Oops -- I posted hastily in the wrong thread. Sorry. I moved this post to the correct thread.
Forum: rodboard

I'm with Tom on this one: I never think about guide strength in terms of whether it will hold up while fishing. What I do think about, though -- a lot -- is how the guide will hold up to other stuff: getting transported, being banged around on a jetty or in a boat, or (and I'm embarassed to admit it, but I do this a lot, especially with long surf rods), bumping tips and guide rings against do
Forum: rodboard

The website looks great, Ray. Best wishes on the endeavor - I hope "going pro" doesn't make you enjoy it any less.
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Just out of curiousity, who is making these?
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Thanks, guys. I've figured out a way to get the rod spooled first, so I'm going to be able to do some testing. I'll post the final setup I use. Cheers.
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Mike, do you want something that will be used primarily to throw things 1.5 oz. and under? Or do you want something that will be good for 2-3 oz. plugs? The reason that I ask is that I've been unable to find any blank that will cast 1/2 or 3/4 oz. lures as well as it will cast a 2-3 oz. plug. A blank that is limber enough to cast the small stuff will feel noodly, and a blank that has enough beef
Forum: rodboard

I'm in a bit of a time jam -- I'm not going to be able to get my Penn Senator spooled before I have to finish a trolling rod, and there's one piece of information I'm hoping someone here can help me out with. I don't know anything about boat rods, and I know less than nothing about wire line. I don't even know how you connect the backing to the wire: there was something in Salt Water Sportsma
Forum: rodboard

Russ, I don't have measurements, but I do have a couple of pictures that might help you. I can't post them here, unfortunately -- I'm at work -- but email me and I'll send them to you.
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Rusell, here's a post that I made on this topic a couple of years ago. The "article" referenced is the original Rodmaker article that contained the 27 information for the first time. I hope it helps: The first time I ran into this situation, I too had troubles getting my head around it. But what helped me is actually in the article. It mentions in the NGC article that in circums
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I suspected as much, Tom, but I'm glad I asked. It's a plus for everyone -- I think these blanks are going to be in pretty high demand, and it's good to hear that there won't be a feeding frenzy on the sale of them. I'm looking forward to playing with them as much as anyone.
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Jon, I was tempted to ask this privately, via email, but because I think it's a subject of general interest, I'll ask here: are NFC blanks going to be fair-trade priced?
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Don't worry about it looking wrong -- worry about how it feels. If it feels right, while casting and while retrieving, then the reel seat is located in the correct position. In my humble opinion, there's a big difference between jetty rods and surf rods, especially surf rods that will be used on open, sandy beaches. The types of fishing are very different (one example: on a sandy beach, you c
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See if you can get your hands on a copy of the Rodmaker special edition "Guides." I too had questions like yours, and they were all answered in an article on spiral wraps in the Special Edition. That one article by itself made the special edition CD worth its cover price.
Forum: rodboard

I got home last night, and in my mailbox was the new edition of Salt Water Sportsman. It's their annual fall striper issue, and one of the articles -- big surprise! -- is about trolling bunker spoons on wire line. I haven't had a chance to read it yet (I did skim it), and though there's probably more good rod-centric information in this thread than there is in the article, it's worth a look if yo
Forum: rodboard

I'm building a bunker spoon rod right now. Though there are some other options out there, the standard blanks here in Jersey seem to be Lmiglas' BT963MB and BT1083MB, which are 8 and 9-feet, respectively, and are both from Lami's Fiberglass Boat and Trolling series. I opted for the 8-footer, because I didn't want to have to deal with the hassle of having a 9-foot, 1-piece rod shipped, but if ship
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- When i set up a rod to cast that jig should i use the tear drop weight for the test cast or the jig? My vote is no: if you're going to be using a very specific lure with a rod that will be cast, I would use it for test casting. If you're going to be using a variety of stuff, then I think using an aerodynamic lure is a good idea. Let me give you an example. Bombers, because they're murde
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Don't forget that some plugs, for aerodynamic reasons, can only be cast so far. I know that small plastic swimmers in the Bomber/Rapala/Rebel mold fit in this category: I don't think you could get a Bomber more than 65 yards out if you shot it out of a cannon. I'm a surf guy, and I've always chuckled when I see guys configure a rig for maximum distance, using an expensive, 13-foot, high-modul
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I'll believe that spine is important when someone can identify where it is by casting and fishing a rod. If spine's effect were so large, and therefore so important, one should be able to identify it during normal use of a finished rod. The fact that nobody can do it, to me, says that spine doesn't really matter.
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I just did a side-by-side comparison of these two guides, Jeff, with information I gleaned from Fuji's Japan catalog. Here are my notes: - The BHNNG, as far as I can tell, is the same as an "N" style frame (e.g. NSG), but with a beefier (H = heavy duty) stainless steel frame. These frames have been around for a while. - The BHBNG is a newer frame, and is probably (this is my g
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Leigh, I've learned that you have to take the "correct number" of guides notion with a grain of salt. It's a good place to start, but you need to let the blank that's actually in your hands determine the will work for you. Let me give you an illustration. I build mostly surf rods, but this is a generic term, and there are very light and very heavy surf rods. Say I'm building a 9-foo
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I think you'll be happy, Jeff. I'm working on a similar rod at the moment, and after some research, I ended up with the Fuji HB SiN guides too, though I picked black because I think they look cooler (hey, it's as good a reason as any). I particularly liked the HB guides over the BHNNG guides because the larger versions of the HB guides have higher frames (i.e. the rings sit farther from the b
Forum: rodboard

You edited your post after I responded, Ed, so I'll add one thing: I was looking at the HB guides, in Silicone Nitride, for a wire line trolling rod. I too am very concerned about the line clearing the hand -- having 40 lb. wire slicing through your skin as a fish heads toward Portugal doesn't sound like my idea of a good time. But isn't looking at ring thickness cutting this (har!) too fine?
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Couldn't you figure this out with some simple arithmetic, Ed? I happened to look up the height of a guide (the HB heavy boat guide) on Fuji's Japanese website just this morning. For a size 25 guide, the height from the bottom of the guide feet to the top of the ring is 47.8 mm. The ring is (duh) 25 mm in diameter, from the outside of the ceramic ring, so if I wanted the distance from blank to
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This is why I always do a bit of test casting before I wrap and finish a blank. I even do it when I know a blank very well, or when the rod will not be cast (like a trolling rod) -- tape on a plate reel seat and fling a few casts, just to make sure the blank is not defective. Getting a dud is rare, but it can happen. I could be wrong, but my guess is that you had a defect. I say this because
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Steve, does he want to fish it, or hang it on the wall? If he wants to fish it, I'd build it like I build any rod: use the best components you can get your hands on. I don't think using Alconite or hardloy guides would ruin this rod, and it would fish better with them. Because Harnells are heavier than broken hearts, I don't think you need to use SiC or titanium, but I would still use a decent ce
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I wouldn't hesitate to use an officially-licensed NFL decal on a rod I built for myself. I probably wouldn't hesitate to use one on a rod I gave away, either. If the NFL wants to sue me for this kind of non-commercial use, then they can be my guest: I bought something from them and used it in a non-commercial way. What the heck else did they expect me to do with it? But I don't think I'd ever
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My advice? Keep it simple: focus on function, not looks. Forget about the fancy stuff (diamond wraps, feather inlays, etc.) until you get the basics down. And keep it cheap, too: don't spend a lot of money on your first rod, because you'll look back on it later, after you've built more rods, and see a lot of stuff you'd do differently. But do give it a shot - it ain't rocket science. Get a DVD
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If you're on the fence, don't wait: this is worth every penny. It puts a bunch of articles that were in RMM in one place, and it has some new stuff as well. I've had it for about two months, and I've already gone back to it about 100 times to clarify guide issues that were floating around in my head.
Forum: rodboard

I'm going to be eyeing these very closely. I love the looks of these things, especially the fact that the blanks are going to be available in "naked graphite." I think they're going to be pretty distinctive, and very, very high-performing. I can't wait until they hit the streets.
Forum: rodboard

Our fearless leader, Tom Kirkman, wrote a book called Rod Building Guide: Fly, Spinning, Casting, Trolling. It's the best rodbuilding primer out there. Though it's not written specifically for fly rods, it's got everything in it you'll need.
Forum: rodboard