Mike My thinking here is based on using what you have available to you in the guide brand you want to try, not necessarily what is gospel per Fuji and others. I'm also not as familiar with the Alps line of guides as I am with Fuji. From your guide choices, I am assuming you are building a spinning rod of ML to M power and using fluoro line #12 or less with a 2500-3000 size reel. Braid is so s
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Rob - What size thread did you use on your fly rod? Size D thread wraps up a steep-angled guide foot easier, yes; and also creates other problems you mentioned. The issue may not be the thread size as much as your guide foot prep. I want to make a guide foot ramp that is more like a wheelchair ramp than a curb. Bottom line, an angle that my thread can climb smoothly. I use size A threa
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I agree with Mick...3-inches is more than you likely Need on a 6-foot jigging rod....if what I Need is the same as what you Need. If your goal is Absolute Minimal Weight, that is a different discussion. On that note, there is minimal difference between a 3-inch and 1.5 inch CF grip if weight is your concern. If it would look unpleasing to your eye to have a 3-inch grip, that is another matter
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Like David Baylor said... ...some power is welcome when needed in the Ned arena. The reserve power, or as I sometimes think of it as a lock-up point, is important for controlling the rod, line, and fish, when it comes to landing time. Too floppy of a rod and it is more of a challenge to have the control I want when I am ready to lip or net a fish. IMO, with all due respect to the rod's abil
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Bob, I would suggest (1) 12mm stripper, (1) 8mm intermediate guide, and then the rest running guides. This will give you a more direct line path through the guides, and reduce the overall weight of your build. I like my running guides to be the smallest size that will pass my leader connections. I prefer single foot running guides (either wire or ceramic). Nothing wrong with snake guides, t
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Bob, Thank you for your photos, thorough explanations, and details! You are very thoughtful to respond to every posted reply. Guide layout: Similar to your eye for the flow suggested, I often put the first 4 to 6 guides at equidistant lengths, especially in that first 18-24 inches of the tip. In my static testing, it always seemed to work out best that way. Now I start my layouts with the
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Bob, I looked at your comparative photos of 10 versus 11 guides, and I like the 11 much much better! Glad you do, too! The line follows the curve of the blank more closely and I think this will give you multiple benefits. "Flow" will hold true for casting, hooking, and fighting fish. (And one or even two extra guides add so little weight.) Jim Ising (Angler's Resource guru), said tha
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Thank you, David!
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I would enjoy seeing the data examples that fit the TNF hypothesis as well as those that don't fit the hypothesis. I don't see one set of data completely cancelling out the other set. Both sets of information, together, are more valuable than one set alone in my view. Likewise, as has been stated, I don't see bench testing in an arm wrestling match with real world fishing conditions. Those wo
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Your first attempts at Ghost Wraps look good to me, Michael. Perma Gloss is a little different animal than other finishes, but in no way inferior to any. (You might need to do three coats to equal one coat of other Light or Thin epoxy brands, for example.) On a slightly different note but related: It strikes me that many times I evaluate my work in two different Modes: 1) Close inspection,
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Bob, I made a thread color stick. One thread row/group was with Color Preserver, and the next without. It was easy to see and evaluate the changes between them. Color Theory is...Color Theory, and it is real. There IS something to it and how the human eye perceives what it sees as pleasing, calming, reputable, or strong. Why else would IBM, and a million other companies who have huge mar
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I agree with Chris. Define What you are testing for your purposes. Then test it. (IMO, efficient transmission of vibration through a tube is rarely a liability to my fishing.) Joel - Your spy bait appears to have hooked that smallie in both the tongue and cheek.... Nice work! This naturally leads me astray in asking about your choice of Spy Bait rods.... Proof meets Pudding.
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Ever try Perma Gloss for Ghost Wraps?
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Aleks! Safe and enjoyable travels to South Korea! How I would love to spend a day, a week...a year talking and fishing with that group of fishermen in your picture! What's their perspective? How is it the same and different? Maybe we can look forward to another discussion and testing time at Next Year's ICRBE Expo: * A year to prepare all the equipment and test examples. * A
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Chris, Salute! And well played!
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Chris, I love it! I laughed out loud at your perfect touche! I was only okay at fencing in my college phys. ed. elective class. Maybe we can generate a list and definitions of Logical Fallacies for forum use, and combine it into an informative book, "A Rod-Builder's Guide to Logic: How to Lose Friends and Influence Nobody." Already sounds like an old Patrick F. McManus article
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Brett, I have the HS760-1 (Delta), not the HM version. IP = 397.5; ERN = 15.1; AA = 75
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Hey, El! Here's my take on a few of the issues you brought up: Converting CCS to Industry Nomenclature and Vise-Versa: * The link you received from Steven Paris was a Proposal from Mick for a very General Translation of CCS to the currently used language to describe power. (Might be nice if others chimed in for a discussion about dialing it in if desired.) As many of us now know
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Okay, my tongue is numb now. What's the next step? Does it include a flashlight, a burlap bag, and snipe hunting in the woods at night? El...you rascal! Hahaha!
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Ernie, I apologize for not reading your question more carefully about weight-saving aspects versus cost saving aspects. I'll take another run at your questions. You are right about all you said regarding weight savings. There is a definite point where the returns diminish to my ability to feel the difference. That's not to say there might not BE a difference, but it is lost on me. Howeve
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Chris, Leaving all history of who challenged whom to this debate behind for now.... Why don't we agree to this: 1) Mick puts his TNF data that he has done in good faith in a list to post here on the forum for all to see and evaluate as they wish. 2) Aleks/NFC puts his data he has done in good faith in a list to post here on the forum for all to see and evaluate as they wish. (I hope f
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Well...there it is, Mick. This particular barrel of whiskey has been distilled enough. We gonna get to taste it or not? Let's see some data....and continue the debate after we've sipped a glass or two.
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Bob, I applaud your testing and trying something different! A curious question...could the FS work on that front 27.5 inches....and then maybe another set of physics takes over as the taper thickens? More whimsical than practical on my part. At any rate, for many reasons, that front 30-inches of the blank is a different animal than the rest because of taper, stress/flex....you know. Graphi
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As part of the Original Challenge, a Definition of Terms is reasonable, logical, for defining objective data points. I thought the terms for this challenge were already defined as, "Sensitivity = Transmission of Vibrations Through a Tube (rod blank) as set by NFC vs TNF." With all due respect, I didn't see a different Definition of Sensitivity put on the table for this specific chal
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The Fibonacci Sequence (FS)...Sweet! Utterly amazing subject/phenomenon about the Natural Shape of things...and the Math that describes it! Math is always catching up to Nature, not the other way around....and this is an important distinction to me. I often chuckle at my own hard-fought and tenacious grasp of my personal opinion. No offense to anyone else...it's MY opinion... so it has to be
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Kendall, Great topic which applies to bank fisherfolk, too! In some ways, all my rods are built with the intention of a specific use....and often, these rods are good for a variety of situations, too. But I hear you loud and clear! 1.) I built a specific rod (MHX 6'3" MH Elite) to wiggle my way through brush and overhanging trees to pitch jigs and stick baits to log jams close to sh
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I don't understand resistance to gathering objective data. What is so controversial, risky, or objectionable about data? IMO, let the numbers speak for themselves. Rod-builders can decide how to interpret the information, and if they value the the data. I think of all the objective data I rely on in rod-building: RPM's, conversions between standard and metric, O.D's and I.D's., temperature
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Kendall, I agree 100% with your take on the curiosity around learning what exactly makes a rod work well for one purpose or another. For example, I've know about CCS for decades, but only more recently did the tests on all of my rods. What I learned was a better understanding of why one rod was my favorite for jigs, and another a favorite for jerkbaits, etc. Even though I could use both fo
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Let the rod tell you how many and where the guides need to go! Think of layout charts as suggestions and starting points. Conventional wisdom is to use one or two guides more than rod length + tip top. So, a nine-footer would use 10 or 11 guides + tip top. Personally, I like to use another guide or two more than that (minimum 11 to 13 on a 9-foot rod) because my testing says to do so. See b
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Mark, I get you, man! (I think I do) I bought Two Pounds of pre-cooked and deveined shrimp in Kansas City a couple days ago for $12, and Four, 3-4 oz ea.. lobster tails for $6. Needless to say, even if I lived in Florida or Maine, it would cost me more than $40 a pound to go out and get them myself. But if I valued the experience of doing getting the shrimp and lobster, and the friends a
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