Ken Preston Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Since you're looking at / thinking about single > foot guides - order one extra (medium / large ) > and use that as a hook keeper - will match out the > guides you choose. That is a very good idea. I wish I had thought to do that. Regarding the light vs heavy single foots, they are both extr
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For a 2wt, the theme is going to have to be light. Really light. The recoil single foot guides would excel at this. Plus, they are damage resistant, salt proof, perfect for what you intend. REC makes 2 types, a heavier wire set and a light wire set. You could use the light wire set, but even the heavier wire set would be lighter than anything else you could use. I just built a 5wt with them
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I fly every year to Alaska and have never had a problem with rods in tubes. Some years it's just a single rod in a 4 piece tube, other years it's a 4 1/2 foot tube with a fly rod tube taped to it. I've never had a problem, though once they did ask me to do a "gate check". I try and only bring 4 piece rods these days and just carry one so I can still fish if the baggage takes a detour
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Batson for sure had a very nice printed catalog in 2010. I got it from them at the West Coast rod building show in Pasadena. Not sure about this year. It's very helpful since their guide size coding is so complicated. Anyway, I'd love a 2011 version if available. Drew
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Mudhole gets very high marks from me as well. No one else has the selection that they do, but more importantly, no one else has website this user friendly. It is truly the best in this industry. Not to mention the excellent and complete catalog they just mailed out! For a novice rodbuilder, they are the best, and very friendly/helpful on the phone. I just wish orders didn't take so long to
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I can reply as a customer who purchased a custom Sage Z-axis last year and what I was told by the builder- Sage charges a fee to replace a broken rod or blank. I believe it is $50. The builder I bought it from told me that I would be responsible for that fee, and $10 to ship the rod back to me. He would be responsible for all of the other costs associated with rebuilding the blank as requir
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Could you please email me where you found these blanks in the $100 range? I built an 8wt recently that I got from a shop that is now out of them. They are extremely nice blanks and I would consider buying more at that low price. Thanks Drew
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But there is a rumor going around that the RX7+ and RX8+ are being discontinued. I built an 8wt RX8+ and it's a really good caster. Very nice blank. I hope they are available in the future. Drew Bill Batson Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There are a few good blank manufacturers in the > USA>>and YES we still have some Blanks made in th
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This was my take as well. If my brother does not like fly fishing, I'm only out the labor of making the rod and $50. To complete the trifecta, I got full wells grip for $4, and a reel seat from Mudhole on their Christmas giveaway for $2.50. Kind of stoked to see how the budget build turns out, and fish it back to back with my Sage Z-axis. No issues ordering from Sevier, though I've only or
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Has anyone built one of the Sevier Tiger Eye saltwater blanks? I bought one that was on closeout, and now my brother is thinking of joining me in Alaska for Cohos this year. He is not a flyfisherman, but I was considering building this blank for him. Nothing fancy, just a straight forward build. This will by my 6th rod, so I'm new but but should be able to get a decent rod in his hands. I
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Another Batson fan here. I really have enjoyed the newsletter and the videos as a new rod builder. Thank you for those. In fact, those videos got a fishing buddy of mine to order up a rod kit and will start his first rod with me tomorrow. Another Batson blank, handle and guide set, of course. 5 personal builds to date, 3 on Batson blanks-2 RX7s and 1 RX8+. Looking forward to more in the y
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I was turning all last night-after an unfortunate "turn" of events. I finished a 9 foot spinning rod made out of a 4 peice 10wt Tiger Eye blank (garnet thread, gold trim, Amtak ring lock guides, concept set-up). It was on the dryer, second coat of epoxy finish applied according to the Rodmaker library article. It really looked nice, my smoothest work to date. I go out to the hardw
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If you can't find a sponsor who has them for sale, they can be purchased directly off the Sevier website. I recently spoke to Dave, and then just placed an internet order. Got my stuff in 3 days or so. Nice looking blanks for the $$. I have not fished them yet, unfortunately. Drew Sacramento, Ca
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The same company that makes PC7 also makes "super epoxy" which I used to assemble the grip on my first rod. It's a gel/paste, easy to work with, and claims to be water proof. It's available at any hardware store. It's easy to mix up because it turns from blue to translucent clear when mixed properly. The last few rods I have used "ProBond" from Mudhole with favorable res
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Not that I've built a ton of rods, but I have fished a lot in Alaska with different rods, so take my advice for what you paid for it. The TFO TiCr-X is an extremely durable rod. It isn't the most fancy or well known, but mine has been used and abused and caught hundreds of salmon. So at least give it a look. Not sure if it's in your budget-should be close. For a discount rod, it's very go
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From a newbie too, here is some advice; It's your first one and you will make mistakes. Build an inexpensive rod first. With that said, you will still want a nice casting rod-don't limit yourself because they are "close to the bank". Casting is important, especially if you are going to be doing it all day. The difference between the two is the modulus of the graphite. The Forecas
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Arrrggg... I have an order currently in with Mudhole. I should have waited a day to get the 20%. Drew edit: Update-very cool, I spoke to Mudhole who offered the deal on my next MHX purchase. Good guys at that shop.
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Newbie here, but these are very pro and good overview. Nice to see everyone behind the scenes, and that the Batson team does in fact, build fishing rods.. I talked a buddy into building a rod on one of your RX8+ blanks and will refer him to these videos. Drew
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Lyman, thanks for the heads up. I went ahead and ordered a Tiger Eye 10 wt. - for $35!!! I hope the price does not reflect quality. If this works out, I'll build another later on a Batson RX8 or Mudhole MHX blank and give this one to one of my fishing buddies..
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Thanks for the replies. The 6 weight would be too light I think. Normally we fish 8 weight fly rods, and for a spinning rod and these fish, it would need to be heavier. Typically a 9 foot spinning rod, 10-17 pound test line and 3/8-5/8 lure weight would be the specs I would like to see. Coho's are not Kings by any means, but we've caught them up to 18 pounds on past trips and over 15 they are
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Thanks to advice on this board, I have 3 builds under my belt, 2 Batson RX7 spinning rods, and 1 Batson RX8+ Fly rod. The last two turned out far better than I deserved or expected, and are quite nice rods. I'm looking to build another spinning rod for Coho fishing in Alaska, but I need it to break down into 4 pieces for travel, and 2 pieces for rigged carry when fishing (i.e. 3 piece will no
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Going to reply to my own thread with an update. I ended up using the medium blue with a 8 turn silver inlay at the ferrules and a 4 turn silver band at the top of the butt wrap. The medium blue becomes a very nice royal/cobalt once the finish is applied. Anyway, it ended up looking better than I had hoped. Since I'm still learning-I would make the inlay more like 4-5 turns in the future,
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Ok, I have only built 3 rods, but, I've done a Forhan wrap on 2 of them. It adds only a few seconds and essentially no weight to a build. There is no down side to doing it. Just make sure the alignment is good before you wrap, since the Forhan wrap does make it harder to adjust. I just completed the wraps this afternoon on an 8 wt. RX8+, and every wrap save the 2stripping guides has the For
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Well, I have purple-more like a lavender-and I did a test wrap on the butt section. Not quite what I'm looking for, but not as bad as you might think. It actually looks pretty good and I'm a primary color guy. The pictures from Steve were excellent. Thanks for the links. The black on black is nice. I hope to start the guides this weekend, and if I can figure it out, I'll post some pics.
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Thanks for the replies. Getting a color chart is an excellent suggestion. Leaning toward the medium blue, and I also have a cobalt blue (ProWrap) I could try. Gary sort of confirmed what I was thinking about too much bling. I like subtle and elegant. Still thinking...... Drew
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I am about to embark on my 3rd rod. It's a Batson RX8+ 8wt blank with titanium "ring lock" guides. The blank is a matte black, not matte gray like the RX7 blanks I have used previously. I got the seat and grip mounted up last night. I have many thread choices, since I practically bought out the Gudebrod stock at my local Fisherman's Warehouse that had a small stock of rod building
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Just get an appropriate sized PVC pipe and store the rod in that. It should tuck in your jeep just about anywhere and will totally protect the rod. I used the thin wall PVC so it's light and cheap. I take my fly rods in my Land Cruiser all summer long, and with all the gear, and rough travel, there is no way they would survive without some decent protection. Something like this woul
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Email hidden? I'll have to look at how I registered. Thanks for letting me know. Spell check has saved me, or I'd give anyone a run for their money in that regard. >Edit: email unhidden< Washington in April could work. Is there more info on the web about that? I have a flexible work schedule and love a good road trip! I totally like the idea of going through the process-ie the La
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Thank you! I was hoping the size 7 was OK. I picked it by buying 1 each of 10 through 6 sizes and eyeballing it. It came down to 8s or 7s, and then I ran into many posts that suggested to go as small as possible and so I chose the 7s, The 6s just looked small with the line + nail knot. I'll order a few extra 7s. Looking forward to getting started. Drew
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Newbie here-- I spent the last 2 months reading this forum from the start. Almost 10 years worth of posts. I looked at every page and read every thread with more than 5-6 responses or a topic that interested me. I feel like I got a good overview of the issues in rodbuilding and enough info to get started. So thank you to all who have contributed over the years. There is a surprising dept
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