Tom, I remember you offering a rule of thumb for casting weights on a fly rod. Do you have one for what line class they could fish? My only real experience with fly rods is limited to fesh water bass with popping bugs. I typically fished a 7 weight and a 4/6 pound tippet. I am getting the impression here that for an UL spinner a 3 or 4 weight would be about right for 4-6# test. Would that st
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Thanks guys. You have saved me from an impluse buy:) Seems y'all think those dolphin tougher than I do. A 30 pounder on 20# spinning gear is my idea of fun. Make that a 30 pound amberjack and I'm thinking of waving the white flag. I wish they would get some choices in the MHX line for me. I could use a good 20# spinning setup for around $100 turnkey. Russ
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You know how it is Tom, when it comes to dolphin you never know what you are going to get. I'm okay with letting the line be the limiting factor. If that blank can fish an honest 15# I'll settle for that being enough. If it was intended to handle permit it should be fine. If it was made for trout it won't be! Just never felt it so I don't know. Figured someone here had. Looked like a good
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I have my brother coming down in a week and I need to add something quick. The ideal rod would be a spinning rod capable of fishing up to 15-20#. It should be able to throw a live bait to a sighted dolphin. Needless to say it has to be able to handle said fish. Now my brother lives in Pensacola (I'm in Hollywood, FL) and I'd like to make him a gift of the rod. He would use it for wading fr
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I'd certainly buy them. It seems impossible to find nice winding checks in sizes large enough for salt water rods.
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The Shimano Stradic CI4 was suggested to me. Probably overkill for your needs. I think you have lots of choices and don't need to spend much. I fish saltwater and it is harder to find a small reel made for that.
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That is cute. Hmm, do you think one could mix cork and EVA? Might add some interesting color.
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What are the general guidelines for convential reels? The whole 27X and NGC method has made spinning rods easy. I feel like I am going by looks and don't have sound plan for butt size and location on conventional reels.
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Reading Bill's article I'd think the ML the right choice. Is it too heavy in weight or too heavy in power?. If it helps I felt them and bought XL and ML. I'd say about 5# between them with xl @ 15-20#, l @ 20-25#, ml @ 30-35#. All will go another 5# if cover isn't a factor. So by my reasoning I'd be fishing anywhere from 30 to 40 on the ML and that sounds about right per the article.
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Lance, I have a brother in Pensacola. He would be mostly fishing from shore or wading. What blank would you advise for red fish and trout with a spinning reel in that neck of the woods? I think he is more of a bait guy....anything from shrimp under a popping cork to finger mullet. Suggestions on guide train layout would be appreciated too.
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Is a power wrapper an advantage for your average fly rod build? Given the guide sizes it hardly seems worth it. I could see getting a small lathe (for handle/grips/etc) and sticking with a hand wrapper.
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James, I'm just getting started. The hard part is getting over the notion that you are going to do it "right" the first time. Or that you can't afford to "waste money" making mistakes. Once you learn that nobody has ever built a perfect rod and the only way to learn is by making mistakes you will be on your way. There is a time to think and plan, then there is a time to
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One thing that (I think) has been slow to catch on down here with the salt water crowd is braided line. Many boats won't allow it and many are turned off by the price. Those that I know that are fishing it are simply over-lining what they have and aren't taking full advantage (i.e. thier rods/reels can't effectivily fish the line class they now have). So with braid, and the new small two spe
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When you poke it into the ceiling or wall you back off in a hurry. When someone attempts to dislodge a lure he isn't backing off! If you really need that lure go swimming. Ceiling fan hits are most common now but power windows (in cars) broke more for me. Picture reels down by the front passengers feet, and tips out the rear window.... gets hot on the way there, guy rolls up the windows and
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Tough time problem. If I felt I could remove the bad area in some way now, such as razor blade or solvent, I'd do so ASAP and recoat. If it isn't too much work, perhaps cut it off and start over. Given what is on the line I'd feel better knowing it was taken care of now.
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Tom, I made a comment in the thread just above this one. I may be way out in left field. Seems to me every time we make a forceful cast with a conventional reel we are putting the tip top through several degrees of twist. The guys doing the big time pendlum casts have that tip all over the place. When the rod is straight back and fully loaded, and then fully forward right at the point of rele
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Duane, have you ever managed to break your line by casting too heavy a weight on too light a line? Well I have. It was with an abu 6500, 15# test and maybe three ounces. The surf casting guys use a rule of thumb....one ounce per ten pounds of line strength so they all use shock leaders. Now think about the tip in relationship to the reel when casting near hard enough to break the line. Mos
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Thanks Tom. Pretty much confirms my thoughts and experiences. Were the breaks caused by twisting 3 revolutions quite different looking from other types of breaks?
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I have had some discussions with others about topics ranging from sprial wrapping to building on the spine. I'm surprised, to put it politely, by some of the remarks. Has anyone had a rod failure from torsional forces? If so, do you think where the guides were located relative to the spine had any bearing? Tom, in your recent destructive testing were any blanks subjected to torsional forces
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How many have tried Bohning's Ferr-L-Tite? FWIW I always used hot melt, live in a warm climate, and never had any problems. I break enough tips that I want to be able to make an easy repair while fishing.
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How pefect does it need to be? Everything sags some, even a biggggg I beam. I'd start with the top. Build it along the line of a cutting board and make it about 2" thick. A bunch of oak strips laminated together won't require the support that mdf/particle board/plywood will. I understand what you want but can you afford a center leg on one side of the table? That would help tons an
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Okay, looks like I need some more #8's then. Typically I'll use a Bimini twist on the main line (15/17#) with a surgeon's knot to my shock leader (30/40#). Intended use is fly lining live bait and occasionally casting bait to a sighted fish. I’ll be fishing for kingfish, wahoo, dolphin, blackfin, etc. I have the CD with the spiral wrap articles. I'll look them over again. I didn't recal
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The blank doesn't have a stated lure rating. It is a live bait rod but the tip isn't all that soft. I think I was using two ounces. The reel is a penn 525 mag. It is adjustable, from super fast to crazy fast. I have five 8's and 10's plus enough 12-25 guides (two rods planned). Should I get some more 8's?
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Parts order arrived late on saturday so I spent sunday morning placing my guides. I did an el-quicky guide wrap job and headed off to the local lake prepared to be impressed. Such was not the case. Distances with a 8' rod were no better (worse I'd say) than what I got with an old 7' penn I had laying around. The rod felt hard to control and backlashed rather easy. This was my first attempt a
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I placed my order early this morning before seeing this. Any idea how close Madeira 1832 (with CP) will be?
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Good question Kyle. I have my ideas from other styles of fishing and I'd imagine is has to do with how the tip vibrates. For what I do it can help to tell the difference between a lure/bait running one properly or one fouled with debris or poorly rigged. I'll be looking to see what the correct answer is as well.
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I'm confused, the one closest to the grip would be the largest one. Nothing different about sizing roller guides. With a regular guide you wouldn't make it so small that the line only contacted the top of the guide ring. You want the line pressing the guide against the blank not trying to tear it off. Just saw your post below. It would seem a roller guide might not be the easy solution.
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Thanks guys. I didn't mean to thread steal. More of a comment on how digusted I was after taking apart a reel (Abu) I recently purchased. I guess I'm too cheap for my own good. I gets my goat to have to pay more for a decent little spinning reel than for a serious deep sea convential reel.
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Try part# 33125T34. That is the one for unistrut. Or just type in "angle bracket" in the search box for lighter duty ones.
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Try part# 33125T34. That is the one for unistrut. Or just type in "angle bracket" in the search box for lighter duty ones.
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