You can equate rod power to lure casting weight better than line weight. But I wouldn't run more than about 8lb line on most 4-weight fly rods. I think a 4 to 6 pound tippet would be excellent. Most 4-weight rods will cast well with from 3/16th to 5/8th ounce lures. But remember that there is no such thing as a standard 4-weight fly rod - they vary widely in power. ............
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Simply to help the customer make a selection. .........
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They are a Canadian enterprise named CustomTackle.Com Ltd. I have been informed that they will soon be stocking rod blanks and components for the Canadian market. ................
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You can use a spinning blank to make a casting rod and vice versa. A blank is a blank. It doesn't know the difference. ...........
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The graphite/nylon seats are not inherently weak. They will stand up to what you plan to do with no problem. As you mentioned, it's hard to really put the screws to anything big in a kayak - even if you lock the drag down, the boat will move in the water. There's not really anything solid for the fish to pull against. ...........
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I don't think they're Fenwicks. The HMG designations for fly and spinning were GFL and GSP. But I only have a couple of the older Fenwick catalogs here. Maybe somebody else will be familiar with those model prefixes. .............
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Michael, You have stated some things here that I know to be fact, although many will argue that the numbers make such a thing impossible. In the article on Ultra-Light rods in RodMaker, I recommended that people try building longer UL rods for 2 main reasons. The first is that since the goal of an UL rod is to maximize the fight from the fish, a longer rod hands the fish a longer lever to
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A new company is now offering RodMaker subscriptions to Canadian readers. See their link in the sponsor column to the left - Do be aware that these subscriptions are not offered through me nor the RodMaker website. The seller is neither my agent nor associated with RodMaker Magazine. You are purchasing from CustomTackle.com Ltd. and orders for Canadian subscriptions will be processed through
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When you run into that sort of thing just know that the person isn't among the clientele you wish to cultivate for a successful custom rod business. When the selling point is price or warranty, send the guy to a commercial maker. Although it's not directly related to the issue of rod breakage, here is a little business tip you can file away for future use - not every person that walks into yo
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When you run into that sort of thing just know that the person isn't among the clientele you wish to cultivate for a successful custom rod business. When the selling point is price or warranty, send the guy to a commercial maker. ...................
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The worst thing about the "no fault unlimited" warranties is that they foster the idea that a rod is supposed to be unbreakable and if one does break, it must have been defective. The article in the issue of RodMaker that is in the mail now should open a lot of eyes and help builders more easily identify the various types of breaks they're most often confronted with. Every break lea
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It's sad that such such a thing would appear on a forum - "If you are in fact building a quality rod you will have very few returns." The fact is, the level of quality has nothing to do with customer abuse or misuse, which account for 95%+ of all rod breakage. ..............
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Try this - start your tie-off wrap (which is what I think you're referring to) and once you have a dozen turns down and the decorative wrap "locked" start cutting just a few of the pattern threads on each revolution. Don't try to cut them all at one time. By the time you reach the end of the tie-off wrap you should have them all cut. Now push the tie-off wrap thread back onto itse
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You will have a hard time ever convincing a fisherman that he did anything wrong in terms of breaking a rod or blank. This might help illustrate why a rod broke: You can show it to him if you think it will help. The thing is, many fishermen do not understand the make-up of a rod blank and believe that any good rod or blank should be nearly unbreakable. After all, good rods don't break
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I do a lot of things for a lot of people. Gene Bullard wrote for the magazine and was a friend. His niece, Silvia, decided to include some links to RodMaker magazine on her Diamond II website. I didn’t engage in any sort of deal with her. She wanted to do it because Gene thought so highly of the magazine. Look at the product descriptions for the 4 epoxy finishes in the Flex Coat catalog. I
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I wasn't trying to get you to subscribe. That article might be found in a back issue at your local public library or you might have a rod building friend that has it. ................
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I doubt anyone has had these on their rods long enough to know. It's certainly not going to happen over a period of a few months. ...............
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I believe Mud Hole has a large stock of G. Loomis blanks in stock. Not sure about that particular model however. ..................
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For whatever it might be worth to you, there was a special article on all aspects of Ultra LIght Rods in RodMaker Volume 10 issue #1. .................
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I have no idea what a "logged in member alert" is. .............
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The Piedmont Triangle in North Carolina comprised of Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point. ............
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Very few places stock much in the way of actual rod building equipment, at least if you're talking about lathes, wrappers, dryers, etc. .............
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If you're going with Pacific Bay anyway, I would take a very hard look at the Minima 4 fly rod guides. ...............
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You will always experience cracking or checking at the ends of the guide feet if they're not ground to a shallow enough taper. And even then, it will still happen if you look close enough. No epoxy is going to solve that problem - only guides of more modern design will take care of that issue. ..............
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Here is the more up to date article but I suspect Bob already has it: Note that in the rod shown in the article photos, for that particular reel the choker guide would be in the same place regardless of whether the rod was shorter, or longer. .................
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CP does not create inherently weak guide wraps. Go ahead and use it, your wraps will be fine. ...............
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I don't find it a waste of money - a new gadget or tool is always fun to make and own and this one should do what it was intended to do. Having said that, there will be a guy at the Expo in February that has devised a tool that both holds the guides and places them on the rod blank, all at the same time, in perfect alignment. It's really something to see. Most custom builders, probably all cu
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Okay, the choker doesn't care how close it is to the tip - you have to drop your concept of where it should be related to the tip. For the same reel and line, the choker will be the same distance from the reel regardless of rod length. So forget about the distance to the tip - it's immaterial. Good choker guide location has to do with the distance between the reel spool and the choker guide, no
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Yes. thread will hold up but it won't be original. Not that these rods had a great deal of monetary value, but you will lose that originality. ............
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Height is generally more important than ring size. Often the use of larger guides is really just a means of getting more height. If you're using braid, or very light mono, you can get by with a smaller ring. Larger, stiffer mono, tends to work better with a little larger ring. With sufficient height, and the line I'd assume you'll be using on that size reel, I doubt you would ever need a
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