Billy is the man when it comes to party boat fishing, but the Seeker's he's had made are not what the first thing I think of when the term "cheap blank" comes up. My two cents? If I were in your position, I'd get one of the Mudhole house label glass blanks. They're less than $20, you can get them in seven feet, which a good length for PB fishing, and they're supposedly pretty tough.
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Dennis Danku Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Chris, Just out of curiosity, what blank are you > using? > > Dennis J. Danku > > (Sayreville,NJ) At the suggestion of someone here, Dennis, I used a Lami BT96-3M-H. It's an 8-foot, one-
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I'm about to embark on a trolling rod, one dedicated for bunker spoons, and, to steal a phrase from Raymond Chandler, what I don't know about trolling rods you can almost crowd into Yankee Stadium. I have my blank, my reel, and an idea of the components I'm going to use, but I have a question about line. Most of the old-timer bunker spoon sharpies recommend wire line, because it gets the spoo
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Derrek, I built a striper rod on that exact blank -- it's a wonderful blank for live-lining spot or croaker to bass (I built mine for my once-a-year charter trip in the Cape May Rips). I used a larger (and cheaper) reel than you (Penn 330 GTI), but otherwise the setup is very similar to what it sounds like you're looking for. I used the simple spiral, and it worked well. I would actually highl
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Even though your question is vague, I have a hunch what you're asking: how to configure the guides on a blank/reel configuration where the x27 method puts the choker past the end of the blank's tip. Post more information, and you'll get more help, but I will say that if that's the situation you're in, go back and re-read the New Guide Concept article that contained the x27 method (I forget what i
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I'm wondering about something this morning (I have problems). Surf guys on the East Coast, especially from Jersey north, are almost slavishly devoted to Lamiglas blanks. The G1000 series, for example, is the standard bearer for surf plugging - go to any dedicated Long Island surf rat, and mention a 1201L, and he'll know what you're talking about. I'm not saying that Lamiglas makes bad bla
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The only way you're going to be able to tell what size running guides you need, Joe, is to put together the line/leader system, and test. To my way of thinking, picking a knot connection system to accommodate a guide ring is precisely backwards: figure out the best line connection method for your fishing methods, and then pick guides that suit it. If I had to guess, you can probably get away
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Plate style reel seats are like the girl with the curl: when they're good they're terrific; but when they bad, they're awful. I think that's why guys have such divergent opinions on them: those who had good results the first time or two they used them tend to rave over them, while those who had bad results tend to hate them, and will never use them under any circumstances. The most important
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My check is going out in the mail today. Thanks, Tom.
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I've toyed with this method, Mike, and I have an idea that you might find interesting. One of the things that I didn't like about using a single-foot guide as a top was that it looked a bit weird. To offset this, I did an experiment where I wrapped the guide foot with silver metallic thread, and then did a short black rim wrap below it. It's not a perfect match, but it does slightly approxima
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Like the rest of us, I guess, I read these boards and see that a lot of guys do some things in very different ways. And that's OK -- guys fish in different ways, and we all have our own ways of doing things. When I see someone doing something different from what I do, I try to figure out why they're doing it, and then see if that reasoning might make what I do better. I think it's good to be
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I'd check with the folks at Mudhole, Bill. Considering the specs for the blank in the kit are exactly the same as the Surf Rocket blank I referenced, I'd be pretty sure it's the same blank. But give a call down there if you want to confirm.
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As far as I can tell, there's only one 10-foot, 2-piece, 3-8 blank in Mudhole's surf rocket lineup. It's indeed made by Lamiglas, and I can vouch for it: I've built a half-dozen rods or so on that blank, and it's a good blank at a great price. For surf chunking, throwing payloads in the 4-5-6 oz. range (it can go higher in a pinch), it's great. You can trust the numbers on this blank -- the other
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I don't sell rods, Dave, but I am a diehard surf rat, and I'll be glad to offer advice if you think it might help. Post here or email me if you have any questions. Cheers.
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I just ordered one. I hope I sent the order in time!
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Roger, do you mean "corks" or "cords"? Because the answer to each question is very different. I'll be happy to share what I know about cord, but if the subject is cork tape -- sorry, I know very little about it. Because I feel that cord is so overwhelmingly superior, I don't use cork tape anymore.
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An even better solution is to experiment with a twine/cord grip. Once I realized the benefits of a cord grip, I never went back to cork tape. Cord is superior in many different ways, not least in durability.
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This is just the way I feel, of course, but I don't wrap any rod that will be cast -- conventional, spiral, spinning or fly -- until I've made a minimum of a dozen or so test casts (on some rods, I drive myself crazy test-casting, but that's another story). If the rod test fine, then what have you lost? Five minutes, maybe. If the rod does NOT cast fine, then you've saved yourself a lot more
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The only way to tell for sure is to test cast with the shock leader system you'll be using. Having said that, though, I've never been able to get away with anything smaller than 16 when I've tested shock leaders.
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Bill, in my opinion that's a great choice. I have three or four surf rods built on that blank, and it's an excellent blank, and an excellent value. If the specs of the rod match what he's looking for (length, number of pieces, rating, etc.), and because you're asking about it, I bet they do, then you and he should be thrilled with the finished rod. The main way of targeting surf stripers in t
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Well, now you can say you've read a good review of the Tiger Eye saltwater fly blanks: I have two, and like them both. I've not used the 12-weight -- mine are a 10-weight and a 8-weight -- but there shouldn't be much difference. They're good bang for your buck. Get one from Joe at Black Dog Tackle.
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In my little part of this big world (New Jersey surf), I'd say that at least 90% of beach fishermen use spinning, regardless of whether they're using bait or throwing artificials. I'd say 95% spinnning, 4.5% conventional/baitcasting, and 0.5% other (mostly fly, although there are some oddball rigs out there, like my Alvey bait setups). in boats it's a different story, but virtually every guy I se
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I built a rod for the exact same task, Derrek, except that my trip was to the Cape May Rips rather than Raritan Bay. I used one of the Batson live bait blanks (I want to say it was the RCLB70ML, but I'm not 100% sure), and the finished result was great for livelining baits like spot and bunker. They're great blanks at a great price. There's only one problem with building a dedicated live-bait
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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 circumstances where you're using a large spinning reel with a short rod, the 27 method may put you at or near the tip top. The example given in the article was tuna jigging rods, where huge spinning reels are attached to
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I think it's only a matter of time until fake cork replaces the real thing. If you think fishermen are resistant to abandoning real cork, you should see how the wine people feel -- most feel that anything other than real cork in the neck of their expensive bottle of hooch is an abomination. Despite that, though, synthetic corks are taking over the wine market, and not just in the stuff you see wi
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This doesn't make any sense to me. A 25 or 30 should be plenty big enough for that setup. Because it's limper, It's actually easier to get braid through smaller guides than it is mono. I've found the same thing that Tom said: moving the butt guide closer to the reel helps if you're having line slap problems. You'd think it would be the opposite, that moving the guide farther away would be the
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I've never used them as running guides (they're out of my budget range, though I am contemplating it for two high-end fly rods I'm working on), but I've come to LOVE them for tip tops. The reason I love them is that they're much more durable than SiC. SiC is great, but it doesn't like being banged around -- the rings chip -- and since I'm a klutz, I bang my tip tops on stuff all the time. Just la
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I'll pitch in that I just built a live bait rod, for fishing spot and croaker in the Cape May Rips. I used a Rainshadow, and the result was just great. You can't beat the action of a blank that's designed specifically for live bait.
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Got me too, Ray. I've been meaning to pick up a kit since it came out, but never got around to it. I didn't pass this one up. Thanks, Al -- this is a GREAT deal.
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You're asking Billy how to spell? What are you, nuts? (just kidding, Billy). I would guess that there is NOT an industry-wide standard -- I doubt that anybody has cared enough to campaign for one. So do whatever you want, or what you feel looks best. If it were up to me, I'd use two words: deadsticking, all together, doesn't look right to me.
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