Mask the wrap area and spray on white Krylon - two or three light coats.
Forum: rodboard

I'm not too good at explaining. I am looking for a blank to chuck live and dead bait and let it sit, not to toss tin or plugs repeatedly. The gentler action of a glass blank would hopefully keep bait and hook together, and glass is more durable than graphite. S-glass is reputedly somewhat lighter and quicker than E-glass. This is the compromise I hope an S-glass blank would provide, and about w
Forum: rodboard

I would not be "hustled" into buying much of anything at full price. Each year fishing rods (especially fly rods) are re-invented, and there is a certain amount of truth to these marketing claims. Compare the "best" rod blanks of five years ago to the "best" blanks today and observe the progress. The niche left by the exit of G. Loomis will be rapidly filled by
Forum: rodboard

I have heard that G. Loomis (Shimano) intends to stop selling rod blanks. Can anyone confirm this report? I'm also curious if any G. Loomis (Shimano) blanks are made in the U.S.A.?
Forum: rodboard

Have any of you forum members had any experience using S-glass surf blanks? If so, how would you rate this material for heavy surf casting? On paper S-glass looks like an admirable compromise between graphite and E-glass, yet blank rollers seem to ignore it?
Forum: rodboard

Thanks for the tips. Wade fishing in the mud of Mosquito Lagoon quickly turns a nine foot rod into a seven and a half foot rod.
Forum: rodboard

I'm looking for an eight or nine weight fly rod blank nine and one half or ten feet long in a fast or medium fast action. I'm willing to sacrifice eight feet of distance or 1/2 ounce of blank weight for $300, and I'm looking for suggestions.
Forum: rodboard

I built a fly rod on an HS1021 blank - it turned out to be an 11 weight. It throws a loop a long way and is an effective fish fighting tool. This extra fast action/taper blank apparently has a lot of uses.
Forum: rodboard

Christopher, you might take a look at Mudhole.com and their " Custom Builder Surf Rocket" blanks, specifically the 12 1/2 foot LSB1502MH, a blank made for Mudhole by Lamiglas. It's a two-piece IM6 graphite blank which weighs 11 ounces and is rated to cast 6-16 ounces of weight. I believe you will find the price ,quality and service to be attractive.
Forum: rodboard

Oops! How about the distance between the reel spool face and the first guide?
Forum: rodboard

Is there any photographic or other empirical evidence which indicates that the use of GSP braid instead of monofilament should change guide placement , or guide diameter, or guide height? I am particularly curious about the first and second guides - the "gathering" or "stripping" guides.
Forum: rodboard

Scientific data indicate titanium and NiTi alloy resist corrosion from salt water indefinitely. I have a pair of St. Croix "Ben Dorr" surf rods that are around 25 years old. I live 300 feet from the Atlantic Ocean, and I like to fish. I have religiously rinsed these rods briefly with a hose after every use and the guides, they look like Alconites (at least they have stainless steel
Forum: rodboard

For comparison purposes I would be interested in a photo of braided GSP leaving a spin reel spool and entering a stripping guide. For many saltwater situations GSP braid is rapidly replacing mono, as evidenced by products listed in catalogs and the price of premium mono.
Forum: rodboard

Buffing with rotten stone puts a mirror finish on many furniture finishes. I don't know if it would work on epoxy?
Forum: rodboard

I have been tying some crease flies with a braided mylar overlay. I'm too lazy/cheap to experiment, so I'll ask. How does a pearlescent braided mylar tubing overlay look epoxied over a marbeling job, or over a snakeskin overlay?
Forum: rodboard

Dan: Why not? I have experimented with a "value pac" of acrylic enamel pigments in 1/4 oz. snap-top plastic cups I found at an arts and crafts store - 12 colors for $5.49, tax included. They seem to work fine.
Forum: rodboard

Gary has a tough job before him in his lawsuit. Coca Cola bought Taylor Wine Company in the 1970's and when Walter S. Taylor, a former employee, started his own wine business and attempted to use his own name as a label for his own wines he was denied this right. Precedent, good or bad, is hard to fight.
Forum: rodboard

I endorse Tom Kirkman's comments. I have a 9 foot fly rod rated as a 5 weight which I was using for shad fishing. I was using a #5 WF - F line which weighed 150 grains in the first 30 feet. I had the very devil of a time achieving any distance with this set-up. When I put a WF-F line weighing 195 grains in the first 30 feet on this rod the rig cast beautifully. I have noticed that over lining
Forum: rodboard

The two-piece Gatti blanks provide about as fast an action as anyone could want. The trade-off for the performance of this blank at distance is you may find yourself handcuffed at close range unless you overline the rod considerably.
Forum: rodboard

Florida infrastructure ain't what it use to be - never was. We may have to get used to it.
Forum: rodboard

You will learn how to tie really good knots if you use gel-spun braid. Or you won't land any fish. You will learn how to untangle sub-microscopic backlashes if you use braided line. Or you will tie off your line to your tip-top. Just kidding, but you must learn how to carefully manage line while it is being spooled and while it is leaving the spool.
Forum: rodboard

As far as I can tell the biggest difference between E-glass and S-glass is that there are a buzillion E-glass blanks for sale, and 3 or 4 S-glass blanks.
Forum: rodboard

Over the years I have watched a large number of rod makers, blank makers, and component makers go out of business. These businesses were almost exclusively labors of love rather than a scheme to acquire great wealth. I suspect many of you share my feelings about these unhappy events, and hope that the domestic rod, blank, and component makers will prosper in the future.
Forum: rodboard

Purglas makes a number of three piece blanks.
Forum: rodboard

I would suggest two big, husky guides at least to carry your 16' rod to the river.
Forum: rodboard

I did not buy the TiCrX blank for its cosmetic beauty, and I do wish it had a better paint job. I have no complaints about the functioning of these blanks.
Forum: rodboard

It may be that the gray paint is deliberate but the border between the blue and the gray is erratic and irregular, a condition which would likely vex both secheshes and bluebellies.
Forum: rodboard

When applying a snakeskin inlay to a rod or reelseat it is necessary to cut a straight line through the snakeskin parallel to the axis of the blank. If you take a piece of aluminum roof flashing you can easily cut it into a thin strip a bit longer than the cut you have to make, and then use masking tape to secure the aluminum strip to the blank - be sure to put the factory edge on the side where
Forum: rodboard

The upper end of each section of a TiCrX blank I am working on has gray paint sections which extend well beyond what the tip-over socket of the next sections will cover. I assume this is common to all TiCrX blanks? The rest of the blank has a beautiful blue paint job, but these gray sections look like a spotted dog. There is no structural reason I know of to wrap below a tip-over-butt ferrule.
Forum: rodboard

Pre-made fly-rod grips and even cork rings appear to be sized on the "one size fits all" assumption. I don't wear a medium glove, I wear an extra-large. I would like to rod-bond cork rings to a reel seat and blank and then turn the cork down to a full welles that fits my hand/grip. I think I would like to start with some cork rings which have a larger O.D. than the standard "one
Forum: rodboard