I use a couple of Cabela's 13' 2-piece surf rods, one with a Fin-Nor Offshore spinning reel loaded with 30# braid, the other is the exact same blank but built as a conventional rod with a Daiwa Slosh -30 loaded with #20 mono. They cast a 4 ounce sputnik and a guppy rig just fine, and when the pompano go north these rods work well on spinners and blacktips in the surf. Phil in Daytona
Forum: rodboard

I use a couple of Cabela's 13' 2-piece surf rods, one with a Fin-Nor Offshore spinning reel loaded with 30# braid, the other is the exact same blank but built as a conventional rod with a Daiwa Slosh -30 loaded with #20 mono. They cast a 4 ounce sputnik and a guppy rig just fine, and when the pompano go north these rods work well on spinners and blacktips in the surf. Phil in Daytona
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For 40 years 95% of my fly fishing was on small streams where a 40' cast was a Boomer and wind was a minor consideration. For the last 20 years 95% of my fly fishing has been in salt water, where a fly fisherman with a 40' range on a calm day would have to stay home seven of ten days because of the wind. I find the AFTMA system to be of little value and often a source of confusion to new fly fis
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Fifty-six years ago (1961) the long-defunct American Fly Tackle Manufacturers Association (AFTMA) established the line weight categories we still "use" today to match fly rods to fly lines - and to buy both. Fly lines and fly rods have greatly changed in materials and construction since then. Buying the wrong rods and the wrong blanks could boost sales and add to the mystique of fly fi
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Super glue and epoxy are polymers. They do not melt. When heated sufficiently a polymer will begin to physically break down as molecules are destroyed by the heat. This breakdown can be detected as a "softening" feel. The graphite fibers in the tip of a rod are bound together in a matrix of polymers. When these polymers are heated sufficiently they will break down, and they will not &qu
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Stick shellac or hot glue. If your tip-top gets bent or broken or you go to a different color scheme you can easily un-melt a hot-glue affixed tip-top and just as easily re-attch a new one. If you remove a tip-top affixed with epoxy or instant glue you will have to saw off your blank below the old tip-top. I use hard stick hot glue, break off little pieces with a box-cutter, break the chips into
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I would appreciate an explanation of how and why "inaccurate" rods throw lines in differing, unpredictable directions and why "accurate" rods throw lines in a consistent, predictable direction. Do "accurate" rods have a higher modulus? Tighter ferrules? Lighter guides? Decorative wraps? Thicker walls? Faster tapers? Physical factors, not faith, must determine which
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Grin!
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I often read about a certain blank or rod being more "accurate" than others. Rifles with shot-out barrels will become less accurate - change point of impact - but I can't see how accuracy applies to fishing poles? No two rods will cast the same, but doesn't one rod continue to cast in the same direction while a competent caster adjusts to its "point of impact"? It's a poor wor
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Most guides advertised as "titanium" guides consist of a plating of titanium a few microns thick over a base metal. There are no solid titanium guides. The closest thing to a "titanium guide" is a REC Recoil guide, which is made of a solid, all-the-way-through Nickel-Titanium alloy. REC guides will not corrode, even if their surface is scratched, and if they are accidentally d
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I have found there is often significant variation in action between different line weight fly rod blanks of the same make and model. I put little faith in recommendations of certain makes and models of blanks which do not specify line weights. The surest way to get what you want is to test cast a built-out blank, either at a tackle store or at a local fly-casting club.
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I assume the need for a multi-length rod will be created by unknown conditions at the fishing site. It might be just as effective and a lot cheaper to bring two or more rods until you analyze current conditions. Another solution might be to use a telescoping rod and vary its length as conditions dictate.
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As long as the spine of a rod (if it has one) remains constant a competent fly caster can and will quickly compensate for it - just like he/she would for a steady wind - and casting accuracy will not suffer. And I doubt the spine of a rod (if it has one) changes after it has been assembled or while it is being used?
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I got a Weight Watcher's digital scale from a disgruntled user.
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The devil is in the details. All too often well-meaning rod customers and builders assume their priorities are the same as everyone's - without revealing the use of the rod or the priorities of its construction: fly rod, casting rod, trolling rod, jigging rod, deep drop rod, snatch-hook rod, live bait rod, color scheme, durability, weight, portability, noodle rod, hot-shot rod, shallow-diver plug
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I use a Dremel tool with a fiberglass-reinforced cut-off wheel and a light touch. I worry a saw blade might jump around and splinter the blank.
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As we Americans are painfully aware anybody can claim anything COULD be true, but it seems a waste of time to worry about possible problems which have no observations, data, or evidence to suggest these problems truly exist. I am quite certain numerous tests have been made of the effects of a rod's spine, but we have not seen test results because there were no effects.
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Rod blank spine and corrosive primers in ammunition both became non-issues 70 years ago.
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First I've heard of this method. Sounds like fun, but tiring. I have a basket full of fly lines, each with a tag marked with the weight in grains of the first 30 feet - something I wish manufacturers would do. I weigh the lines with a digital scale I got from a disgruntled member of weight watchers.
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Tommy: If one section has a measurable spine on the right make sure the next section has a spine on the right. Same goes for up and down. Of course this only goes if your goal is to neutralize the effects of spine, which I assume is the purpose of looking for it? Otherwise, make sure the spine of each rod section lines up with its adjacent sections.
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ben: How deep do you need your fly to sink, how fast, how far do you need to cast, and how many casts do you anticipate making in a day's time?
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How about you determine the spine of each section of a multi piece rod independently (they could differ) and then arrange the orientation of each section in the build so they cancel each other out? Of course this is impossible when building a one-piece rod.
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You are a right-handed caster you will naturally cast to the right. If you find the spine of the blank and place it at a 45 degree angle to the RIGHT of the guide train the added stiffness will bring your cast back to center-straight - in theory. That's the only way a spine alignment makes sense to me.
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The reel size is not as important for determining guide size/spacing as the type of line being used. For example: 20# Mason nylon monofilament or 20# braided gel-spun polyethylene?
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Herb: Small world. I live on the beach in east central Florida. I love to wade fish mid-Cape beachside flats sight-fishing for blues and bass, which I have done for 30+ years. I find leaving my fly motionless, then giving it a fast strip when a fish nears draws a quick strike. On bayside in June a three inch fly is as big as I will use.
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Herb: I always use a stripping basket for casting more than 30 feet, which I commonly do in salt water. I often strip line as fast as I possibly can to make a cast before fish move out of range. I sometimes hold the rod between my knees and strip in line with both hands as fast as I can, and make each strip as long as possible. The location of the stripper guide is more important to me than the
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At least 90% of the line retrieved on a fly rod is stripped in by hand, not reeled in. This involves repeatedly reaching up the rod with the hand not holding the grip, grasping the line, and pulling the line down past the reel. This activity, not the curve of the blank, should be the first consideration in locating the first ["stripping"] guide. A custom-made fly rod will take into acco
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LCE comes in a flexible formula, but in my experience thin formula LCE is as flexible as two-part, 48-hour cure epoxies. If anyone has had LCE failure due to cracking I would like to know the details before I use it again. I hate to wind, finish, unwind, scrape, rewind and refinish rods. That's why I would rather not use nail polish as a temporary fix if I don't have to.
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Light curing epoxy is a lot faster - about 1 minute to harden per wrap, and all you need is sunshine to cure it - in FLORIDA! You will have a clear, non-yellowing, permanent finish on your wraps, as good as two-part, slow cure epoxy. Twelve bucks should buy you all the "thin formula" LCE you need for the job.
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For a quick, clear, and durable "re-finish" of guide wraps I would be inclined to use one part light-curing epoxy in the "thin" (runny) type. Cost is low - no waste. You can probably do 10 guide wraps with one little tube. This stuff is tough enough to glue teeth together.
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