Sorry for the late reply. I build plenty of wire rods for Lake Michigan, Huron, Superior, and Erie fishermen. John is spot on in most of his advice. Here are a couple of my observations on over 100 wire rods fishing aboard Salmon Charter boats. The Silicon Nitride guides are the way to go with any of the SS braided wires. I have done testing with the Carbides and found that the drag on the w
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Get back to right Mike, it is the one thing that you have to do, even if your retired buddy!
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I would look at some of the MHX salmon drift blanks. They will have plenty of power for walleye and the tips will show a crankbaits wobble perfectly.
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Mike, Mike B. is spot on. Pulling cranks is very effective on walleye. For trolling, I almost always use glass blanks also. MHX makes an awesome 8'6 glass blank in their downrigger/salmon lineup. Great blank for pulling inline planers, which will do exactly what you are presently using a 10'-12' rod for. Pulling inline planer boards will allow you to run 4 or more rods per side, and keep
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I disagree. This site is used and frequented by all levels of rodbuilders from first timers to seasoned veterans. Many new or novice builders have no idea what your even talking about, and I suspect would find your post insulting and maybe even turn them off to asking questions, just my opinion.
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It looks to be their standard clamp on linecounter retooled with guide feet. My guess is that it will perform just like the one that clamps on and the others as well.....Poor. IMO it will cheapen your custom rods, not add to them. If you have a customer that wants them, great, build them what they want. I am not trying to be negative or shoot down your idea. I just know that serious Great La
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Like Mike said, Diawa, Okuma, Penn, and lots of private lable (cabelas, Bass Pro) reels out there with the linecounters already installed. Rapala, Shakespeare, and Berkley make the clamp on linecounters. These clamp to your rod above the foregrip. They are a pia to put it mildly and aren't that accurate. They also won't work with any of the wire or copper lines.
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Yep, I got a set of rigger rods (6) sold from my sposnsored tourny boat, converting them to MHX 7' one piece. Might have to hold them until the MHX blanks come to life. They will be worth the wait, I am sure.
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Mike, one of these years, I'll get that way. I'll even stop and pick you up, walker and all.
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Can't wait! Sorry Don, missed your call tonight. I'm bringing a big croc pot of meatballs.
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I have several of them fishing Lake Michigan. So far, no issues and nothing but good reviews. Very similiar to the RDR's, but a little softer action all the way to the butt. The RDR's get a little stiff in the butt area because they have graphite in that area. I am anxiously awaiting a 7' one piece MHX rigger rod, then the series will be complete.
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Steve, look at the MHX Downrigger lineup. They are glass and designed for exactly what you looking to do. The price will put a huge smile on your face as well.
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I have used Batson RDR's in the past with great luck also, they are a little faster action as they are a blend. For what you described, you can't go wrong with the MHX though. I have a set of four of them right now mid build as longer rigger rods for a charter captain.
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Give the MHXDR1024 a shot. It is designed and built for Great Lakes trolling. They are glass rods with a nice slow action, perfect for pulling boards. They are very easy on your pocketbook and have a bulletproof warranty. Do a spiral wrap and you will have great board rods. These also make great downrigger rods.
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I have used the RDR's. Slightly faster action, slightly less power than the SPG845. I pull Slide Divers occasionally for walleye with my SPG845 rigger rods, they work fine. I would hesitate to use them for salmon pulling a diver, they are at about 75% of max pulling a mag diver, a big salmon might ring the bell on the strike. No worries with walleye though.
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I use the 845's for rigger blanks, and like you said, they may be on the heavy side, although would work nice. I haven't built on the 844, so not sure how much it gives up in power. I have to believe that the 845 will be soft enough for your application. Your fish are big enough to justify a little more power. Plus, if you choose to run any short cores or coppers, you will be happy with the e
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I know what you mean. I order Torpedo tips from Ontario, they run me about $25 each. The first time I ordered two, $101.50 was my bill with shipping and taxes. Now I get creative to get them.
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For the tight fitting ones, I take some Acetone and put it inside the grip while holding my thumb on the bottom end. Shake it around making sure to saturate the inside of the grip, then slide it down like butter over your properly rod bond coated blank. I forget who gave me that tip.
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Way to go Don, I hope I speak for all Michigan rodbuilders when I say that you have our support, ask for any help you need with this thing.
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I think a lot depends on how the individual fisherman uses the rod. I have seen guys place the butt under their armpit as well. Lots of different ways to hold the rod/reel. Lots of rods are built with a 12-20 inch cork grip and slip rings are used so the reel can be placed where it is needed for the particular angler. Sorry, that is the best I can do. The best bet is to have the angler in yo
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Keep us posted. I may be able to make it, located in Saginaw. Eyefull Custom Rods
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Thanks Jesster. Spot on.
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I got asked by a local river guide to build a 9' centerpin for him to use on smaller streams for steelhead. This is way out of my normal element, so I could use some ideas and even direction. All of his present rods are built on a Rainshadow IF904, yep, flyrod blank. It has the perfect action he is looking for. Having never built a centerpin or fished with one, I am stumped. He wants a Tenne
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Ditto, great stuff. I am currently swapping out my Pro Salmon team to all MHX this off season. Bang for the buck, they are top of the list.
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The Stradic 1000 on my perch rod measures 1.535, sorry you'll have to convert to mm's.
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A little out of my element on this one. A good friend asked me to build a couple of spinning rods for pier fishing Florida Spanish Mackeral. Here is what he gave me to go on. I'll have many more questions for him after I get a better feel for the techniques and information you guys give me. He said they use 4000 and 5000 series spinning reels filled with 20-30# braid. 12' - 15' blanks? My f
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If walleye are the target, cork can be a consideration. Rodholders are heck on cork grips with any amount of serious use. For salmon and trout, EVA or slickbutts are the way to go. Cork is again ok for periodic use, but will not stand up to the riggers of salmon trolling for long.
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Yeah, what Mike said.
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Bill, have a look at the Batson RDR's. For smaller salmon like you describe (cohos?), the RDR86M would be a nice blank. The MHX might be on the heavy side, more geared towards larger kings. The 8'6" MHX would probably work, but be slightly heavy for your fish, but at the same time would also be a very versatile rod. It could be used for leadcore, copper, and even a high diver rod in a pin
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No problem, I use them for wireline applications. They are great to work with, and will even do "custom" ring inserts for nominal fees. The only problem is that they are in Ontario and shipping is high for a single tip, so like you I tend to order them in numbers. They are very nice looking, almost impossible at a glance to tell that they aren't an Aftco, maybe slightly bulkier, mayb
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