Certainly not disputing any of the numbers given by reel manufacturers for how much line their reels bring in with each handle revolution, or what the maximum drag figures are for their reels. I'll simply say that the amount of line their reels bring in per handle revolution are based on a completely full spool. Meaning, too the edge of the spool lip. Nobody I know ever fills their reels that
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Jon, assuming you didn't trim down the thread barrel, that probably places the guide around 23" give or take, from the face of reel's line guide. Certainly not out of the norm for what I've read in the past. One of these days I'm going to do some experimenting with butt guide placement, and see how far out I can move a smaller guide, and how it affects casting performance. Just to kind o
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Jon, when you say you're 22" from the reel seat ..... what part of the reel seat? If it's from the center of the reel seat, you may not necessarily be too close, but you could have definitely moved it out, and that will help with the angle of the line issue you're not happy with. I measure the distance for the butt guide from the face of the reel. More accurately, the face of the line guide
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Herb, as soon as I saw your name on the forum list page as the last reply to this thread, I said to myself ...... THAT'S the guy you posted that idea. lol Just wanted to thank you for posting that little trick. I gave it a try on the next build I did after reading it. It works great! Thank you
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I'm with David on this, not so much on the casting distance, but on the retrieve speed. As he pointed out, their larger diameter brings in more line per handle revolution. And they also retain a larger diameter after a cast, so you don't have to reel like crazy at the end of a long cast like you would if you made a long cast with a reel that has a smaller diameter spool. And it has been my exp
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I can't remember the name of the member or I would give him credit. He mentioned using elastic thread to tie the guides on, so I gave it a try. It works great. I ended up going to Pat Catans (or any similar store) and getting the thread used for making beaded braclets and necklaces. What I found was a rubber or silicone rubber string. Very stretchy and gives a great grip on the rod blank. A co
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I'm with Michael on this. Does the weight of extra guides cost you in theoretical casting efficiency and sensitivity. No doubts that it does. Can you feel the difference? I can't honestly say because I haven't built two rods using the same blank, with different guide lay outs. But I do know this. I have factory rods with far fewer and larger guides on them than the rods I've built with more numer
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The size of your guides, more specifically the height of the frame and the distance from the the bottom of the inside of the ring to the blanks surface is going to mean a lot in the number of guides you need. If you're using say Fuji LN guides and using a #8 guide as your butt guide in lieu of a #10, then when the blank is loaded, the line is going to be closer to the blank than if you started wi
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You will be surprised at how much easier pitching is with a longer rod. Less effort at all distances. More accuracy and quieter presentations. It's win, win!
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I can understand wanting to stay with a length of rod that you're familiar with. I was like that myself. I used to think that a 6'6" rod was the deal and that a 7' or longer rod was pretty much just a waste on anything but a rod that was used to cast baits, a long distance. It wasn't until I tried a 7' rod for fishing Texas rigs and jigs, that I found out what I was missing. I guess what
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I asolutely love that blank, but I'd ask what you're going to be using it for? It's a powerful blank, and pretty stiff in the lower half, but taking 6" off is IMO, going to really take a pretty good amount of power out of it. If you're building it to use to fish for bass and throwing spinnerbaits with it and maybe chatterbaits (if you like throwing chatterbaits on a fast action rod) , I
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I've had to increase the inner diameter of a couple of aluminum winding checks in the past. I made my own reamers and used 80 grit sanding cloth to make them, so when I wanted to ream out the winding check, I was afraid the coarseness of the reamer would make for sharp edges as well as sharp gouges on the interior of the check. So what I did was, I took a piece of 1/4" round stock (I used st
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Rich, I'm sorry I can't make it as well. I've been to the tackle show B.A.S.S. puts on during The Classic, and that's the proverbial kid in a candy store kind of thing. I can only imagine I'd feel the same way at The Expo. And you're right, we probably would agree on quite a few things. And even if there were certain points we didn't agree on, I'm sure we'd be able to see each others point. T
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Interesting update to that thread Tom, thanks for mentioning it. All I can and will say is, I respectfully disagree with Mr Forhan's post, and leave it at that. Sure wish I could make it to the Expo though. I'd love to see the seminars Mr Forhan is going to give.
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I love the two rods I have with pistol grips. They make roll casting so easy and accurate. The shorter length allows me to keep the tip down which gives me a nice low trajectory. Great for shooting baits under overhanging limbs and under higher docks. If I was any good at skipping with a bait caster (just can't bring myself to practice it enough) my guess is the pistol grip would make it a lo
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I'm thinking Norman and Ron are in the right neighborhood. I'd certainly buy at least 9 and most likely 10 just to be safe. Having extra guides around is always a good idea in my book. Just thinking out loud here though. I use a 5'6" over all length pistol grip rod for throwing spinnerbaits shorter distances, say 30' casts. I'm wondering what kind of wrist strain that long of rod with
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Thank you Tom and Michael. Very much appreciated. I was hoping doing it after top coating would be fine. I sure wasn't looking forward to trying to set up an entire rod in my home made cordless drill lathe. Would have been a major pain. Thanks again guys !!!
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Phil, I can understand your literal definition of the word "balance". After all, a tip light or tip heavy rod and reel combination is not balanced. When talking about a preferred balance point for a rod and reel combination, perhaps saying a person is looking for a degree of balance, would be more accurate. As for trying to a balance a rod and reel combination for every possible var
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Thanks to all that answered my questions concerning how these grips feel under different weather conditions. Your answers are much appreciated. One other question that came to mind after watching Tom's Youtube video on coating carbon grips is, would you ream them to fit the blank prior to coating them? Or would you coat them first, then ream them to fit? If reaming them after coating, does
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I just placed an order for my next build (sadly it is just to replace a rod that I had break earlier in the year) from GetBit, and was hoping to use the Alps carbon fiber grips. The bummer was, while they listed the fighting butt for a split grip, they didn't list the part of the split rear grip that fits against the reel seat, so I ended up ordering the CFX grips from Mud Hole. If I may, I h
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I do calculations as well. They've worked very well for exposed blank reel seats and winding checks as well. Of course in order for the calculations to be accurate, the blank in question has to have a linear taper. So far so good on the bass rod blanks I've used them on.
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Drop shot hook keepers work great for any type of bait. Quick and easy to use, and only require one wrap.
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Phil, we're talking flipping rods here. Why on Earth anyone would even consider the weight of the lure being used when trying to balance a rod and reel combination that will be used for flipping, or any presentation for that matter, is beyond me. With that said, I believe there are two advantages to balancing a rod and reel combination that will be use for flipping. One being, as Adam pointed
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How long of a handle or rear grip Roger? To balance an 8' rod without any weight added to the butt, my guess is you'd have to have at least a 14" rear grip. Perhaps even longer if it's being built with a split rear grip, and using a reel that weighs in around 7 1/2 ozs. or lighter. The lighter the reel and rear grip, the further out you'd have to push the reel seat. A 14" rear g
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Dan, I think you'll find that you can do more with the type of rear grip you use and the material it is made of, than you can by moving the reel seat. It takes moving the reel seat what I would consider a considerable distance to overcome weight that is placed behind or on the reel seat. A distance that could affect rod usage. If you're interested the link below is to a post I submitted in a
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I'm 59 years old. My first post on this site was January 29, 2015, and I started building rods for myself shortly afterwards. I did a lot of research on this site prior to posting my first thread, just so I could have an idea of the kinds of things I needed to consider when building a rod. My first experience with wrapping guides was the year prior to my joining this site. I replaced the guides o
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Dave, as you can see, there is no general rule of thumb. You even see differences in factory rods, which are pretty much built as one size fits all. But one size doesn't fit all. Differences in body type, differences in the type of clothing worn in different kinds of weather, and differences in how anglers performs specific techniques are all part of determining rear grip length. For instance
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I agree with Nick. 9" is fine for a 7' casting rod. That length shouldn't cause any problems, regardless of the presentation being used. As for spinning rods, since the reel seat can be installed either up locking or down locking, I use where the reel stem falls as the basis for the measurement. I built a 6'10" spinning rod with a measurement of 11 3/4" from butt to the middle
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I am a huge proponent of adding weight to a rod in order to have a balanced rod and reel combination for certain techniques. Those techniques being ones that involve slack, or semi slack line. With that said, there is no way I would almost double the weight of a rod to ensure that balance. I think doing so would lead to a classic case of diminishing returns. As for taking lure weight, the
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I let the travel path of the butt determine my rear grip length. At least for rods that I use for the bass fishing techniques of flipping or pitching. If I were building a rod that I was going to use strictly for pitching, I can use a longer rear grip, than I can on a rod that I would use for flipping. The reason being, the travel path of the butt is different for the way I perform each techn
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