If the metal butt cap has a threaded hole in the middle it is for a fighting butt extension - a great aid in fighting large fish. Take care not to let any Rod-Bond or epoxy get inside that threaded hole.
Forum: rodboard

I searched Mud Hole and the net for "carp rod blanks" without hits. A search for "carp fishing rods" produced scores of rods between $14.95 and $48.95 and a few from $300 on up. No mention whether they should be ultra-fast like a bass rod, or slow like a walleye rod, have single-foot or double-foot, little-bitty or great big, silicon carbide or aluminum oxide guides. Apparentl
Forum: rodboard

A possible customer is a tournament carp fisherman. He fishes for carp with a conventional reel, a forked stick, and dough balls. He wants a ten foot blank capable of casting a 1/2 - 3/4 ounce bait-and- weight at least 100 feet , but gently so as not to throw the bait off the hook, and still have enough backbone to stop a 30# carp from running for cover/snags. My experience with carp has been sho
Forum: rodboard

Casting is by far the chief benefit of an extra-fast fly rod. Sensitivity and hook setting don't seem to have much to do with the the rigidity of a fly rod, where the angler watches rather than feels a hit. What is the benefit of an extra-fast casting or spinning rod when using artificial lures?
Forum: rodboard

Two piece fly rods remain popular in some circles due to car doors, trunk lids, and airline over- length baggage fees. I have no idea why they remain popular with fly fishermen.
Forum: rodboard

Two piece fly rods remain popular in some circles due to car doors, trunk lids, and airline over- length baggage fees. I have no idea why they remain popular with fly fishermen.
Forum: rodboard

Different tools for different tasks. Spiral guide wraps have been widely praised for trolling and jigging for big fish. I am unaware of any spiral wrapped factory-built surf rods or inshore rods for conventional reels. Are there any situations using a conventional "on top" reel where use of a spiral wrapped rod would be a disadvantage? As a fly fisherman for over 55 years I am familiar
Forum: rodboard

Fly rod options are plentiful and their choice depends as much upon the casting ability of the user as it depends upon the target species and water conditions/environment where the rod will chiefly be used. An experienced fly fisher will probably tell you the blank and components he wants. If the customer has no idea about blank, components, length, line weight or fishing conditions just go with
Forum: rodboard

Has anyone created a blank for conventional reels which had an opening in the fore grip or the adjacent blank through which the line could pass directly into a guide train on the underside of the blank? Such an opening could be engineered so that it would not weaken the blank in the least and would provide the same benefits as a spiral guide configuration in a much neater arrangement.
Forum: rodboard

All B.: My experience fly fishing salt flats, lagoons, estuaries, and dock lights is I cast a lot more and a lot farther than I do in any fresh water fly fishing venues, with the possible exception of big river steelhead and salmon fishing.
Forum: rodboard

Are spiral-wrapped fly rods, casting rods, or spinning rods legal to use in casting contests for these respective types of casting? If so, do spiral wrapped rods win all or most of these contests? The advantages of "guides on the bottom" for fighting really big fish, especially "lifting" them, are easy to understand. It is difficult for me to imagine the advantages of forcing
Forum: rodboard

Eugene: I agree. The "sensitivity" of a rod is entirely subjective. It depends upon the "sensitivity" of the subject using it. I wished to suggest a scientifically rigorous test of subjects' ability to identify the heaviest and/or lightest rod from a group of rods might well prove that perception of a rod's weight is mostly subjective also, although weight is an objective prop
Forum: rodboard

I am not familiar with building or using spiral wrapped rods. I thought the guides started on one side of the blank and wound around to the other. In my mind's eye I imagined the line might come in contact with the blank as the line wound around it, especially if the blank were deeply bent and the guides were very small. Apparently my imagination is at fault. I look forward to watching a spiral w
Forum: rodboard

I have never seen a rod with spiral wrapped micro guides. How do you prevent the line from rubbing against the blank when it bends?
Forum: rodboard

My experience has been that darn near any guide configuration works, but which one works best? I am suspicious of casual judgments of the performance of various types of rod builds. How experienced is the reporter, and what are his motives? It is not difficult to perform fair, objective, scientific tests to determine actual best results of rod performance.
Forum: rodboard

Rod sensitivity and rod weight are hot topics among rod builders. I would like to see the results of a valid experiment where several anglers heft and swing several unidentified rods of various weight and pick out the heaviest and the lightest - and compare their Opinions to the Facts revealed by the scales. Can anyone suggest where I could find the results of an experiment like this?
Forum: rodboard

Keep in mind that more friction is created by every guide a line passes through. Most fly casters would profit a great deal more by developing a flat casting stroke/tight loop and a good double haul than by fussing with equipment.
Forum: rodboard

Rather than adding weight to the rod just install a longer grip in front of the reel seat. There is no reason you must grasp a fly rod immediately in front of the reel, and allowing the angler to grip the rod closer to the tip will greatly alter the balance of the rod. Maybe use an 8" full wells grip with a hollow for the thumb, although I can not think of any reason I would not want my fly
Forum: rodboard

I do Forhan wraps on light double foot guides by hand. When I have almost completed my wrap I cut the tying thread, maintaining tension on the wraps with the fingers of one hand, leaving a foot or so of thread to complete the wrap. I use my fingers to make the turns around the guide foot (Forhan wrap) and around the blank, maintaining thread tension all the while. Then I pass the tag end of my w
Forum: rodboard

Tom's suggestion of a heavier fly reel to "balance" a fly rod has an economic benefit as well. The lightest fly reels are generally the most expensive, by a good margin. You can pay over $1000 for a super-light high capacity single-action fly reel when you could balance your outfit with a heavy, rugged and serviceable fly reel for under $150.
Forum: rodboard

Light wire is flexible. If you bump one leg of a light wire guide it can "pop out" from under the wrapping, unless both legs of each guide have several Forhan wraps covered with epoxy - which lessen any weight saving from lighter guides.
Forum: rodboard

For casting, spinning reels have advantages over conventional reels. For trolling or jigging, conventional reels have advantages over spinning reels. I wonder how a roller tip-top would affect a spin rod's casting ability?
Forum: rodboard

One thing is for certain. The science of physics and common sense predict the more weight you move the more work you do. I think the concept of sensitivity is more useful to psychologists and neurologists than it is to people actually fishing.
Forum: rodboard

Feeling that little pull - the rod loading at the end of the back cast, is critical to fly casting but not a factor in spinning or bait casting. Maybe adding weight to the butt of a fly rod would make it easier to feel the bad cast straighten out?
Forum: rodboard

Feeling that little pull - the rod loading at the end of the back cast, is critical to fly casting but not a factor in spinning or bait casting. Maybe adding weight to the butt of a fly rod would make it easier to feel the back cast straighten out?
Forum: rodboard

Surf rod and bass rod builders frequently discuss adding weights to the butt ends of rods to improve balance and sensitivity. Fly fishers do a lot more casting than other anglers, and fish take a fly a lot more gently than they take bait or lures. If I build a fly rod for a customer should I suggest adding lead weights to the butt end of his fly rod to improve balance and sensitivity?
Forum: rodboard

With the quality of cork used on even high-end rods today your problem is certain to become more common. I see my personal fly rods as fishing tools, not objets d'art, and I have covered some cork grips with heat-shrink flocked tubing. They work fine.
Forum: rodboard

I have made fine cork dust by sanding a scrap piece of cork and mixed the dust with Rod Bond epoxy to form a paste. A cork grip flexes, so the filler must flex with it or the bond will separate. These fillings have been quite durable and the color match isn't bad. I sand them down flush with sandpaper glued to a flat stick to avoid hills and valleys.
Forum: rodboard

I suspect "sensitivity" in this case means the same thing as "feeling", and the feeling we look for from a fishing rod is produced by the movement of the rod. The rod can't amplify feeling, only transmit it by movement. The lighter the rod the less energy it takes to move its mass and the more "feeling" is possible. I can not imagine what else beside less weight coul
Forum: rodboard

When you make your own snake guides do you just bend pieces of wire or is there more to it?
Forum: rodboard