lynn, you're awesome !!! Reading what you said about Hitena fade proof metallics I just got done looking at their web site. Seems that even some of their blues must fade, because some of the shades of blue they offer weren't on their list for UV fade proof guarantee. But the color I will use if I do decide to go with trim rings, is 1076 Navy blue is on the fade proof list, so I ordered a spool
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Question concerning reported loss of color over time with blue metallic thread. I've read, here and on other sites with rod building forums, that blue metallic thread eventually loses its' color over time. Supposedly it turns white? Has anyone had this happen with builds they've done, or is this simply a myth? The reason I ask is, I am starting to order components for a new jerkbait rod I'm g
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Plano 3700's for me as well.
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In cases where the arbor is a finished piece that is going to be seen, you're at the mercy of the manufacturer. But as far as the foam arbors are concerned, Mud Hole sells arbors from size 11 all the way up to size 30. I'm with John. Making something smaller is a lot easier and a lot less time consuming than it is making it larger. For me it's a no brainer
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There is no doubt that it can be difficult, if not seemingly impossible to ream a foam arbor concentrically. They just ream so darn easily. For me, other than wrapping the guides, it's the most time consuming part of a build. I use a reamer that I made out of one of my old factory rods. I used a 1" wide, 150 grit sanding belt that I split down the middle, as the abrasive on it. The finer
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Interesting .... I use micro spheres in the plastic of a couple of soft plastic baits that I make. I use enough of the spheres in the plastic of one bait in particular, that will float a 3/0 Owner Down Shot hook. I originally made it for use as a drop shot bait, but using the amount of spheres needed to float the hook adds a lot of firmness to the soft plastic. It just doesn't have the action I w
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Norman, that thing is slick as heck. Not only does it look like it works great for threading guides, seeing it used to get line through a casting reels line guide is a must have. Thanks for posting that link. I just added one to my Mud Hole cart.
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Being older, my eyes aren't what they used to be, as well. I don't use leaders so I have no connecting knots to worry about passing so I go between 4.5's and 5's for running guides. The 5's are easier to pass line through when stringing up the rod, but then I think I only have to do that maybe once or twice a year.
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I go the route that John goes. If I can't find an arbor that fits the reel seat perfectly, I go a size larger and sand it down by hand to make it fit. I only use the foam arbors, so sanding them is quick and easy. But yeah, it is extra work.
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I'm not a fly fisherman. I just wanted to comment on what Kendall said in his first post of this thread. And that would be to agree completely with what he said about people casting farther than cane effectively fish a bait. I see people do it all the time with spinning and casting gear. IMO, controlling casting distance is just as important and the bait you have tied on the end of the line, or t
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Wow guys, thanks for all the responses, some great stuff. I'll start with what Mark asked about concerning a KW 10's height in relationship to a modern low profile casting reel's line guide. As mentioned in my initial post, I use a KW 10 as the butt guide on my casting rods, and with the butt guide placed 21.5" from the face of the reel, the line touches the top of the ID of the ceramic
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Not wanting to possibly high jack another members thread, I figured I'd start my own on the subject. The height of a casting rods' butt guide was mentioned in a fairly recent running thread. It was mentioned that a Fuji RV6 and a Fuji KW 10 were interchangeable because the height of the bottom of the rings (the rings' ID) were the same. It was further mentioned that the total height of the guide
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I'm curious as to why it has to be a section of fiberglass rod blank to use for the repair, or it will fail? It it because the break was ahead of the reel seat? I ask because I repaired a rod for a friend that had a break just behind the front grip of a split rear grip. I used a section of a NFC X ray blank that was broken during shipping, for the insert. It's been in heavy use for a year now, an
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You would be doing yourself a favor to take a look at the Alps MVT casting reel seat as well. It's a beautiful seat that you order to fit the blank. The seat is sized at the the end of the thread barrel, so to order, you need to know where the end of the thread barrel will be on the blank, once the seat is installed. They come with a woven graphite insert already installed in the reel seat, They'
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U40 Rod Bond hardener looks like a gel. The matching resin looks like a paste. Does that make U40 Rod Bond a gel/paste? :o) Count me in with Norman and Lynn ..... same same
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I have done them both ways, and don't find them to be uncomfortable to fish with, either way. Below is a link to a picture of the butt of my drop shot rod. It is a stock CFX fighting butt that I top coated with the lay up epoxy that comes with the CFX kit that Mud Hole offers. After top coating it with the lay up epoxy, I sanded it so that the surface was smooth and even, then did a final top coa
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If you want to be sure that the textured surface of the sleeve won't affect the second sleeve you want to put over it, just coat the existing grip with the layup epoxy you use for the putting the sleeve on. Once it dries you can sand it to remove any high spots and then just install the second sleeve on it as if it were a bare foam core. I've only built one of the CFX grips using the kit from
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Donald, thank you for your additional response. I really appreciate it. I know what you mean about wanting a nice shallow ramp. I have zero problems with thread sliding on the smaller single foot KB and KT guides I've been using on my last few builds. As for the larger thicker footed guides, Admittedly, I am a little reluctant to take a lot off the ends to really shallow up the ramp. I'll hav
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Spencer, thank you for the response. I appreciate it. I know it's going to come down to experimentation and learning the what not to do's with products that are new to you. I was just trying to get an idea of what to expect. Donald, thank you as well for the response. Much appreciated. I was hoping to hear from you, as it was your post in a the previously mentioned thread, that got me researc
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I was reading the thread about some ideas for nylon thread colors on a dark blank, and silk thread was mentioned. It made me curious. I am looking at a site that offers Kimono silk thread. They have some beautiful colors available, and I really think I want to give them a try. But I need to know some things first. My first questions are .... the thread this site offers is 100 wt. How close is
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I used Pro Wrap 831 Smoke Screen on a Pac Bay Quickline blank, they were painted gloss black. It ended up being a dark charcoal color, and really looks sweet. My latest build was done on one of the new RX10 Eternity blanks. It's a natural graphite finish. I used Pro Wrap 755 Chestnut on it. The wraps ended up about the color of Pro Wrap 767 Chocolate that Mud Hole shows on their web site. I reall
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The veil comes off in the 11th post. I would have thought it would have been much sooner than that. Phil, you're slipping.
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Daniel, very cool !!! I can only imagine the feeling you had when you saw what had happened. It hurts even thinking about it. Glad it worked out for you, and it's maybe something you can count on happening again, if you were to do it purposefully. Of course, when you count on something like that happening, it may not. Which could be disappointing. Or maybe not. Anyhow, very glad it worked out
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Roger? I'd be interested in what testing you're referring to when it comes to fluorocarbon versus nylon mono filament lines? Because the testing I have seen, do not show the results you're mentioning. The testing I am referring to, is the testing done by TackleTour. We are all aware the not all fishing lines are created equal. Some braids are better than others, just as some nylon or co polym
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Joshua, sure. I'll shoot you an e mail to your Yahoo.com address. I'll put rod building in the subject line. It will be from my AOL.com account
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Kendall, cool fight and even cooler that you were able to land the fish. Those saltwater fish are strong fish. And Jeffrey, LOL on the Scooby Do rod. Too cute !!! And I can only imagine the look on her face when you cut that line. Talk about an evil eye !!! Love the stories. Anyone else have some crazy fish fights to share? I'd love to read them.
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