If you check out the @#$%& sites, you will get a good idea of what they are selling for on the used market. When I upgraded to a power lathe last year, I actually saw prices being bid that were higher than the new retail from Mudhole. Bear in mind that there is no warranty with a used unit. Might seem like a minor point, but I needed to get a replacement rod stand AND a replacement drying unit
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The Batson blanks are great. I think, however, you would be pleasantly surprised by the MHX. It is a first rate blank. I have built several rods on blanks in the MHX line. They have become my "go to" blank for lots of different applications. Frankly, I don't think you can go wrong with either one.
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I am not addicted. I've been building for 35 years and I can quit any time. I suggest that you make sure you don't schedule your builds so tightly that you are unable to find time to fish. That would be tragic...like breaking into houses and selling the loot so you can afford to buy titanium guides. I have found that not only is the building addiction incurable, it is also highly contagious.
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This morning I was watching "Into the Blue." a fishing program on the VS. channel. (It will air again on Dish Network Tuesday at 5:30 AM.) They were fishing for snapper over a wreck, bit there were Goliath grouper all over the place. One fisherman kept breaking them off or losing them into the wreck. The captain decided to show him a "trick" to get them off the wreck. He
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Tom, please do...for everyone's benefit.
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10-20K at a time? Count me in. I'm running low on high-quality cork I bought in the early 80s...and I have been supplementing it for some time now with cork from a source in PA.
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Against manufacturers' advice, I have used acetone to thin epoxy with great results. However, be aware of a few things: 1. Add LESS than you think you need to use. A little goes a VERY long way. 2. When I thin with acetone, I keep the epoxy in the mixing cup rather than pouring it out on a piece of foil. The reason is that the greater the surface area, the faster the acetone evaporates, and
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If I might ask, which CP caused the problem, and what brand and color thread gave you this result? Feel free to email me if you don't want to post that info.
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I agree. I saw them at the show, and they had some great looking cork products. I wouldn't hesitate to give them a try.
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And another suggestion: go with AMTAC Titan titanium guides, at least for the final 2-3' of blank to the tip. They aren't expensive, and their lack of mass will make a difference on this rod. Given that you will be starting with a 20 ring, you could actually go entirely with titanium, but you will see your biggest difference in a rod this light in the tip section.
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Bill- That makes perfect sense. Thank you.
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A while back there was a thread about the dearth of travel blanks for spinning rods. This was attributed to the perception (no doubt backed up by market research) that fly fishermen are more likely to travel by air to fishing destinations. This was because, the reasoning went, fly fishermen tend to be more affluent than other types of fishermen. I'm not going to go off on a rant here...I just
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I'm not sure where in Florida you plan to fish for reds, but in my area (Space Coast), the reds run a whole lot larger than that. While you can try to target slot-sized fish, we see lots of schools of reds in the 20-40 lb class on the flats. That would be Mosquito Lagoon, the Indian River and the Banana River. Must of the flats guides who have me build fly rods for them are getting 9' for eith
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Russell- I used to use both Flex Coat and Palm Beach finishes. At this point, I am using D2. It gives me great working time, and (so far), it is looking like it is going to have good UV protection too. I have thrown out my Flex Coat and Guedbrod color preservers, and I'm using the Carson products. I use the solvent-based cp for everything except snake skin, which gets the water-based product
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If you want to go shorter (7') the SJ842-MHX will work well with 9-10 wt. The SJ9000-MHX is 7 1/2' long and will also throw a 9-10 wt. This one is an extra fast taper, so you won't want to be doing lots of false casting with it.
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My experience is that Aftcote has a very long working life, but is very short on UV protection. Thread I have covered with it faded a lot faster and more severely than any other epoxy I have used. (Bear in mind that most of the rods I build see a lot of very intense Florida sun.)
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A 5 wt blank will certainly cast 6 wt line. Most fly blanks are capable of handling more than just the line weight for which they are optimally rated. I frequently over-line 9 wt rods with 10 wt line. The advantage is the blank (and thus the rod) is lighter. The disadvantage is that you may sacrifice a bit of power and possibly casting distance. I am currently building on a Batson 9' 4 pc. b
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You might shoot an email to American Tackle. They are usually pretty responsive. I have been using the Titan titaniums and I LOVE them.
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Yep. And Golfsmith is a good place for components and instruction.
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Is there any advantage to fishing with 100% flouro? It's expensive as all get out. Personally, I would just spool with mono or braid and use a flouro leader.
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Jann's Netcraft has gold ink for this very purpose. It works well.
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Green and gold are nice, as are blue and green combos...very water-like,
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NAY. It's too thick, and you need to work MUCH more quickly than a brush will allow.
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I will be back again next year...no question about that. Even if there were no great deals, just hanging with all the great folks who work in this trade/hobby/art would be worth the 11 hour drive...
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It was great to meet you there Ray. (We spoke outside at the end of the day Sunday...you were headed bacck to CA, and Karen and I were spending another night before returning to FL. LOVE your thread work on glassware!
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Try Cason's solvent-based CP. I'm having great success with it for feather inlays. In fact, the solvent-based CP works well for everything except snake skin inlays, but his water-based CP is terrific for that.
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Green and gold look good, as does royal blue and gold.
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I would normally recommend a Mudhole blank but for one thing: if you are making a rod that is going to be held across (or strapped to) bicycle handle bars, a 2 pc. rod might be better. (I used to get to my favorite fishing spots by bicycle, and a 1 pc. rod would have made things difficult.) Take a look at this blank from Netcraft. It's currently out of stock, but my guess is it will be avail
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I like them a lot. Very lightweight, and the frame design makes them strong. They have very little negative impact on the action in the tip section of the rod because they are so lightweight.
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I have been building on MHX blanks and I love them. So do the flats guides I have built rods for with those blanks. I bought some very promising Castaways at the ICRBE from Lance, and have build a few rods with them. They are currently being tested, with my flats guys giving them reviews on a par with the MXX rods. This is all subjective though...why not build a MHX and a comparable Castawa
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