I mount the reel seat down locking, (assuming spinning rod) and my reason is strictly for comfort. I don't like the heel of my hand resting on the exposed threads. I've seen people use a hidden thread fore grip as their rear grip with an up locking reel seat. Of course with that set up, they are using a split rear grip. That's an option I haven't tried, but may sometime in the future. As far
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I'm pretty much just a bass fisherman. While I personally wouldn't choose a Tennessee handle simply because I prefer to have the reel attached in a more conventional manner, as Tom pointed out, the Tennessee handle allows adjusting the reel's position. If you don't like it in one place, just move it. With that said, if you're going to go with a conventional reel seat, I personally wouldn't go
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Lynn, thank you for the response. Much appreciated. Did you see I sent you an E mail? The procedure that you follow is pretty much what I read on other threads when I did a search on the subject. Sounds like it's fairly easy, I was just thinking that soaking it would make it even easier, and a little less messy. lol Thanks for your reply, and look for that e mail I sent and feel free to e mail m
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Tom, thank you for the speedy response. Much appreciated. I kinda figure it would void the warranty, but to be honest, I've never been concerned about the warranty for any of the blanks I've purchased thus far. But thank you for bringing it up. As far as the toughness of the paint on the Immortal. I'm going to guess it's pretty tough. Both of the rods I've built on the Immortal blanks are abo
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I have a question regarding Citri Strip. I'm not certain if everyone knows this yet, but I received a newsletter e mail from Batson Enterprises today that says the production of the new Testament series of rod blanks by Rainshow, has been halted. In part it read "We were unable to produce these USA made blanks to our exacting standards on a large scale," said CEO Bill Batson. A
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Hey there Lynn ........ sent you an e mail. The title will say It's me David Baylor lol
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Lynn, I had to check the calendar ..... I thought maybe it was April 1st.
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Todd, I'm glad you understood the intent of my post. I just wanted to mention something that you may not have thought of. I don't have any experience throwing big hard bodied swimbaits. I've got one full size Deps Buzz Jet, and a full size Jackall Mikey, but they're wake baits. The Buzz Jet has some pull to it, but the Mikey, not so much. The biggest swimbait I own is a Hudd Deluxe 68 that comes
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Herb, I have to admit that my comments are based on my experience with bass sized spinning reels. None of them having a gear ratio lower than 5.2:1. Like most people I'd imagine, I started with spinning gear when I started fishing. Well ........ when I was little little I had the standard Zebco 33 spin caster, but you get the point. I used spinning for everything, When I started getting more seri
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Todd, when people say that spinning gear isn't as powerful as casting gear, are they speaking of the rods, or the reels? Myself I would think they are talking about the reels. A spinning reel is no where near as powerful as a spinning reel. Even a spinning reel with a low gear ratio. The first thing I thought of when I read your opening post was, man you are going to wear yourself out throwin
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Admittedly I know very little about spinning rod guide trains. What I do know is the weight savings one gets using a KR Concept guide train versus an NGC (new guide concept) or a COF (cone of flight) guide train. I recently R&R'd an old 6'6" Sjhimano Scabard spinning rod that was advertised as using "Fuji concept guides." The age of the rod leads me to believe that it was a
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Oh come on Lynn ...... who doesn't love it when braid wraps around the front hook of your walking bait. ;-) lol
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You guys laid out some great things about braid. Most if not all of it being true. With that said, I am not a fan of braided line. I use it only when the situation absolutely calls for it. Which for me pretty much means just when fishing around or over very heavy vegetation. Here are some of the things I don't find incredibly positive about braid. Yes it provides incredible sensitivity .....
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Michael, I checked for the percentage of discrepancy between my measurements of the MB 736 HM X ray blanks and came up with a difference of a little over 7%. I don't know if that's within what is to be expected, but I will say that the differences in how the rods were supported probably has something to do with it. My hand wrapper has fairly thick leather laid in the V blocks, and I was using a
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With a day off today, I decided I would put numbers to some of the rods I've built. I used the Common Cents System to check the IP and AA of 7 of the rods I've built. I set up somewhat of a jig down in my basement that would allow me to adjust each rod so that the center line of the blank would be level. I then did the computations for 1/3 of the rod's length, measured the appropriate distance
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Mike, my apologies. I certainly don't want to lead your thread in a different direction. Trust what Norman and anyone that agrees with Norman, are saying. The other stuff is well ............ not for you. Personally I consider Norman "the man" when it comes to spinning rod guide trains. Especially the KR concept. Follow his advice and you will have a rod that performs beautifully. O
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I realize that braided line once broken in, is very supple. I also realize that a spinning rod is much different than a casting rod in that if line starts stacking at a guide, it isn't going to cause a spool over run .......... but I don't see how bringing the line to the blank so quickly (using just a stripper guide and then runners) wouldn't rob some serious casting performance. And if you'
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IMO, a rod using an NGC guide train isn't even close in casting performance to a KR concept.guide train, and I use fluorocarbon line as the main line on spinning gear. The NGC is also going to result in a heavier guide train, and that's going to rob sensitivity from the rod as well as making it feel more tip heavy. A KR set up is definitely the way to go for a light to medium powered freshwat
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Laurent, I just want to welcome you to the site and say that your blank comparator is awesome !!! I truly mean that. I was using it to compare some blanks that I've already built on to each other, and it showed just what I expected it to show. It is a VERY useful tool to be sure, but I do have a few questions? First, I am assuming the various loads are in grams? Is that correct? Also, logic wo
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Because improperly spaced guides will cause the blank to flex unnaturally. The idea is to place guides where they're needed, and placing them using static load with the line that loads the blank only being attached at the tip is the way to insure they are in proper place. Plus, if you are trying to fully load the blank with line running from the reel and through the guides, it would be extreme
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Phil, I totally understand that it would be nice if blank manufacturers supplied CCS numbers for their blanks, but how would you know what they mean? You have no reference point. When I first started messing with CCS I did IP tests on several factory rods I had and really liked, just so I would know what kind of CCS numbers they had. I ended up using those numbers to purchase two Pac Bay Qui
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Phil, if you've never performed any of the CCS tests ( IP, or AA) on any of the blanks you have, then how is knowing the CCS for a blank you're thinking of purchasing going to do you any good? You'd have nothing to relate them to. It would be like going to a foreign country where you don't understand the language, and buying a dictionary that is printed in the foreign language that you don't unde
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To try and clarify my point, I am going to approach this from a different angle In Phil's opening post, he uses the words "desired ideal" How is this desired ideal arrived upon? Logic would dictate it is arrived upon through a general consensus. A general consensus of who? Experts? What qualifies these persons to be experts? And what is a consensus? A consensus is a majority of opi
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Norman, no I haven't felt a Point Blank, but I believe I am going to take a trip up to Jann's Netcraft either tomorrow or next weekend, and check them out in person. Their website shows that they have quite a few models in stock, with a few that may fit what I am looking for. The PB691MLXF that you mentioned and that Lynn commented on is probably a little lighter in power than what I am looki
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I don't ignore objective data if it's valid to the application. The fact is .... the only way a bare rod blank is going to catch a fish, is if it's used as a spear. Once you start adding grips, reel seats, guides etc. your objective measurements of a bare rod blank go out the window. Why should I care about measurements that aren't going to apply to my specific use of the product? The only
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If you want someones eyes to glaze over while you're talking to them ..... just try explaining how a blank that oscillates at one frequency is better than one that oscillates at a different frequency. And you'd better have scientifically verified data to back it up.
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Spencer, the Testament blanks were mentioned by Batson on this site, probably 2 months ago. Utmost has had them listed on their web site for almost that long. Now whether or not they're available is another thing all together. James Taylor from Batson mentioned that they were more tip light than an Immortal blank of the same specs, and slightly less powerful. Anyhow ..... thanks for the response.
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Herb hit it on the head. You are definitely two hand casting a 10'6" rod. As such you need to take into consideration that your bottom hand is going to be at the butt of the rod. IMO that means you need a longer butt grip than you would on a shorter rod. You're going to want something that you can grab on to. I doubt you'll find the smaller fighting butts you find on a 7' bass rod, are going
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I'm curious if anyone has built on any of them yet? More specifically the TESS610MXF blank? If so, what are your impressions of it? I am looking to build a new spinning rod to use for fishing tube jigs, shaky head jigs, and light Texas rigged soft plastics. My most recent build was on an Eternity ETES610MXF. It turned out to be an incredible rod for drop shots and other lighter and smaller ba
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You don't balance a flipping rod or really any rod used for slack and semi slack techniques with the weight of the bait you're throwing with it in mind ..... you find your balance point with a slack or semi slack line in mind. The weight of the butt section of a telescoping rod most likely is heavy enough (depending on the total length of the rod) to make the rod balance tip light with no weight
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