Adam, If you are looking for a shorter version of your hybrid rod I went through some calculations and came up with some possibilities. I apologize for not searching all vendors for the blanks but this is what I would be looking for 8' long ; IM7 material ; tip diameter .058 (4) ; butt diameter .340 ; blank weight 1.45 ounces 7' long ; IM7 material ; tip diameter .058 (4) ; butt diameter
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Adam, I've built spinning rods from fly blanks often, generally when the customer wanted long casts with small weights . I've also built fly rods from spinning blanks. Both perform as anticipated. Beautifully. You should be cautious how much weight you hang on the intended blank. Placing many large diameter heavy insert spinning guides on any long blank will slow the blank response making it
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Joe, Be cautioned that the change will adversely affect the blank response and action. It's hard to beat the response of a 1 piece rod. If you like the way it casts now, adding the ferrule will add a heavy spot in the rod center that will change the rod action. Much better to build a 2 piece rod on a blank designed to be a 2 piece. Gene
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Tom, That's the same procedure I use. The rod should respond quicker than a factory build and add an additional 10 - 15 feet to your casting distance with the increased tip velocity. The blank should also dampen much faster and provide quicker hook set. What guide and size strategy did you utilize ?? I prefer quick, crisp blanks for all my fishing situations. I can send you a copy of the sp
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Kerry, You will achieve much better performance through a reduction in line diameter rather than guide train. If you require the heavy line for winching them up tie your heavy line as a leader to a lighter running line. Leader length can be twice your pier height so the leader is on the spool for winching. Remember to loosen your drag and tighten only after the leader is on the spool. Gene
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Tom, 8 guide 104.5 effective rod length 4.5 tip diameter distance from tip to guide 4.7 ; 10.3 ; 17.0 ; 25.0 ; 34.4 ; 45.7 ; 59.1 ; 75.0 You attempting to speed the blank response ?? Good for you. 9 guide same blank 4.7 ; 10.0 ; 16.1 ; 23.0 ; 30.9 ; 39.9 ; 50.1 ; 61.7 ; 75.0 Slightly slower more conservative.
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Tom, Yes I have an adjustable log scale that I created in excel format. Available on line Sorry Tom. Just went on that link and found it changed. Don't know where Ray put the spreadsheets and technical data. If you don't have excel just post the rod length from reel seat to rod tip, the rod tip diameter and the desired number of guides. I can output several variations that you can po
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Phil, The upper tier of manufacturers is aware of the problem and has gone to considerable length to answer it. Better more consistent taper designs, improved materials and construction methods, light wire guides at the tip, single foot guides where required. Sage, St Croix and G Loomis among others are touting improved dynamics (better damping and accuracy characteristics). It might be possib
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Tom, Generally I use 1 guide per foot based on the distance from the tip to the reel seat. If I want to increase tip speed I subtract 1 guide. If I want to slow the blank recovery I add 1 guide. I don't use visual cues to dictate the appropriate number of guides or the positions. This invariably leads to adding too many because it looks better. Gene
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Phil, My experience is that the waves are caused by a poorly designed blank taper. The improvements are all working around the problem. Buy a blank with a better taper design. Reduce inertia of the guides train. Reduce acceleration of the casting stroke. Many casters will not experience a problem as they don't attempt to "tighten" the casting loop. If you're looking for performan
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Marty, I use Recoil light wire single foot for the upper 30% of the rod length. In a 9 foot rod this is the top 3-4 guides depending on the guide spacing. For a 9 foot rod I will use 9 guides and for an 8 weight or less will use #1 guides. I then change to snakes and progressively size up to the stripper. There is no advantage to running a large loop tip top in these lighter rods. You can al
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Marty, If you can provide some rod specs I can do some calculations to see if it's close. Material Length Butt dia Tip dia Blank weight I would look up the info, but am unfamiliar with the rod manufacturer based on the model number only. If you are referring to the Mud Hole steelhead blank; The line weight calculated would be approx. an 8 1/2 weight. Your use of a 6 weight would u
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I was always taught, " You can't fix STUPID " There seems to be an abundant supply of "fools" for any purpose. Did you explain it was a fishing rod, not a musical instrument ? Why would you purchase a custom built fishing rod and deliberately break it ? Foolish. More money then common sense. Gene
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I expected more input. Simple construction, available in single or double foot, light weight, corrosion resistant, extremely durable (with the exceptions noted above). Certainly a first choice for any top line build. Almost the perfect guide. I'm seeing more factory builds using them now. Gene
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William, 9-guide distance from tip 4.5 ; 9.8 ; 16.1 ; 23.6 ; 32.6 ; 43.2 ; 55.8 ; 70.9 ; 88.7 10 guide distance from tip 4.1 ; 8.8 ; 14.4 ; 20.8 ; 28.3 ; 37.0 ; 47.2 ; 59.0 ; 72.7 ; 88.7 Gene Moore
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William, If you can provide the approx. distance from the reel seat to the rod tip I can come up with some quick calculations. If you have a preference for the number of guides, this will be taken into account. The tip diameter would also be helpful. Gene
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Glenn, Based on my quick numbers The 7'10" should be 55% to 65% stiffer. Quite a substantial difference.
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Spencer, That's pretty funny. Would like to have seen the looks on the face of the guy demonstrating the un-breakable guide. This is, however, quite beyond their intended use. Has anyone experienced any grooving ? This is imaginable, but no idea over what period of time.
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Has anyone experienced a guide failure with Recoil NiTi guides ? I ran the search and found no results. Perhaps I didn't choose the correct phrase. I've been using the guides for 10+ years and other than noise and cost have not had an issue. Definitely never had a failure. This is, however, a limited observation and would appreciate additional feedback. Thanks
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I've had very good luck in all my dealings with Kevin and the Get Bit crew. He even interrupted hunting in a tree stand to take my call for an order. That's service above the call of duty. If one of his vendor's fall short that can be a different story. He can only relay what he's been told and shouldn't be expected to lift up their short-comings. He doesn't commit manufacturing schedules from
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Marc, A 6' to 8' light action spinning rod blank makes a good short fly rod. Depending on the blank it should throw a 7 or 8 weight fly line. Good fun for poppers and bubblers for bass and gills. Gene
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Tom, I use an 8 foot 8 weight built with light guides. Trout fishing in windy conditions can be a struggle with light rods but you still need to drop to 7X at times. The smallmouth flies mostly poppers and jig heads require the 8 weight to turn over the leader. Build the tip section light and you can have good fun with either species. Even the heavy line can be landed softly for spooky fish
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Marc, I prefer 1 piece and 2 piece blanks. Lighter, more efficient transfer of energy. Convenience falls behind performance in priority. How many anglers have connections dis-assemble during fishing conditions ? Most embarrassing. I invest the savings in better rod cases. Gene
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Troy, I've been building them like that for the last 10 years. I like two double foot strippers followed by snakes for taming the line and single foot for the tip section due to the weight reduction on the tip to enhance blank response. I prefer single foot light wire Recoils for rods up to 8 weight. I don't particularly like the noise but I prefer the rod response. Most of a rods perceived
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Todd, I didn't state that you were over exerting. You do what you feel is required in the cast. A high frame guide twists from the haul. This twist rotates the blank reducing the haul power rather than increasing blank flex. Just inefficient. A short frame stouter guide resists twisting placing more of your haul energy into blank flex increasing line speed. If you put forth the effort you sho
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Todd, Based on your comments, you haul aggressively. Casting large flies into winds or attempting to be more accurate forces strong hauls. You can reduce the torque on the rod due to hauling by utilizing a standard height guide. I would suggest using a double foot also. I've known of aggressive hauling to split ferrules on 4 piece rods. None of us are perfect and executing a haul will almost
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Brendan, You should consider a Sage Bass II #230-4 It's only an 8 footer but has plenty of power throwing an 8 weight. Should be capable of a 7 or 9 weight to help in throwing heavier flies. Gene
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Todd, If you experience problems weighing a single guide relative accuracy of scale will produce inaccurate measurements. Each guide could vary considerably and putting multiples on just leads to misrepresentation through averaging. For example a guide should weigh 1 gram If one guide scales 1.4 grams that rounds off to 1 If another guide scales .6 grams that rounds off to 1 The variance is
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Todd, Have you tried reducing the length of the barrel ? 4 times the tip diameter should be adequate. True the tip top is the largest single element in affecting rod response, but the affects are cumulative. The next guide down is almost as pronounced until you get to the stripper which has the least affect. The total combination of distance squared and weight determines the rod response cha
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Michael, My choice would be a 10 guide layout Guide placement from tip 4.0; 8.7; 13.9; 19.9; 26.7; 34.4; 43.3; 53.3; 64.7; 77.8 Guide type and quantity (4) Recoil #1 light wire titanium (2) Snake brand #2 snakes (1) Snake brand #3 snake (1) Snake brand #4 snake (1) #10 Double foot Alox insert (1) #12 Double foot
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