Phil, from your perspective, what does a rod do; what facts are you hoping to observe? How do you define "rod performance"? Are other individual fishermen allowed to have a differing definitions and expectations? Are you attempting to argue that a rod assembled from pre-made, pre-packaged components will be the equal of a rod made of a collection of components intentionally designed,
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For kit users, in good humor, of course:
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There is a line between what would be called OCD, and what would be called craftmanship I've never once been fishing, looked down my custom rod, and given any thought to double foot guide wraps looking asymmetrical. Regarding guide wraps, for me, the line between OCD and craftsmanship is at the end of the guide foot.
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While micro guides will certainly work, I'd encourage you to give consideration to larger guides; #6 or #7 single foots. One of the main advantages of centerpin rods/reels is that they are better fishing tools for open-water fishing in sub-freezing temperatures than spinning and casting set ups. This is due to the simplicity of a centerpin reel, and that they are easier to use while wearing gl
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Sometimes I wonder if some of the rod builders here actually go fishing. (Grin.) The point being that maybe an "unlocked" guide won't pull out the first time you bump it. However, in the world of actual, practical, real-life fishing applications, guides get worked around, knocked, pulled, and bent up and down. Soon, that epoxy or urethane finish isn't looking anything like it did whe
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Glad to help and inspire, Lynn. Just finished another one for me, as well; this one extended to 8'3" for steehead crankbait presentations.
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Living on Lake Michigan, and being an avid steelhead fisherman in an epicenter of centerpin fishing for both steelhead and large Great Lakes carp, I will offer that you are on the right track in looking at float rods used for steelhead.
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Out of curiosity, why a spinning reel on such a heavy blank? My experience would show that a baitcasting reel would outperform a spinning reel in that blank's line and weight range, by a wide margin.
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Amen, Lynn; who deserves it more than you? Let us know how the rod turns out!
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Here you go, Lynn, from their site/terms and conditions: Customer Satisfaction Limited Warranty RODgeeks will promptly repair or replace, at our option, your rod blank free of charge if it becomes damaged due to defective materials or workmanship for a period of five (5) years from your date of purchase. The RODgeeks warranty decal must be visibly displayed on the blank for the warranty t
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I think a great deal of sensitivity is beneficial, even required. Perhaps, Todd, you've been missing a few by using less sensitive rods? After all, how would you know? (laugh) Swimming hair jigs higher in the water column is very effective during mid/late pre-spawn, but they also excel in early pre-spawn, just after ice-out, when fished much slower. Takes are often fish just mouthing th
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It is an expensive blank; I've a wholesale account so it takes the edge off a bit. Of course, when you buy an expensive blank, an inexpensive set of guides just won't do, Neither will an inexpensive reel. It's a slippery, slippery slope... Lol. I've built ten or twelve of them, and have had nothing but glowing feedback from the owners of the ones I've sold. They also make excellent spyb
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I fish hair jigs a lot, in the exact manner and weights you describe. The St. Croix SCV76MLXF is the best hair jig blank I have found. I have built them as they come, and have extended them six or eight inches as well. You won't be disappointed with the MHX SJ9000, but I give the edge to the SCV76MLXF.
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It should be both the wrist and shoulder at different points in the timing of a cast, If one can incorporate the fingers as another fulcrum point, even more lure or line speed can be generated..
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Roger, Accepting, for a moment, your pretense of a graphite downrigger rod taking a set from being constantly bent and under load while fishing, wouldn't the solution be to simply turn the rod 180 degrees in the rod holder each trip? Or, perhaps, keep the rod reel-side down when trolling, but fight all the fish reel-side up in order to offset any permanent bend the rod takes on? Surely
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Kent, I think you may be confusing marketing literature intended to achieve objectives other than build better rods, with actual design practices. There are dozens of rod making companies that, rather than mention the idea of straightest axis theory in marketing literature, actually use straightest axis theory when placing guides.
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I'm quite certain that in the grand scheme of things, the foot or so of UniThread or the couple strands of Krystal Flash in the fly I tied is not going to be a problem. I also feel like the enslavement of Silkmoth larvae to make silk, is animal cruelty. Free the caterpillars!
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File the guide feet down just as you described; that is the correct way to prep the guide feet. The NFC placement chart is just a guide to start with; it is not a hard, fast, guide position regimen. It won't matter if you exactly match the numbers. Tape the guides on, then bend the rod and adjust the guides to distribute the stress evenly, if needed. Do a some test casts; play with the pos
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I wil second what the others have said with one notable exception, the recommendation to only use double foot guides. I have built dozens of musky rods for clients, and am a hardcore musky angler myself, so I am speaking from considerable experience. By all means, use single foot guides, especially at the end of the rod! My typical set up is a #20 SIC butt guide, double foot; then a #10 DF;
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A St Criox 4M80MHF is an excellent all around blank. For a high-end rod, thats the one!
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Need a hard rod case for a 7 1/2' one piece casting rod, on the order of the REC cases. Needs to be at least 2 1/4" in diameter. Does anyone know if REC will make them longer than 7'? Other sources?
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Mike, A few thoughts about your muskie rod; I am a thoroughly addicted muskie fisherman, and have build a hundred or so muskie rods, so maybe I can help a bit. I hold the rod when casting by the foregrip, so for my personal rods, I use a rather large foregrip of about 5" long and 1.25" diameter. I find that my hand and wrist is in much better shape after an long day (or week) on t
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7' is really short for a dipsey rod....
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I build about 20 musky rods a year, and over 150 in my life; my standard seat is a TDPSD-20. I'd recommend a 20mm seat, or at the very least, an 18mm. However, it depends on the reel to be used on the rod. Typically, musky fishermen larger, round, Shimano Calcutta 400/ Daiwa Luna300/ ABU Garcia 6500 type reels. If this is the case, I would strongly recommend a 20mm seat. If a smaller low-profile
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An easy way to make wood butt caps is to first drill a hole of the diameter of the butt of your blank in the block of wood. Use the lathe to drill the hole, so you can square off the tip-end of the butt cap to the hole. Drill only to the depth you need, not all the way through the workpiece. Then, place a 1 1/2" X 1 1/2" piece of pine in the lathe/chuck, and turn a short mandrel that
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