Thanks for your help over the years. Your support, especially for us military guys was phenomenal. Take care and best wishes to you guys.
Forum: rodboard

Yep, Japanese seabass is called suzuki. Frustrating as I watched them boiling on baitfish this morning right next to my ship!
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Our Japanese seabass are very similar to your European and fished similar. From shore I use 8-9' steelhead blanks, from boat I've been using 6'6" crankbait or topwater blanks, something with a fairly soft tip that the fish can't throw the lures so easily when they jump. I don't understand... you want to use with baitcasters AND fixed spool? Do you mean spinning reels?
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I think the best answer to your question may be in your own backyard! I'm building a CTS blank in Japan... we have black seabream called kurodai I hope to catch on it. Blanks are not as easy to find as you would imagine. Many of the blanks that are sold in the average store are either heavy saltwater popping/jigging types, or solid glass. The largest tackle stores in Tokyo hardly carry any rod
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Good luck. Ten years in Japan and I've yet to see a Shimano or Daiwa blank. You can find plenty of other Japanese jigging blanks though.
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Are you building a fly rod and trolling with it or using a fly rod blank to build a baitcasting rod to troll with?
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I'm glad you were talking about his hard drive. First thing I thought reading the title was that he had a car accident.
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Why don't you E-mail the folks at Matagi and ask them? They are pretty good about returning E-mail and I'm sure they are probably familiar with the reel you are talking about, if not you could send them a picture. Phil
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A search for king mackeral on google will probably turn up more info than you could ever read. Here's a decent story to get you started. Fairly similar to narrowbarred mackeral. Phil
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Southern Yellowtail aka kingfish and king mackeral aka kingfish two completely seperate beasties, with two completely different styles of fishing. My favorite blanks were all-stars, next favorite are Seekers. I like the CLB 704, although you may have to go up to a 706 if fishing around structure. I don't fish a lot of drag, the soft tips help keep the hook from ripping out of the fish's mouth.
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Swampland has been great on every order. Lance has always gone above and beyond what's expected.
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Put a split flocked grip on a rod, Castaway reel seat. One of my best tiger wraps to date. Put the third coat of epoxy on tonight, couldn't figure out where it keeps going next to the grips. It kept dissapearing. Noticed tonight in the light that the flocked grips soaked it up like a sponge. Oops. See, I didn't use winding checks to seperate the flocked grips from the epoxy. So now I have a ni
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I was thinking the same thing, ordered some foam today from Mudhole. Also thought about a solid bushing made from 8lb foam. Gimbal? Batson only has two sizes, I picked them both up. Before when I used the Aftco parts, I used a smaller one, not a four for sure. Phil
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Putting together a G-USA blank from Billy with Merrick painted slick butt, EZ tight reel seat, and gimbal. I got both sizes of Batson's gimbal just to ensure I got one that fit best. The last slick but I put together, looked like it fit OK, but leaches salt from the cracks after fishing trips, which tells me the space is too big and water is getting inside. Piecing everything to the butt, I c
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Interesting site. Especially like your grips and reel seats, puts some interesting options out there to say the least. Phil
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Hey Bill, Not only does the Navy send me to school, if I screw something up Uncle Sam pays for it. If I hose up a reel seat (or ten), it's in outa my wallet. Back in Japan, for a bit. Nice to be home but short lived. Phil
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Nice adjustment. I'll wait for the two piece seats myself though, I'm sure I'd screw up the modification myself. Phil
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Hmmm.... had given up on CTS. May have to try them again.
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Nooooo! The military post office is so screwed up, half the time the only way I get my issues is to order a back-issue when I figure out mine isn't showing up. Will have to order a second subscription. Phil
Forum: rodboard

I own a Daiwa SLT50W and a Duel Two Speed 4/0WS, which I imagine is about the same size as the Avet. Thinking about picking up the Avet with braid, but may just fish the Duel with braid instead. You don't think there would be any issues trolling w/ the regular guides, especially for something as fast as a marlin or makos? Phil
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As I'm sure many of you have seen on the news, we are currently steaming towards Myanmar to try to help out, which means I have too much time on my hands to try and figure what I want to do. I purchased a G-USA Challenger 6'0 standup blank from Billy V. Trying to figure out how I want to build it so I can order the parts. The stand-up rods I've built to date I've used Aftco Rollers on. This is
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I have a couple of them and think they are sensitive and durable enough. They are as durable as any other clear coated graphite type handle.... meaning I wouldn't want to bounce it too much off the rocks or it will scratch. Only thing I would consider is that if your steelheading is in cold weather, it may be somewhat of a cold handle to hold onto.
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Kind of the same thing I figured.... never see any pictures of clear running streams or anything. Think I will travel minus fishing rod. Phil
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Know there's been some fish caught in Iraq. I've caught them in Jebel Ali, Dubai, Bahrain, and Qatar. But seeing as Afghanistan isn't on the ocean and it appears I will have a vested interest in about 9 months, was wondering if it was even worth packing a small pack rod with all the other stuff I have to take. Don't think I'm going to try to build any rods while I'm there, but then again, can
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Yep, back out to sea...Lol. I'll get the items when I get home sometime in June or so. Kinda like Christmas every time I go home and get to open the stuff I ordered while underway... :)
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Ahh, well, guess that answers the E-mail I sent you last night. Phil
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Scott Youschak Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > They were popular on livebait kingfish trolling > rods but I don't see them that often anymore. Fuji > advertises them as boat rod guides and I'd think > they'd be too big for a bass rod, especially the > high frame, double foot butt guide Concur with the double foot butt guides being used for
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They are great guides. Used a lot in Japan for any sort of boat fishing where the line will be straight down. The smaller single foot DB guides are very universal and I use them on most any sort of baitcast rod. Phil
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Sad to hear about AllStar... hopefully they'll continue to build a quality product. Thanks for the heads up, order put in with Karen. In my current location and bandwidth, would have never known about them otherwise. Phil
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Thanks for the tips, will give a try. Where the grip is nice and large, not so much of an issue, but where it tapers down thinner, harder to work with the crease. Will see if I can't work it out when wetted out as advised. Other thing I noticed, the first grip I did I tried with the "natural" color fiber/carbon tube... that didn't work well. The white color faded to see through and i
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