I am interested in building a spin rod for casting 1/8-1/4 lures, would like 7' 6" , (maybe 7 would be ok) and believe a moderate action/medium power would do it nicely. Anyone have a favorite for this type application that they would suggest I look at? Rainshadow IP841? SB841? I built a panfish rod out of a 3 wt fly blank, 7' 6", moderate action, and it is outstanding for castin
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I would appreciate more comment on why a Forhan wrap is necessary on a guide so small that it hardly can be snagged on anything and is embedded in a gob of epoxy that is about as big as the guide itself. It just seems illogical. I must be missing something - it wouldn't be the first time.
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A bigger issue than grip length is grip diameter. For a spinning rod, depending on how the person using the rod fishes it, you need very little beyond the reel seat. Casting, as mentioned, depends on the hand size. But the real kicker is diameter. Many builders don't know the options they have and how those options can affect how the rod works. With spinning, I believe the ergonomics guide
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If you are following up on the In Fisherman article like I was, I couldn't find 1 weight rod blanks either. I finally built a 7 1/2 foot spinning rod on a AMF Matrix 763 3 wt fly blank, designed around a Shimano 500 Sedona, and it is the most spectacular performing ultra light I've ever seen. I have 8# braid, no leader, and it works great. I used a skeleton reel seat with a turned cork insert,
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Check out the photo of an ultra light spinning rod in the grips area of the photos (under my name). This rod uses Batson reel seat shims for ramps, turned them on a drill press, and they were very easy. They have to be lighter than epoxy, they finish up well in their natural color (if you want a nice ivory color), not sure how they would paint, but would expect it to work ok. I used the rod f
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I have always used a leader, but think the guys advocating going direct to the braid are probably right, at least most of the time. There are smaller knots than the uni-uni. Try an albright or slim beauty-google them for instructions. Do some experimenting because how you tie may affect how well the knots hold.
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Another tip for micros, buy a few extra-some will just disappear. In my experience, I find about 50% of those I drop. I don't wind on a white carpet.
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If I remember correctly, the term Herter's often used was "finest procurable quality." I used to buy a lot of stuff from that company. It was amazing the quantity of stuff they offered.
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Modulus is a very misused term-you can probably do a forum seach for modulus and get up to date on it. You don't need to go with the highest modulus in order to have a really great rod. In fact, for some fishing where the rod may be abused, lower might be better-the higher mod rods are designed to be very light and it may cost a little in the ability to take abuse. What I do is go first cabin
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Maybe this is old news to some of you, but it was new news to me when I discovered that I could do epoxy ramps by first turning a base for them from the Batson reel seat shims, then covering those with a thin coat of epoxy rather than building up the ramp from all epoxy. They should be lighter, although one could argue if it is significant, but it is really quite easy to get a good, even shape t
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Since you are most likely to want long casts and are going for fish that may turn out to be pretty powerful, I would recommend you pay attention to the reel line capacity when you buy. For the blank to build on, you need to make a decision as to the likely lure weight you will be throwing in order to get a good match with the rod action/power. If I were you, I would look at the steelhead/salmo
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My advice on a first bait casting reel, don't go with a $2-300 reel-you may not like baitcasting. There are a ton of good reels that cost less than $100. When you find that you love it, then go better. Check out Bass Pro and Cabela's, maybe Dick's and Gander Mountain, and buy something for a reasonable price to see if you like it. Often they have sales that will get you a really good deal. M
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Allen, the color is true for everything else I print, and is true if I print the label on plain white paper (true enough for all practical purposes). I have calibrated my monitor gamma, and believe it is close. I design the labels in Paint Shop Pro, but have trouble printing directly from PSP so copy the label to MS Word as a .jpg, then print from there. I am not using genuine Canon inks. I
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Very interesting posts. I'm not a major rod builder, but I've built a few with Loomis blanks and they are terrific rods. Especially the rods from their crankbait blanks. Having said that, I'm sure I can survive without them since there appear still be thousands of blanks out there that are very good. I've recently built on 2 companys' blanks that I'd not used before, and sure enough, those ro
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I tried the settings suggested by Allen and got about what I had gotten before-the olive color comes through opaque enough, but as black. I'll keep experimenting, and if I come up with anything that allows me to both match colors (other than black) and get enough ink down so that the plaid doesn't come through, I'll post again. I haven't yet tried the other holograms, but will. thanks, Mick
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Thanks for the tips. I thought about running it through multiple times, but was not sure it would feed exactly the same every time and end up blurring. I'll try the settings your way and let you know.
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Batson has size 4 ring tiptops-check out the "hot specials" area of Schneiders Rod Shop site, to the left.
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I am using a Canon Pixma 4500 and trying to get good looking decals with the holographic media. My problem is that when I match the color of the label background to the blank then print , the holographic pattern shows through the background ink-the ink is not opaque enough. Last one I tried was in a dark olive color. I found that I can manually control contrast and intensity and that at max in
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Make them as small as you can. I screwed one up with big guides and I just couldn't get them out of my mind, looking at them all the time. I finally took 4 guides off and made them all 8's. Casts just as well and doesn't look goofy. I finally just fish with the rod rather than obsess over it.
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Allen has the right idea. I would not recomend doing anything out of the ordinary, like micros or spiral, without getting the client to understand it and buy in. To some people these are pretty radical concepts, and no amount of reasoning or even data will replace the distress he might feel from a big surprise. A custom rod should be the rod that the customer wants, not the rod that the builde
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I have had tiptops on some of my older cheaper rods (some really not so cheap!) groove. I've never had a guide groove. Because of this I always use SIC or similar tiptops on my custom rods. I've not had one of those groove. I use both braid and mono lines. Braid "seems" more aggressive than mono base on the sound and feel, but some contend there is little difference since mono pick
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Check out latest issue of In Fisherman, then start looking through the blank catalogs. I'm going to start an ultra light spinning rod soon, and I selected, with a little help, the American Tackle fly blank AMF 763. Wen I get it I will decide whether to build it as a 7 1/2 foot rod, or a 7 foot rod. It is the first rod of this type I've tried, so it's an experiment. Will use micros, design it
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Check the rubber/vinyl butt caps in Mudhole.com. Looks to me like you could slip one on to try it out, and if you liked it, fasten it on or get another about the same size that could be permanently attached to your rod similar to fly rod fighting butts. To permanently attach a cork one and not make the butt longer you would have to remove some cork from the butt end, amount to be determined by
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Can anyone fill me in on the background of Shikari blanks? I think I know it was an Oklahoma company, it seems like their product was/is highly respected. Can anyone fill me in on the company's history and what happened to it? Did they sell out to a major? thanks, Michael
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Anything you try on the blank should be tried on the cleanest spot you can find down on the butt in a very small spot first to make sure it doesnt make the problem worse. I think the worst case scenario may be that you cannot get it off without affecting the finish of the rod, then it may mean sanding the whole rod down and refinishing it. I've not done it, but I think others on this forum ha
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The issues with distance from reel to butt are 1. rod balance and 2. arm clearance to the butt while jigging/drop shotting. If the fisherman fishes with rain coats/heavy clothes it becomes a bigger issue to make sure the butt does not interfere witht the biceps area while moving the rod. I built one wrong once and hated the rod until I cut 1 1/2 inches off the butt. That one was 11 inches bef
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I'm not sure I get this micro frenzy. Building a rod for a fish that hits like snagging your lure on a passing pickup truck and considering micros? Need to have the max sensitivity? Rather than a reasonably sized guide that could take big knots without protesting? Like maybe one of those really heavy #6's? What am I missing?
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Check out the latest issue of In Fisherman for an article in which a 1 weight fly rod blank is used for a spinning rod. It really intrigued me, and I've been planning a rod similar for a couple weeks. I've yet to find a 1 weight 7 foot blank, so have been considering using blanks like the AMF 662, 763, Batson IF662, and extending the 6 1/2 footers to 7 feet. It looks like any of these blanks c
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If this rod represents a big departure from what you have been doing, I offer the following suggestions: 1. Do the NGC method of sizing and locating the guides as already suggested. I also agree with the running guide suggestion. This will ensure the rod is as light and responsive as possible. 2. Find out what your customer expects regarding the handle and the distance from the reel to the
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I have used both (not ring lock yet) and have had no trouble with either. Only failure was when I stepped on a very small NIA Amtak spinning guide. I had to bend a Fuji once, and it was REALLY tough (don't ask why I had to bend it). I really like the Amtaks and use them on all my rods where I use premium blanks and am striving for minimum weight. It has been stated, not sure if it's true, tha
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