Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That's the problem, stringing one up tip to butt, > or rolling it while flexing it, doesn't > approximate anything that actually happens when a > fish is on the line. > OK, I'm not doing something right. I'm casting more than I'm catching. My focus has been on being able to choose the distance
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Tim Collins Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Good article Don. I subscribe to the belief no > single person knows everything. Hi Tim, There is so much to learn. The rod is only a part of the total picture. The biggest factor is the fisherman. In April I suffered a pinched nerve in my neck so I have been a little inactive recently. Previously I would
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Hi Steve, Thank you for your "honest feedback". ;) I come from a state of long distance shore fishermen and what I have written is representative of standard building practices for larger rods. On many boards, people seek out new or different ways of doing things. I would hope to introduce another point of view. Mahalo, Don
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Periodically people post questions about the spine on a blank. Often the responses are varied and I believe the person asking the questions does not walk away with a general understanding of spines or their effects. I have put together a short overview about spines and how they are perceived by a long distance shore fisherman and tournament caster. Hopefully it will be helpful. The overview i
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Just FYI, Gold Cermet comes with frosted stainless steel frames or titanium frames. Don
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The best blanks that I know of in this range are both Conoflex and rated 1 to 3 ounces. Conoflex Barracuda Conoflex Nevada 13 Roy's Fishing Supply and Nanko's Fishing Supply stock the Barracuda. Here's a link to their phone numbers: Merrick Tackle also lists the Nevada and addition similar Conoflex blanks. I have had excellent reports from people fishing these rods. Don
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Here's a link to the 2005 workshop: The talented Roger Mortimore (mispelled by many as Mortimer) is one of the UK's top tournament casters. Don
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I put together casting workshops in 2005 and 2006. Some may find the follow ling link for 2006 interesting: I did award "Makoi Extreme Caster" ball caps to those who used my Conoflex Makoi Extreme rod mounted with a Penn wide 6/0 and loaded with 80# mono. The casting weight was 10 ounces. The Conoflex Makoi Extreme is 14' 4" long. Don
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The article is accurate. I believe the time frame was somewhere around 1950 to 1960. This was at a time when large surf rods were not available and Hawaii fishermen being very innovative used a fiberglass boat rod on a bamboo handle. At a later date, graphite tips were used with fiberglass handles. Now, all graphite, 2 piece rods are available in lengths up to 15'. Many people in Hawaii con
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Hi Marty "Did you ever build on those older Rainshadow ISP1565 blanks? I know you're in Hawaii and understand they were built to be used there." Although it is my understanding that Batson started in Hawaii (Maui), I have never knowingly seen a Batson surf rod. I was at ICAST 2006 and should have spent more time at his stand. I started surf fishing in Hawaii in 1981. Since that ti
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Hi Marty, The surf casters rule of thumb is 10# breaking strain of line per ounce of sinker. So, in your case you would need 25# shock line. The rule of thumb does not take into account wear or abrasion to your line or extremely hard casts. Also, since you have indicated that the rod is fast action, it will amplify any casting errors and possibly cause break offs. Hope this helps, Don
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Hi Adam, As mentioned, Oio (bonefish) are a great sport fish. I have seen people use 50# mono and JigMaster size reels to go after these fish. There are other more sporting alternatives. You do not need to spend a lot of money to have a lot of fun. The spinning tackle you mention will be fine for targeting smaller fish (under 5#). For bait casting, you will need something a little longer.
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Merrick tackle has the CTS Makoi 305 L3 in stock. It is 15', 3 piece, rated 4 to 6 ounces. Here's a link to the specifications that are available. Don
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Hi Justin, In your original message you listed that you didn't want to spend more than $150. So I did not know of anything that would fit your requirements. For about $250 + shipping you could have purchased a Hawaiian Ulua blank. These typically are 13 to 14 feet long. Many are capable of casting 8 to 10 ounces and some cast 12 ounces. Penn 113HLW, 114HLW and Newell 646 are often used on thes
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The 300 yard distance was broken using a Conoflex rod quite some time ago. There are various tournament weights and lines and I do not know of any strict requirements. 150 grams (5.25 ounces) - .31 mm line and 125 grams (4 ounces) - .28 mm line are the two most common. Tommy Farmer is the US national champion for 125 grams and I believe he used an ABU 5500 to cast 813 feet. Although I do
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Hi Lou, 726' is a great cast! I'm not in your category, but still trying. I do hope to make the Baltimore tournament this year. Will I meet you there? Anyway, for .28 mm line I am using an ABU 5500 Pro Rocket with level wind removed, ceramic bearings and a Mike Benfield magnetic conversion kit. It is my understanding that a square spool, one that has an equal diameter and width ha
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Hi Marty, People are getting tremendous distances with small weights. Some plugs they are using in tournaments are 18 grams in weight and made of a plastic material. The more traditional casting weights are 4 and 5 ounces. You should be able to get detailed answers to your questions by posting to: The opening page talks about casting 18 grams a distance of 126.5 meters. The message
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Mike McManus acquired his fiberglass skill working on RAF planes during WWII. He later worked with Terry Carroll building fishing poles. They later separated (remaining friends) to form their own companies. Mike forming Cono-flex and Terry forming Zziplex. I believe it was 1971 that Mike McManus originated the flip tip blank. This is the tip that has about the botton 2/3 being carbon fiber with g
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Dave Gilberg Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > CTS Makoi. See Don's Tackle on list of sponsors > for specs. Hi Dave, Thank you for the kind referral. Bill, If you are looking for a long distance surf rod, you need to consider blanks that are 13' and longer. I highly recommend you contact Merrick Tackle or a Merrick Tackle seller such as Amity H
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Hi Robert, Roy of Roy's Fishing Supply in Hawaii should be able to provide any information you may need. You can find him listed on my web page under retailers. www.donstacklehawaii.com Hope this is helpful, Don
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Hi Tony, It would be difficult to answer your question without additional information. What island does your friend live on? The style and size of equipment will vary. How strong is your friend and what size sinker does he normally cast? It may be difficult for some people to effectively cast 10+ ounces 14 foot and longer rods. This goes along with the size of reel and line. Althou
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Allen, Would a palm support meet your needs? Fiberglas Hawaii does/did carry powdered graphite and they manufactured graphite parts for cars. They may be of help. A company in Kaneohe builds graphite racing canoes and should have the expertise you need. Sorry, but I don know their trade name. Don
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Hi Tom, I do not have a spine finder, so I used my wrapping machine. I mounted the handle in the chuck and put two rollers opposing each other below the ferrule. Not able to use a reel, I ran the line through the guides and attached it to the bottom guide. The rod is 15' with the guides attached to the outside of the curve of the predominate spine. With the guides oriented downward and pullin
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Wow again, Just an observation: The rods I have with the guides on the inside the curve have a tendency of turning over while the ones with the guides on the outside do not turn over. Could it be that the torque generated by the spine of a 14' to 15' rod is greater than the torque of guides. My observations say yes. Others have noted the happening and I do get razzed about it. So it is more th
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Hi Allen, "hope I did'nt jack this thread from ya DB" If you are refering to me, I'm glad to see you participating on the board. More is better ;) Besides, how is it possible to "jack" an open forum? "I have read several posts in here concerning splines and it seems it dose'nt matter or it really just provides peace of mind to those who do spline thier blanks.&q
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Hi Jose, I'm sure others will chime in with better advise, but if you will be using mono, I would use Fuji Alconite guides. BMNAG toward the handle and BLNAG toward the tip. As I understand it (and I could be wrong), the LCSG guides are for use with braid. So, are you building it for spinning or casting and mono or braid? Don
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Allen, If you are going to use shrink wrap, you will want to use the patterned type. Standard shrink wrap is smooth and does not work well with octopus slime. For general use, I use 3-M tape. Some people complain that it is too rough on their hands after they have been soaked in ocean water for several hours. You may want to consider a space wrap as an alternative. Regarding the guides, I h
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Dave, Over the last year I have made surf fishing part of my regimen. A friend and myself alternate Sundays either surf fishing or casting. In the last six months my friend has gone from casting 85 yards to 185 yards. It is such a pleasure watching a person improve to such a great extent. He kept trying different techniques and implementing those that worked for his inherent skills and body st
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Hi Robert, I am a distributor for CTS, Cono-flex and Breakaway and have been working closely with CTS in developing surf blanks. I came across your post while in the process of updating my website (adding a link to rodbuilding.org). The new web site pages can be accessed at: And of course the old page is at The web site should answer a number of questions. On Saturday I rec
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"Heavy lift and fish fighting primary considerations - casting really not in the mix" "Which style ferrule would have the advantage if both quality equal - spigot or tip over handle? " I believe the better ferrule is manufacturer specific. Companies with a long history will tend to have gained experience that enables them to utilize the characteristics of components t
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