Josh, you may know this already but I'll give you some info first if you don't. Two handed rods operate on a "grain window" more than a line weight when you are using a spey style cast. For example, I have a 10'-6" Switch Rod that I built off a 4/5wt Beulah blank. It does not really cast single hand style very well and it needed a 7wt line to do so. When using a 2 hand spey style c
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Oh, I know that, explained that to customer too. Really tried to get him pointed towards a short fiberglass rod.
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Thanks for the info. Tom K, he whats the rod for very small streams with tight brushy banks, casting distances are short, maybe 20ft at the most. Personally I don't see the need for such a short rod. A 6-6 3wt in my opinion would be fine. I am going to try and steer him towards the Anglers Workshop 5'-7", I must have missed that blank while I was searching their site.
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I have a customer looking for 5'-6" 3wt 2pc Fly Rod Blank, the only thing that I could come up with is a Batson RX-7 in the right length but it is a 4wt. Plenty of 6ft blanks, but he is pretty sold on the 5'-6" length. Any of you folks know of a manufacturer out there that may have this in their line up of blanks?
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I'd go with the CTS also, I have built on a bunch of the Affinity X blanks. Just finished a CTS Affinity X 908-4, rod has a ton of power, easily launches a 350 grain Cortland QD line. Also very pleasurable caster with a Cortland Bass Taper in 8wt. I've owned and cast a bunch of other high end 8wts, and this one is the best so far. CTS seems to have their Mo Jo dialed in on designing blank tapers
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I do mine the same way George does, except I use Ultimate Epoxy to glue the insert to the blank and 5 minute epoxy for the rest of the reel seat assembly. 5 min epoxy will work just fine for all of it though. Cork Grip, I would recommend using Ultimate Epoxy or Rod Bond to glue that to the blank. Make sure you scuff up the parts to be mated, any epoxy needs a rough surface to achieve the best bon
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Thanks Guys, I'll give that a shot and see where I wind up. Herb, its a CTS Affinity Plus DH, Model DQ1306-4 6/7 line rating, 450 to 750 grains.
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Going to be building my first Spey Rod, a 13ft CTS 6/7wt 4pc for the blank. I think I saw somewhere on the forum that the front cork should be 1 inch for each foot of rod, so that's a 13 inch front section and I was planning on a 5 inch rear grip section. I am going to be making up my own grips for this and would appreciate any of you folks that have built a spey rod to check my plans and give so
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Go with the light weight single foots, the ceramic's will add unneeded weight and dampen the blank. Ceramic's are fine on heavier blanks, but not a 2wt. REC makes a fine lightweight single foot. Several of the sponsors carry them. I'll also second Herb's vote on CTS, love them and I have a bunch of them in the 2 to 8 weight range. Somewhat expensive, but you get what you pay for and the models I
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I wouldn't use hand cream, oils in it will cause havoc if it gets on the thread. Just try to keep your hands clean with soap and water. You may need to wash your hands a bit more often when wrapping a rod.
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Bill, I have turned a few pieces of it. Nice figured wood. You are correct in your reading, the wood does have natural oils present in it and it will not take a finish like epoxy, tung oil or a varnish. I just turned and sanded it with a final 1500 grade paper and then waxed and buffed it.
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Greg, I have used light weight single foot guides on rods up to 6wt without any problems. I have also used standard weight single foots on a couple of 7 and 8 weight rods without any issues too. The only issue I could see with with single foot guides on 7 weight and higher, maybe a max of a 9wt weight would be if you were fishing where ice on the guides could cause you to knock one loose when rem
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My two favorites on that color blank would be Garnet or a Dark Brown with or without color preserver, then trim with something that will match with the wood that you are using for your insert. Like gold trim with a curly maple or black ash insert. If your really not sure, just do a couple of test wraps on the butt section where your reel seat and grip are going, then just remove them once you hav
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Kelly, as in the above posts, don't do anything to the male ends. They are fine as they are with the gap. Even if you get one with a .25 inch gap it is fine. Over time and depending on how much you put the rods together the male end will wear. I've built a bunch of rods on Diamondback Classic Trout blanks and they used spigot ferrules, never had a problem with one getting loose with repeated use,
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Go with the Pit Paste, best so far and I have tried a bunch of fillers. Best color match, filled the voids easily and sanded well. Rod Dancer product, couple of the sponsors carry it.
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Kevin, I have never built on the All American series from Diamondback, but I have cast the finished rods. I found the heavy ones, 8, 9 and 10wt to be a bit on the slow side for my taste. They would work just fine for fishing with floating lines, but I found that I had trouble with them when trying to use a sinking line, like a Cortland QD line when in the salt fishing for Stripped Bass. It seemed
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The Batson RX-6 and Pac Bay Tradition blanks are very good for the money. I think both make a couple of options in the short 4wt line up. I did 3 of the RX-6 7-6 5wts for my nephews a few years ago for Christmas and the boys had no trouble learning to cast on them and they were about the same age as your kids.
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I will be down at that show, look for Vince Wilcox on the fly tyers row. I go and help him out with his table, I may have a rod or two with me. Always good to meet other builders and talk shop.
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Bob, I would go to a shop that carries Sage and cast one. I played around with a friend of mines Sage One 9ft 4wt. I personally didn't think it was any better than the CTS Affinity X series. I didn't run the CCS data on the Sage One 904 but it did feel under lined with a 4wt line on it. I would go and test cast one, especially considering the price of those blanks.
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The Diamondback All American series were an entry level blank, but a decent quality blank. They were made in Vermont. Diamondback was a stand alone company that made finished rods and blanks. Their most notable stuff were the Classic Trouts and Diamondglass series of finished rods and blanks. Those blanks, the ones made in Vermont are real nice stuff to build on. They also made blanks for other
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Russell, an 8-6 or 9ft 5wt would be fine for light freshwater stuff. 3wt would be fine if the wind isn't a factor and your only casting small flies. The small blue gill poppers will cast just fine on a 5wt. I would go with a blank that is medium fast, easy enough to learn the casting curve on. An 8wt is a great saltwater/heavy freshwater set up, 9ft is the norm here. There are some differences in
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Tom is correct in reference to his statement above saying that the resin and hardener will not weight the same for equal volumes of each. If you want to go with a digital scale follow these steps: 1) Zero the scale, place mixing cup on scale, zero the scale again, draw up 3cc of resin and put in cup, record the weight 2) Place resin in cup off to side, get another cup, zero the scale again, pla
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Banned Totally in NY. I would strongly advise your customer to read the NYS Fishing Regulations on fishing the Salmon River. There have been some changes in the last several years regarding the type of set up you may use for fishing this river and any other NYS Great Lakes Tributary.
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Check out CTS Fishing. Their Affinity X blanks are fast and you can order them in the 3 piece configuration you are looking for. Bit expensive but worth it, they will reach out there when needed and handle the close in work just fine without having to over line the rod.
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I'll second Bob's post above, I have used a heat gun do to the same thing, try it on a light setting first, then increase it a little bit at a time. Trick is to take your time and tread lightly with the heat.
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You might want to check with Versitex, they may still have some Pac Bay IGFA and Tradition blanks (TRF) in that size. They are great blanks, medium fast action and they do cast very well.
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Eugene, I use an 8wt for most of my pike fishing with a Cortland Bass Taper line (short heavy head). I'm casting mostly big deceiver style patterns, 4 to 8 inches long. My 8wt handles it pretty well and it is plenty of rod for the bigger pike, no problems with fish up to 40 inches. Recommend a bite tippet too!
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Thanks for the info! I like Jay's idea the best. I figured the plugs were really for "us" to not crush the male end and to keep debris out of them. Thanks again for all those that offered tips.
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Are Ferrule Plugs necessary in the male end of a rod section of a tip over butt connection on a rod blank? I have some Diamondglass fly rod blanks that do not have them. All the other rod blanks I have dealt with that are tip over butt have ferrule plugs in the male end.
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Peter, the best thing for you to do is head to a local fly shop that you have done business with before and ask them if they have a couple of 8 and 9 wt saltwater floating lines that you could test on your rod. I would pick the line that will load the rod properly so that you can comfortably cast from 50 to 80 feet. You may not need to cast 80 feet, but it is nice to know that you and the rod can
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