Nice Ken... look forward to getting my RM in the mail. Now finally getting back to civilization for a bit can order them again. BTW- the rod proved to be very handy in Diego, appreciate it! Phil
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Built a 0/1 weight on a Dan Craft and absolutely love it. After contacting him direct I even worked a deal to get an extra section so I could build the rod with two handles, so it can be a 6' something or a longer rod for larger waters.
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I have the Phenix rods and love them. I use that particular model for light bonefish, casts ultralight jigs with ease (especially with ultralight braid). In San Diego it worked well for spotted bay bass as well. I don't have any experience with the MHX blanks to compare it to, sorry.
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CTS is pretty good with their warranty, I had a great experience getting two blanks replaced by them. I'd contact them with a couple of pics of the break and get their take on it. In the meantime for the money you'd spend on a North Forks blank, if you enjoyed the CTS you could just order another one like Billy said. If you are looking for something less expensive I'd recommend the American Tackl
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Interesting stuff... not quite what I imagined when I heard the term "candle light".
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Even though honestly I've been mostly buying other manufacturer's blanks lately, it still stinks watching the pool of options available shrink!
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Funny- a buddy in Japan and I always joked about putting our wives to work on rods. You're already halfway there!
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Ken- sent you a message or two to your kpres375@aol.com address, but no response. Not sure if it went to your spam folder or what. Drop me a line when you get a minute- phil_richmond@hotmail.com. Phil
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I used the silver painted seat from Matagi for a rod for my Mom she wanted in Raider's colors. Very impressed by the quality of the finish!
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I have the Custom PowerWrap which I really enjoy. I purchased the Renzetti foot lathe for it and the upgraded chuck, and can't think of anything complaints. I still sometimes wonder if I shouldn't have saved and gotten the Renzetti, but I've not used one to see what the difference would be. I had the Pac Bay which is about the same as the American Tackle and sold it after a couple years use.
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Dave- Thanks for the info. It's bittersweet to say the least, after trying to get there an entire career, I get to go, but have to spend nearly two years straight away from the wife to do so. (7 months in Afghanistan and 13 in D Gar). I have the heavy stuff covered and spinning stuff as well. I've read and heard a lot about the bonefishing there, so figured will spend quite some time giving it a
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I'm in Afghanistan and the environment is not so conduscive to rod building, so took up fly tying. My one and only pattern so far is Crazy Charlies. Since I am supposed to go to the fishing paradise of Diego Garcia for 15 months after this, it makes sense to me. Plus tying two or three flies before bed works well for getting your mind off work, etc. and getting a decent nights sleep. I have a
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Thanks for the offer. Should be fine between wife and family. Unfortunately, I'll be busier than I'd like to I think, but have to try to make some spare time. I'm at Camp Vance (formerly Heselton) with CJSOTF. Look forward to seeing more pics of your handles in the future, drink one for me! Phil
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1. Congrats on your return from Afghanistan. I'm stuck in Bagram myself and should be here till the fall. Just picked up a fly tying kit so I can at least try to spend an hour or so a day doing something productive before going to bed. 2. Awesome grip.... if I was home and could use it on a rod anytime in the near future I'd talk to you about purchasing it myself!
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I couldn't find Joes article in my Rodmaker collection. I've got to come up with a better way of organizing the magazines so I can find particular articles easier.
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Thanks for the tips!
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Do most of you do your trim bands before or after a coat of finish? I'm having a hard time getting the thread to go over the skin smoothly. The skin is a bit thicker than I expected and even with C thread it leaves a tiny bit of an edge from the corner of the skin showing, and packing isn't hiding too well. So should I leave on, finish, put trim bands over a coat of finish? Leave as is with trim
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Ever have one of those days where you try to follow the instructions and just can't seem to make it work out no matter how hard you try? I was following Pat's tutorial on snake skin courtesy Mudhole: Remove under layer of skin. When the skin is cut in step 4, ~ leaves a small piece of skin underneath the top skin. This is easily removed by lifting the top skin and pulling the skin underneath
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Fuji Silicone Nitride for wire line. The Zirconium stuff is ok for braid, but I wouldn't trust it for wire.
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Wow... I'm thinking fake. I've had rods I picked up with Fuji gold ringed guides and had the gold wear off..... here in Japan too. Come to find out the maker put their own coating over the guides to make them look pretty. I just assumed they were cermet. I've cermets with braid for mahi mahi and yellowfin tuna and never seen one groove. They are sweet guides but hard to justify the extra money
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Argh! I just bought a bunch of these stupid things and mounted one to a blank. What needs to happen to deepen the groove? I beleive this was the same problem the Castaways had originally.
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Ellis- I'm still amazed... you actually got out fishing and caught a fish?
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Pretty nice. Pricey, but nice.
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Thanks for the advice! Karry- that sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. Will check them out and put the order in through Utmost. Phil
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Received my order, I do like the seats, wish they came in more hood colors. I'm trimming my barrels down though as they are way too long. What finishes out the 16mm barrel best for winding checks? (What kind of winding check do you think works/looks best?) Hard to buy something that will fit flush with the 16mm seat, and work for different diameter blanks. I can do epoxy winding checks but like t
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You should be fine with that 6'6M blank. I've caught them in Florida and in Singapore, and my favorite tackle for them was 2-6lb test. Strong fighters but they don't get huge in Florida, no need for the 60lb braid or anything crazy.
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For me they are lighter, cost less, fairly easy to shape and create, and look cool to boot. I did create one offshore rod that I didn't like them on and have since stripped the rod. Everyone has their own preferences.
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That is pretty interesting. You wouldn't think you'd get a uniform color dying them the way they do. Spooling seems to be very similar to the process used in fishing line.
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Have the article and just received my abalone. Was just wondering how small of a diameter this stuff can be bent into? Will it work for a butt section on a small, say 6-10lb bass rod? Or is it pretty restricted to heavier saltwater applications?
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Andy- Best wishes to you and your family. Miss calling you and talking for an hour about various All Star blanks and how many different actions I could get off of you! Phil
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