Laurent, real simple solution is to send an email to CTS and explain what you want. They have a line of fly rod blanks called the Prime Series, you pick the taper, length, line weight and number of pieces. They will build it. Its not going to be cheap, but you will get what you are looking for. I have had them make me up several blanks where I picked out what I wanted in a blank and they delivere
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I have built a few switch rods on the Batson blanks, including the "5wt" blank. I have also built on both CTS and Beulah switch blanks. The Batson "5wt" is a very powerful and fast tipped rod compared to my Beulah "4/5wt". With my casting style I found the Batson needed a 7wt Bass Taper line to load for over head casting and long line indicator nymph fishing. They ar
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Like Dan, I use Titebond III for gluing cork rings together. If I am going to mix some rubberized rings in with the cork I will used a two part epoxy to glue the rubberized ring to the adjacent natural cork. I find that regular 2 part epoxies work best for components that have a snug fit, for example, a multi part reel seat, I'll use a 15 min epoxy to glue up those components. Cork to blank, th
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George, I don't think 3x and 4x is very "light" tippet on a 5wt. Try that rod with 6x and 7x, that's light tippet on a 5wt. Not always necessary to go that light on a 5wt, but it is good to know that it can be done.
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I have not built on them, but I have fished both the 4 and 5wt factory rods. I'll second Phil's take on them. Not a very versatile rod in my opinion.
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You have a ton of reel choices. The most important thing in my opinion in selecting a reel is how it is going to balance on the rod and your not going to be able to figure that out without putting a couple of reels on the rod and seeing how they feel. Large arbor reels offer an increase in line retrieve and less memory to the line. Most of what you are seeing sold today are large or mid arbor r
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Like most of the other guys have said an 8'-6" or 9' would be perfect. I would recommend going for the 4wt over the 3wt. The 4wt will cast surface poppers with much more ease than a 3wt, especially for someone learning to cast. I would also recommend that you over line the 4wt with a 5wt line while you are learning to cast. You won't be able to cast as far but it will help you to learn the t
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The overall length of most fly rod grips including the reel seat are around 10 inches give or take a half an inch. If you were to order the grip and reel seat separately, most grips are 7 inches with a few companies selling 6.5 or 7.5 grips also. Reel seat overall length depends on the brand and style, but most are around 3 to 4 inches long overall. The set up you are looking into is 10 inches
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Gene, I'm with Roger on this one. If the finish is soft I would remove it and start over. It should not be to hard to remove it and clean up any residue with either Flex Coat or U40 brush cleaner then wipe the blank down with ISO Alcohol. All the 2 part finish products are good, it just takes finding one that you like the best and sticking with that finish. They all require a perfect measurem
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Ed, I usually use two stripper guides on 9ft rods. I've built a bunch of 6wt's and I go with a size 12 then a 10 for the first two guides, then the same size snake or single foots all the rest of the way out. Size your running guides with respect to the knots and loops that you will have to pass thru them. You can go with a 16 for the first guide, won't hurt anything and I doubt you'll notice a
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I figured someone would recommend the Forstner bit, but I didn't think they would come in 1/4" but they do. I have used them in the bigger sizes for similar types of wood boring with great results. One of the big box stores shows them on their web site in 1/4". Roger, I ream my cork grips exactly the same way then if they need any additional increase the bore diameter, I finish up with
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Hey Folks, what are you using to drill out a 1/2" thick cork ring that does not have a 1/4" hole in the center? I bought some cork rings that do not have the hole in them and I am wondering if there is one type of drill bit that is better than another. Usually I buy my rings with a 1/4 hole in the center, glue them up to the desired length, then onto a mandrel to shape in my lathe, then
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Jason, several outfits sell fiberglass fly rod blanks. My personal favorite is CTS, they have the Quartz Glass series, I have built a bunch of them for myself and customers. Lamiglas makes a decent value priced blank. Stefan Bros has a pretty loyal following along with Mike McFarland. Tom Morgan is also selling blanks, bit pricey though. Seeker shows some glass fly blanks too, but I have never se
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Plenty of choices out there in a matte finished blank, Mud Hole has the MHX, Batson RX-7, Pac Bay Tradition II and CTS (they have several models that each have a specific taper and all come in matte). North Fork Comp also makes a 4wt.
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Peter, personally I would follow his recommendations. One thing you can do to really check the spacing would be to tape all the guides on the blank, run a fly line thru the guides and put the line and blank under some tension. Object is to make sure the line and blank are following the same curve, without the line touching the blank and no "flat" spots on the line between guides. Might
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Mark, couple of options from personal experience: Batson RX-6 7'-6" 5wt can be over lined with a 6wt line if your casting is going to be close and you are using patterns that are not to heavy, say lightweight bugger's and poppers. I have also built on the Pac Bay IGF806-4, its a little longer than the 7-6 your looking for, but it is a 6wt. Versitex shows them on their website, but bette
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Fiberglass or look into Anglers Workshop Chalkstream blanks if you need to stick with graphite.
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Mark, depending on what your friend is going to fish for a 6wt is not a bad choice. The RX-6 is a good blank, it has a medium fast action and it will have enough flex so he will be able to feel the rod load. I built a rod on the same blank a couple of years ago for a friend who didn't have a lot of money to spend on his first fly rod. He does very well with the rod, from trout to bass. I use a
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Graphite, 4 piece; Fiberglass, 2 piece seems to be the most requested and 3 piece not far behind. You also don't see many fiberglass blank manufactures making 4 piece glass blanks. I know of a couple that will do it on request though.
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You can use the 5 min epoxy, but it will turn yellow in a short period of time. The bonding type of epoxies do not have the UV protectors in them and they will also get too hard as compared to a wrap finish. The 2 part wrap finish epoxies will allow for some flex without cracking and will have the UV protection that will last for years without turning yellow. I would assume that the ferrule do
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Its recommended to scuff them up, but I have done the same thing thing as Billy V has done, no problems. Even have a rod that I put another coat of finish on after a year. Been fishing it lot this spring to see if I could cause a problem, nothing so far and this rod has been out in the sun and nasty weather.
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Jim, your not really giving enough information on the ferrule itself, now what Phil stated above will solve the problem if it is a standard tip over butt ferrule connection and the chip is only in the coating over the blank. If there is a wrap already present on the female end, you can remove it and replace it, bringing the thread wraps closer to the end, covering the chip and then covering the w
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There are better choices, but I do not see why not. The A7 will mate up with a Fenwick style grip very nicely especially if you taper the rear of the grip to the same outside diameter as the front hood on the A7. A short 3 or 4wt might be a little light for this seat, but remember this is "your" rod and if you are happy with the look and feel what is the harm? If you do some research yo
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There are more than a few that offer blanks in fiberglass, both S and E glass. Here are a few that come to mind, sorry if I miss anyone. Lamiglas, Seeker, South Fork Rod Company, Steffen Bros, CTS, McFarland, Thomas & Thomas, and Tom Morgan. In the softer side of graphite Anglers Workshop has the Chalkstream Series, CTS has the Vintage Series, Mud Hole might still be offering the Orvis Fa
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John, follow Col's instructions, just go to a hardware store and get yourself some 2 part epoxy like Devcon either 5 min or long cure. Wrap finish is not a bonding epoxy.
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Dean, While you may be able to repair the rod, I would wonder that due to the location of the break and the repair attempt by another, will you be able to get the rod back to the way it was before the mishap? I personally doubt that the rod will preform the same as it once did. I would give a call to American Tackle and see if you could buy a replacement butt section. Just strip off the reel seat
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I have built on the fly rod blanks, all of the models they offer in several different line weights including their fiberglass and a couple of their Prime series blanks (you tell them what you want in a taper and length). Best stuff I have used so far. I get to play around with a lot of different fly rods and very few have come close to making me want to switch from taking a CTS out on the water.
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I have built a couple of CTS Affinity X 10ft 4wts and also one on the Pac Bay Quickline 10ft 4wt. The people that I built these 3 rods report that they work great and they are into the euro style of nymph fishing. The CTS is going to be expensive, but in my opinion worth it. I have a gang of 9 footers from 4 to 8wt and I really like them. The Pac Bay blank is really priced right, but I did not fi
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If I remember correctly, he built it with a switch style reel seat and grip. Total length came out to be around 18 to 20 inches for the bottom, reel seat and forward grips. He found that he could cast it somewhat well with a spey style cast using a short belly 6wt spey line, Cortland. I know he also tried using it for indicator nymph fishing and he was not impressed with it, had a SA 6wt on it. W
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I have used both the U-40 and Flex Coat brands of brush cleaner, both are good products. I use a fairly good quality artist brush found in the craft stores, after applying the finish I wipe any excess off the brush with a paper towel, dip in either of the two brands, wipe dry and then do a final clean with ISO Alcohol. May be a bit much, but I have never had a problem reusing the brushes and they
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