Kendal, You can't always rely on hard statistics when it comes to blanks. You can have two different blanks with identical stats, but have radically different feel and performance when fished. Various vactors, including the taper and wall thickness will affect hoiw a blank performs. I have rods built on blanks from over a dozen different manufacturers and have built others for sale or as
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These are my favorite guides! I have been using them on inshore and saltwater jigging rods with great success! I also have some freshwater Trout rods with these guides and I am outcasting my buddies on a regular basis. Fantastic guides!
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There are a few tips for using multi-piece rods, but I will only give you one and comment on the string above. When building a multi-piece tod, make sure the tip section is SLIGHTLY shorter than the butt section. This will help protect the most fragile part of the rod with the strongest part of the rod during transport. The difference doesn't have to be mych, mayve 1/16" With regard to
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I have many rods built on Bushido blanks - they always perform as advertised! I have caught many fish on them and expect to catch many more!
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Brian, I have been building custom rods for over 53 years. The most valuable tool I had as a beginner was Dale Clemons' book Fiberglass Rod Building. Dale has been gone for many years, and his books can be hard to find, but there is a lot of very valuable information contained therein. With regard to some specific issues you have experienced as noted in your blog: - Guide alignment: Af
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Michael, American Tackle has some great options that fit those needs very well: - The Matrix Spinning series has a 2-piece 7' blank rated for line 4-10 pounds and lures 1/8 - 3/8. While they are a Mod-Fast, they do a stellar job, I have some myself. - The Matrix Spin-Jig series has a 1-piece 7' blank rated 8-14 and 1/4-5/8 with a Fast action, if you wanted to go a little heavier. - I
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I have several rods with the TiForged guides, great guides!
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The American Tackle Bushido Light Saltwater series has a great blank that would be perfect for that application, the LS7/8-15. I have one set up with the Microwave 25's and it is a sweet setup!
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Robert, I also use the fold-down hookkeeper. If the end-user doesn't use it, he can keep it folded down out of the way. I have them on all of my personal builds. BTW - I'd gladly trade my 70+ body for a 65 in good shape - going in for Angioplasty Friday morning... Rich Bowers
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Russell, American Tackle has a new line of blanks called the Bushido 3K 2pc series. They are 8' (30-50) or 8'6" (15-30 & 20-40) I have build up one in the 15-30 and can't wait to try it out on and inshore trip off the Washinton/Oregon Coast!
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I agree with Jeffrey (posted in the duplicate thread), the AT Bushido is a premium blank at a decent price point. As an FYI, AT also has an extra-fast action spinner-bait blank that would probably do very well also (Bushido 6'9" Spinner Bait 6-10 lb.) - especially with the small swimbaits you mentioned.
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I agree with Jeffrey, the AT Bushido is a premium blank at a decent price point. As an FYI, AT also has an extra-fast action spinner-bait blank that would probably do very well also (Bushido 6'9" Spinner Bait 6-10 lb.) - especially with the small swimbaits you mentioned.
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There are several manufacturors (Including Sage) selling blanks and finished rods called Trout Spey rods. They are the length of a typical switch rod and range in weights from 2 through 5, and yes, you need to use a higher-rated line in order to load the rod for proper casting.
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Tony, I started my rod-building journey over 53 years ago with my only tool a book by Dale Clemons. I used telephone books for thread tension, held the rod in my hand without a wrapping stand, and used a one-part rod finish (like U-40 Perma Bond) so a drying motor was not necessary. For a burnishing tool, I used my thumb-nail, That being said, I do recommend the following: 1) Drying moto
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Snake Brand has some stabilized Spalted Maple fly reel inserts, and they are gorgeous!
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The side of the blank should actually be determined by the label itself. It should be easily read from the side with the reel hanging below the rod. If the label reads from the butt end to the tip, then the right side. If it reads from the tip to the butt end, then the left side.
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I would interject a word of caution when prepping black, titanium or other colored guide feet. If you use an untreated thread and do not use Color Preserver, the thread turns translucent and you can see the guide feet. I particularly like this effect. The problem is that you can also see the change in the color where the finish on the foot has been removed, especially with black guides. I
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I have an inshore rod with the HCC seat and it is a thing of beauty! They are lightweight and very well designed. While I don't know what a "Perfect" reel seat would be, I believe the HCC seat is either it, or at least very close!
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There is another option that has the same line rating at 12-25 lbs, but a wider weight range at 1-4 ounces, the American Tackle Bushido 3K series. It is a very handsome blank!. I just finished building up one on their 15-30 blank for offhore fishing, can't wait to try it out!
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I concur with Bill and the others, Snake Brand are the best guides in the industry! They have a concave foot that makes them much easier to wrap and they are more stable on the blank. They have a finish using an ECOating, it is a Chrome-like finish but has no Chromium so it is legal in the European market where Chromium is not allowed. It has a harder durometer reading than chrome, and has a n
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There are a few other fly rod blank manufacturers in the US, Berkheimer (in Camas, Washington) and Talon (In Woodland, Washington) come to mind. There is also Stryker Rods in Eugene, Oregon.
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I began building rods in 1968 by reading Dale Clemons book "Fiberglass Rod Building" There was no such thing as a power wrapper back then, or even hand wrapping stands, so I learned to wrap freehand. My thread tension was running the thread out through 1 phone book and back through another, (placing additional weight on the books if I needed more tension. I continued building with th
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The Atrex blanks look fantastic! Matched with a CCT Reel Seat and some Vortex Air Guides, it would be a force to be recokoned with!!
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I concur with the recommendation to look at the Vortex Air guides. I have a set on an inshore rod, using 30lb braided line, and have no issues. They look great, work great, and are extremely lightweight!
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I agree with the Matrix Blanks. An extremely good blank at a great price point! I have built fly rods on many different platforms, up to and including a $1200 split bamboo 4-wt blank. I have found Matrix blanks are consistently a much higher quality then their price point would suggest, contrary to many of the others. While they only go up to a 9' 9-weight, that is a sweet spot for a single
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I recently made an inshore rod with the 7' American Tackle Bushido Ultra Load Medium blank rated 20lb - 40lb and absolutely love it! It is lightweight and extremely sensitive. There are several Ultra Load blank options, including a Medium-Light at 15-30, a Heavy at 30-50 and an Extra Heavy at 40-65. These blanks pair especially well with the G2 Carbon Fiber handle packages and the CCT reel seat
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Phil, when using light wire snake guides, the weight increment is negligible and the benefits far outweigh any weight and balance issues. What it does is to more accurately spread the load over the entire blank with no weak spots or stress points. The rod casts better and does a much better job of fighting fish. Mike McCoy of Snake Brand Snake Guides took a standard 5-wt rod, added several mor
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When Gudebrod went out of business the first time several years ago, a group oif employees bought the rod-building thread part of the business (I don't know the details) and began again producing thread. I found quality control issues with the thread produced after the restart, with metallic and untreated thread. I suspect your Electra was produced after the restart...
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I have never posted pictures on this site and am unsure how to do so. I will post them on the Custom Rod Builders Facebook site.
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Many of your top name blanks are made off-shore, including G Loomis. But that doesn't mean there's anyhing wrong with them unless you are committed to "Made in the USA" brands. There have been several blank manufacturors in the US that have closed their dooirs in recent years, like Cousins and Rogue Rods, both with great blanks. The manufacturing costs in the US required higher price
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