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Current Page: 4 of 21
Results 91 - 120 of 611
8 months ago
Mike Ballard
Even measured from the reel stem if you have the same distance in inches to the butt and two guys hold the reel seat differently and/or have different length forearms, they will not be fishing with the same length handles. I have seen some spinning reel guys split the stem between their 2nd and 3rd fingers and others split it at the 1st and 2nd. Some casting reel guys palm the reel with the trigg
Forum: rodboard
8 months ago
Mike Ballard
Hitena is the stuff. Call Gabe and ask.
Forum: rodboard
8 months ago
Mike Ballard
Al purvis Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hey everyone, > > Here’s a photo of my 6’ medium light spinning > rod I am finishing up. This is actually my first > spinning rod and I built it for finesse fishing > for bass in my home river that I wade fish a lot. > It may be used for throwing some small plastics > inshore fishing from
Forum: rodboard
8 months ago
Mike Ballard
It is the fishermen and rod builders that actually fund the Sport Fish Restoration program. It is a user tax that starts at the first point of sale and is then passed down to the consumer in the purchase price.The money Mudhole and other mfgs pay into the fund comes from the fishermen and rod builders. Let's be straight about that!
Forum: rodboard
8 months ago
Mike Ballard
For serious SW fly fishing--- carbon fiber skin over rigid foam all day!!! It allows you to relax your grip because there is no softness to overcome. For the same energy your casts will be longer and control will be superior. Nothing against cork but on a fly rod CF over rigid foam is the bomb. For use in rod holders I would stay away from anything other than urethane coated cord or nylon grips.
Forum: rodboard
8 months ago
Mike Ballard
A lot of retail industries have some sort of wholesale program and most set a minimum buy-in and/or yearly purchase amount to make such accounts worth their while. You have to ask yourself, if you are not buying even $1000 of rod blanks and components in a single year do you really deserve wholesale? Too many people manage to get wholesale accounts and buy so little its not worth a company's time
Forum: rodboard
9 months ago
Mike Ballard
The choke guide isn't the butt guide. And for casting rods I think this is all sort of silly anyway. There is nothing to "choke" because the line has already been tamed by nature of how it comes off the reel. It's not like a spinning reel where the line comes off in large coils. Just use a large or high enough enough butt guide so that under load the line does not get hard down on the b
Forum: rodboard
9 months ago
Mike Ballard
If you want rapid choking of the line just pick up a MicroWave butt guide and you get it all right done at the butt guide.
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
You do not need to take any sort of measurements to tell the difference in a rod with more or less guides. You can feel it. If you take the Zenaq rod shake it, then take two or three or four guides off of it and shake it again. You can feel the difference in response. And tip wrap is not nearly as likely with dbl foot guides as it is with single foot guides. One of the reasons I dislike single fo
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
Why should the first guide be 4.5 to 5 max? If the rod is not a very fast action those first few inches behind the tiptop probably do not flex by much so the factory spacing may be fine. My only suggestion is that you move from 11 guides to 12 guides on a 10 footer.
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
Take a Q-tip and push it in and turn it around in each guide ring. If there is a sharp edge or crack it will capture a piece of cotton when you pull the swab out. You can also cut a strip of nylon pantyhose and run it through and around the rings. It will catch on any imperfection.
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
I would not modify the reel foot. Just trim or turn down the foregrip by the minimum amount needed to allow the foot to go in. And remember that if you angle the foot you can insert the fore end first and then slide that in which creates extra room on the other end. Maybe you are already doing this but if not you can actually get the foot in an opening that is shorter than the foot.
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
Most newcomers to everything not just rod building, are quicker to rely on a message board or facebook post or a YT video that to do any real research or study into any real substance. Such is life more and more. Instant gratification and "Getirdone!" I think somebody in Tom's position with the magazine probably has to be very careful about how things are stated. You cannot force anybod
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
Norm said- it > takes to bend the rod 1/3 its total length; He may not have said it correctly and new comers might think you are just bending the rod to 1/3rd of its length so I think Tom was trying to clarify that is a deflection distance equal to 1/3rd of the blank's length. Yes, that is a big difference. Obviously You can bend a rod 1/3rd its length with just a fraction of an ounce
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
There is no such thing as a "true" medium heavy. Every company has their own rating system and even among the same company you will find different ratings for the same terms based on the blank category --- freshwater, bass, walleye, saltwater, surf, etc. A light power rod in one of the heavier salt blank categories could lob a 5 ounce weight. A light power rod in one of the freshwater c
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
I can make a blank flex back 1/3rd of its length by deflecting it just a few inches. But deflecting it downwards a distance equal to 1/3rd of its length will take a LOT more weight. Yes there is a BIG difference. I think this is what that quote is talking about.
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
Did not mean it as a slight. I know you have a blank manufacturing operation to run and might be busy with other things.
Forum: rodboard
10 months ago
Mike Ballard
I would not expect the same level of attention that this site had when Tom owned it. Those days are over. Move on. On the other hand, the new owner is making some changes and maybe this is causing the issue. But even still all you have to do most times is just reload the page and it will come up as it should. I get the notice every now and then but it is not a major issue for me. I just reload th
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
That's odd. You can only use one at a time so why force you to buy two of them? Bad business decision on somebody's part.
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
Garnet on dark green looks good.
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
Aleks Maslov Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hi Everyone, > > 14.5 and 15.5 are the total length of the grip + > reel seat. > > Lynn, > > There is a lot you can do. > > If the blank diameter is about 13.5-14.5mm you > don't need an arbor. Add glue to the last three > inches of the blank, and insert it just past
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
Sam Kirk Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > After this I don't know what to do. Everyone that > reply to my question are advanced rod builders. > Why don't people vote on it after all there is > mixed opinion on this matter. Go with the people who offered facts. Opinions won't get you far.
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
I know that there is a difference in ERN for the CCS measurement if you measure on the spine versus any other axis, with the measurement on the spine always being slightly less. I was always surprised that the inventor did not specify that the blank be turned a certain way so that things would be more consistent. Maybe because it was designed to be used by manufacturers he figured they would do t
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
If spine was of any importance there would at least be a consensus from those that wrote about it. Gene Bullard’s book never mentions it. C. Boyd Pheiffer wrote two books and neither mentions it. The Herter’s book never mentions it. The GudeBrode book never mentions it. Tom’s book mentions it but explains what it will and will not do for you. Dale Clemen’s wrote two books and in the first one
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
The problem with spine finders is that they do not duplicate what happens in real world fishing rod use. Use a spine finder on a naked blank and it rolls one way. Add guides, run a line through them and pull on that like a fish would and try it again on the spine finder --- the blank will flip the opposite way until the guides are on the bottom.
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
People who build on the straight-stiffest axis at least have some hard data as a reason for building that way. People who build on the spine have nothing other than opinions from a variety of sources none of which have never proved it or supplied data to show that building on the spine makes a better rod, stops rod twist, or makes for more accurate casting. They are the ones that need to step up
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
There were over sixty sponsors on this site when Tom sold it. There are less than half that number now. So much for progress.
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
Al Jones Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Is our best argument really that Gary Loomis says > to do it? Appears to be, yes, but like Tom said Gary is not really talking about the same spine that most rod builders. All that stuff came from Dale Clemens way way back. Or you can realize that if building on the spine was somehow superior then why doesn't it
Forum: rodboard
11 months ago
Mike Ballard
Facts are rarely accepted but myths die hard.
Forum: rodboard
12 months ago
Mike Ballard
L Series. You will have just enough height to allow for an easy Forhan Wrap.
Forum: rodboard
Current Page: 4 of 21

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