Andy asked "What do you think would happen if Sage or Thomas & Thomas were to start selling doggy matresses or Women's fashion's" Well.... is a link to where you can buy a snazzy Thomas and Thomas women's fleece sweater. will get you to a site so you can pick up Sages "micro-fleece top with half-zip and front seams for more feminine fit. (Includes a black embroidered
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"The Revo series has been developed with the aim of balancing the cast ability of a fly rod with the immense power through the butt area to fight large fish yet unseen in fly rod design." That is from CTS- one of the blank lines you sell Andy... What's that old saw about "he who is without sin?"
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Why bash a rod based upon how an ad agency chooses to market it? I've fished a lot of the rods in the Orvis line, and many of them are great fishing rods. It's easy to poke fun, but don't knock it until you try it... Orvis makes a quality rod. The fit and finish of Orvis rods is usually excellent, and they use some innovative (although not earth-shaking) components and materials in their rods
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Do the math. At $100 or even $200 profit per rod, how many rods do you need to 1) get buyers for 2) work out all specs for what the person wants 3) buy supplies for 4) make 5) ship and 6) do the tax paperwork for EVERY DAY day to match what you make now? How many days in a row can you do this and still enjoy it? I'm not a rich man, but at $200 profit per rod I'd need to do all of the above
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Ack- go to the photo page under thread art to see the larger version...
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Just to give you an idea how much of a difference it can make, check out the image I posted for you. Sorry for the poor image quality, but this is clipped from a much larger picture. I was playing around with some boxes weaves for a set of 9 trolling rods I rebuilt for a local charter captain. I did a base weave of NCP royal blue. Left to right you can see 1) NCP royal blue no epoxy 2)
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Just wanted to say thanks Ed! I stopped by my local Harbor Freight store with my printed wed ad, and of course they honored the price. My Dremel tool worked fine for years, but grinding guide feet has always been one of my least favorite rod-building tasks- particularly since I started making more roller guide tuna rods. This will make it a lot easier I'm sure. It's a slick little sander- har
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I write on clear paper with metalic gold and silver pens. It would be perfect if only I had the Matt Davis' ultra-neat handwriting... I'd save a lot of time if I had his penmanship.
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One neat trick I use a lot is to write on scraps of water-slide decal paper. It's so much easier and neater writing on a flat surface (for me anyway). Then spay a clear coat of Krylon on top, cut around your text, and apply it to the blank like any other decal. You can never make a mistake on a blank this way...
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I unwrapped two sets of Aftco roller guides this weekend. The shrink wrap was sealed between the holes in the guide legs, in between the two legs themselves, and tightly all around the entire guide. It took a lot of careful work with a razor to get them out without bending anything. What a pain in the butt.
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With the exception of people wanting a rod specifically for travelling, I find that most customers don't really care. I like 3 pieces or more because they are so much easier (and cheaper) to ship and carry.
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Do you fish the deep, insanely fast tides around Homer, or in the relatively shallow and slow moving waters around Seward? Or both? Having only fished in Seward, I would say that you are pretty limited in terms of what blanks to use. Not many kinds of fishing find you jigging in 150' of water with a 16 oz jig that has a whole salmon head (with entrails attached) behind a curly tail grub you ca
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I did this once- sort of. I mounted a rod and it ended up coming out of the ferrule crooked- which was not noticeable until I mounted the ferrule back on the butt... I was pretty upset. I cut the blank off right above the ferrule, reamed the old chunk of blank out of the ferrule, and re-installed it. Lost 3" of length, but it cost nothing but time. It's easy to ream the old blank out wi
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6 mm single-foot guide costs (from Merrick) Fuji SIC TSG $3.32 X 10 = $33.20 REC RSF $2.35 x 10 = $23.50 Pac Bay snake CSN (tit carbide) $1.38 x 10 = $13.80 Fuji Alconinte BLAG $1.21 x10 = $12.10 knowing that your extra $20-30 results in a crisper fly rod- priceless Come to the dark
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A good read on the topic. Includes some real mortality numbers at different temperatures, salinity, and hook types. I believe it was this study that showed how important it was to minimize the time a fish spends out of the water. In the heat of the summer, it only takes a few seconds of keeping a fish out of the water to kill it.
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I've build on a number of these blanks, all of which I bought second-hand. They are e-glass blanks that were marketed under several names including Silstar "Extreme Glass" and the "Wisdom Stick" (with no other manufacturer markings. All of mine have a letter designation beginning with EGL or EG. I will vouch for their toughness. The set of 9 I made have been fished comme
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The only thing that is going to get vendors to begin doing this is if enough buyers demand it... Most will not do it simply because of one interesting article in RodMaker. Even then- and as good as the pictures are- there is considerable "grey area." I have purchased several thousand dollars worth of "1+" cork over the last 5 years. Looking over a few 100 ring bags whe
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When tuna begin to fly, I will worry about a rod seeing a line path like that... And even if you do a spiral wrap, a rod locked down in a rod holder will have lateral line contact if a fish runs sideways (to the boat). However- when trolling, the drag of the reel is set fairly light. The line can touch the side of the guides and not be in great danger of parting while the rod is still in the h
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Agree- cobalt blue with no CP and a single or double (inlaid) silver trim (with a silver guide). Looks very sharp.
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(speachless)
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Or you could buy your dad a new reel for his birthday- one with a steeper spool angle...
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I've made 4 of the 755XXH's, the 4 stiffest rods I've ever seen. All had a spine that was relatively easy to find by hand. Might be that yours just doesn't have much of one....
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Just shape it by hand, it only takes a few minutes to do one ring on the end.
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You are probably overthinking it. Just glue everything up except that end piece, reaming as usual (remember to leave enough space). Then glue the rubber piece to the end. Viola.
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I've made about a dozen rods on Rogue SJ blanks, and twice that many St. Croix in SCIV and SCV. I just last week finished two Rogue SJ665's and two SJ703's. The SJ series in the 4 and 5 stiffness (e.g. the SJ664 is 6'6" in 4 power) are on par with the SCIV graphite in stiffness, weight, and therefore sensitivity. They are very similar in action, although the Rogue is a much larger diamete
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Make sure you don't put too much line on the reels if you put the first guide at 60 degrees or more. Even with a levelwind reel you will end up with line stacked more heavily on the offset side. I've seen it happen with three different kinds of level-wind reels, and it happens every time. It's not a problem at all as long as you use the proper amount of line on the reel to begin with.
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As Mike M. said, building for a specific reel conveniently ignores that most anglers change reels every 2-4 years. Given that reels vary so widely in intercept angle, I believe a builder is smart to choose a middle ground when setting up the guides. A middle ground set up will work fine with both extreme angle and practically no angle reels. But if you set up for a nearly flat angle as is foun
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There is good cork out there. I have been able to purchase what I consider to be fantastic cork rings from a former sponsor of this site. In a bag of 100 I might have 2 or 3 rings I consider to be not worth using, and there might be 10 or 12 rings that are practically flawless. The guy travels to Portugal himself to buy it each year, and he provides the cork to several of the sponsors on this
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blank Seeker SM30 31.00 guides (titanium SIC) TNSG 12 (4 @ 8.45) 33.90 TNSG 10 7.04 tip UST 12-14 6.69 slick butt SBT21063 6.00 hypalon foregrip 3.00 gimbal 3.50 Amtak graphite/alum reel seat 11.00
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Matt- I made a 904-4 Tiger Eye for my brother-in-law, and was truly amazed at what a sweet casting rod it is. I think I paid $30 for the blank. On top if being a nice casting rod, the red finish is one of the most attractive rod finishes I've ever seen. I don't know how they do it. It's a slow rod, and good for a beginner. I would recommend the 4 wt. or a 5 wt. for a one-rod fisherman. Sm
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