The line make would be of interest to me. Recently i had a discussion over line strength with a person who claimed he was using #12 line. I doubted it and we tested it with a spring scale and it broke at 21#. yet it was sold as 12# GAMA copolymer. On a steady pull i have tested 15# power pro spectra and it broke at around the 35# mark. So if it was a 17# braid and 12# gama leader you could
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The castaway BB1 can be cut down. Just because it comes in a certain length does not mean it wont work well at 7ft or even 6 ft 9. Talk to them at swampland. I tested one with just CP on the guide wraps this Sunday and dead lifted a few decent sized long nosed gar from below Arkabutla. It was cut way down to below 7 ft. Depending on how you originally mounted the grips and reel seat boiling wat
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Andrew: i used 3 of those 1 inch foam balls Mudhole was selling at one time to build grips and my butt piece was also one of those balls. Nothing as a cap in the back of the blank and no harm that i could see occured. This was on a SJ720-mhx. reel seat drilled out like swiss cheese with many small holes rather than a few bigger ones.TiCH Minima 4's for guides (very light, compare them to what
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Charles, the mudhole IS561L will do the job. Well. Its light and tough. If you can add 6 to 8 inches on the butt that blank becomes even more versatile. Split grip worked better for me than pistol. Cork grips. I have cast down to 1/24 lures with that blank and use it for stocked winter trout as well as white bass. A split shot and power bait trout doughball throws well even in a breeze; salmon
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I have been asked to add a metalic ring in place of a fore grip to a build. I am very reluctant. My limited experience with them so far has been horrible. I fitted one last year like i would a rubber/vinyl one, using rod bond as lube for the last 1 inch or so. Fitted in mid summer(100 plus temps) and in mid winter(at least 80 degrees colder). Rod broke right at trim ring. I suspected it was
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Here is what is popular with some of my clients: turquoise blue under paint about a 1/2 inch peeking out either side of the snake skin.That is at back in the split grip. Over wrap that paint with same color blue thread when you trim the snakeskin ends. Silver trim wraps offset it well.
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Ron, the actual internal ring size of these tips, is it about the same size as the minima4 #4 fly internal ring size? Thanks Lou
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Bob thanks for the phone conversation, i will get hold of him and see what he is using now and what/why he wants to change it.
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Bill,thanks I had used the search prior to posting:but all that told me was what i knew already in general . This is a very specific application, very light line for that heavy (to my mind) weight of lure. Does not synch up with manufacturers suggested lure weight vs line class ranges either. A very soft tip. Overworking the lure and using the rod to compensate for technique. Hitting the
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I seldom use jerk baits and have been asked to build a rod to meet the following requirements: 6ft 8 to 6ft 10. Throws a 5/8ths oz to 1 oz jerk bait on conventional all on top micros. He fishes tip down and hits the water on the retrieve all the time. 10lb floro as the water is very clear. Bay Springs area/ Pickwick lake. Big Spotted and smallmouth bass. Now i have fished with this guy
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I keep several rods in my truck and i live in Memphis TN. We got to around 110~120 heat index many days this summer and at work i leave my car in a blacktop parking lot. It gets even warmer there. I use MHX, and Castaway blanks no problems at all. Fiberglass may be a problem, its less heat tolerant,but i don't use that so cannot say from first hand experience.
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I have done it free hand with files and sand paper once: i now buy them in. There is a half way option too: the contoured part is available in cork from Acid rod.It extends 1/2 inch back from the contour part. You can then add and shape the part behind that. Fuji also make it in foam, but i have been unable to source that. Not sure either would work with wood. If its the "hand full
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My wife and i will be booking this weekend for sure. I still kick myself for some of the things i mulled over buying for too long and when i decided i wanted them, they were gone.
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Not too sure what you are trying to do with that blank,but if its for a bait rod for use with sabiki's you can try this: cut the appropriate lengths out of a telescopic Black Widow Crappie or similar pole ( about $10~$15 at any big box shop) and either glue it into one continuous piece or keep it telescopic. You can attach the pistol grip from an el cheapo old bass rod from a yard sale and all
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I use minima 4's. If somebody asks me for other types i build with them but if left to me, that is what i use mostly. Reasons are several: They weigh pretty much the same as the batsons or fuji's, maybe a little less than their 4's.Recent article in Rodmaker bears that out and even shows them to be lighter. They are easy to tie and get a little two turns bling wrap on them too . Try that on
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I build rods as a side line only: That gives me the luxury to be very picky what i do and for whom. I turn away repairs and builds daily. But perhaps its because i live in an area (Memphis TN) where there are very few other builders around. I go fishing with the owners and managers of the local and big box tackle stores and they have bought my rods after seeing and using them. So it may be who
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Jeremy, for those LAMI's try mudhole's discontinued 2009 blanks link. Blank has been around a while;Just do not over line it and its fine. Look inside the pieces of blank to see the yellowish marks /lines so you can more easily assemble it for guide layouts etc. AMTACK is American tackle, they have a travel series that is very good quality/value. The ATC's i got at ICRBE were advanced tubular
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I have mostly used Lami's and the folks i build for like them. The GSA1023H (a 15-25# 8.5ft blank) is a particular favorite. The St Croix range is great too but you may want to try their higher modulus blanks than the SC2. Most my personal travel rods are Amtack ;they make some nice ones you may like too in the sizes you are looking at. At the ICBRE i got some discontinued ATC's and they hav
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Jason, thanks, do you know if they are changing the design too?
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Roger, i have used the 'spinning' minima guide as a top a few times. It certainly holds well enough, but it just does not look quite right to me. I could live with it on my personal rods but for others they did question it. I will order one of the ALPS tips and try it out: thanks guys.
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I use mainly Minima4 in a 4 ring as running guides. As per suggestions i have been using Fuji BMCAT/MCAT tip tops and weight wise they are closer to what i was looking for, plus the bracing is way better. The only problem is the ring size in the tip top ( rated a 4.5) is smaller than the minima's (rated a 4). I am sometimes having an issue passing knots through them, never through the guide
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The castaway 842 in xp3 makes a very nice drop shot, split grip plus micros and you can get completed rod down to around 3.5 to 4 ounces depending on finish, etc.
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Thanks guys.
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Scratching through my rod blank pile i came across an ATC V (not Amtack the other one) blank. Model SJV662, rated 6-12. I think i maybe got it in one of the bins at the ICRBE. Anyone every build on one? Or know what it was originally designed for? I would think the SJ would be spin jig maybe? I am hoping it would work as a light topwater stick, but its feels a little too fast initial impres
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Break the grip up into more than one piece and assemble into one piece on the blank if possible.
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I would be happy to get a few hundred rings too. If somebody is putting an order together, please let me know.
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Gary, email sent. Just to be 100% clear to anyone trying to read too much into this: this is NOT a defective product issue, its a me being careless issue. Every CP reacts to how you personally use it plus what thread you are using. If its the first time you are doing it, do it on scarp first! I should have tested it on each color before using but did not. 100% MY fault. First rod
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Billy, if it was my rod, i would maybe add some lime green snakeskin in the split grip and just take it to somewhere crazy awesome with some peacock feather work too. I have a few rods like that and it gives me lots of fishing elbow room at the tailwaters! Tom: yes that CP has got into every piece of the wrap. I aided in that by using a toothpick and adding a drop to where the ring and fo
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I messed up badly. I used a new to me CP and i did not test it first. Yes i know. In my defense: it worked fine on two other colors but on this it went from mid red to pink. Regular Flex Coat CP makes this thread go a deep claret color which is great, pink, not so much. 9 guides, Carolina hook keeper,some trim etc and its now pink. The guides are 'micro' 3's and even have a two turns
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Tom: thanks, just goes to show when mixed by volume it almost always works right!
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