I really like the 905-4 as well. Nothing bad to say actually, it's an excellent 5 wt.
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8 guides total will work well. For a 3wt One stripper will work, two is more traditional. I'd probably do 2, 12,8, then 2,2,2,2,2,2,2. If you use 1 stripper, I'd use a 10. Consider single foot guides, which will mean fewer wraps and a lighter rod. Spacing is up to you, but St Croix publishes a guide spacing chart. It's very good. Here is their recommendations in inches from th
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I can't tell you what to get, but I can tell you you will not like the 10wt Tiger Eye. It's heavy and slow. 3 that would be in the running for me in that situation: MHx Quickline Batson Rx8 (probably my top choice for this kind of fishing unless you want to spend a bit more) maybe a 9wt! Good luck.
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While I basically agree with this, and own a bunch of Milwaukee tools, a heat gun is hardly a precision tool. It's a hair drier with more heat. I've been using one from Ace Hardware that was $29.99 or something and it's never failed me in 10 years or more. Hard to justify an expensive heat gun unless you just gotta have the best. A heat gun seems like the place to save some cash.
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I've use these several times and the "port" is really just a slit in the foot that runs to the front of the guide foot. It fills itself as the finish is applied. It is very difficult to make that edge entirely straight, and there tends to be a slight bulge right there. That appears to be the intention and that bulge keeps the guide from slipping forward. It works too, but it's a non
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It's a 5 weight and you can use what you like. I tend to use singles for 5 and down, and snakes above that. It's just a bias, and plenty of guys use singles on heavy fly rods. Snakes are tougher, and hold up better to rough handling. Singles are lighter and easier to wrap. If you are not too hard on your gear the singles are great and what I would use on a 5 weight, though I would use
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6wt Quickline. Nice blanks, nice action. perfect for BIG browns, and if he gets a really big one, he won't be undergunned. Just an opinion, but the Quickline blanks are better than you might think and fast without being too fast. I'd trust your instincts.
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Nice to see actual data with controls. Very good work.
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Great, but it would be nice if you handled their cork pre-bored for the reel seats you carry. RECs cork is a bit nicer than most cork you can get otherwise. I'm a big fan of the RFTS and a big fan of Mudhole, so this looks like a win-win. Just consider carrying some matching REC cork. Drew
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I use it and have basically switched over to it. It's a really good way to do this. Even with small fly guides it works. The key is to just use a little.
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That will work fine. I have 2 steelhead rods identically set up with 30mm lower guides and the same choker guide space. They work fine with 2 different reels that have significantly spool diameter. It may not be optimum, but you can't tell while fishing. But I agree with the sentiment that a "prebuilt" rod is not exactly a custom rod, but it will showcase what you can do if asked
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This should answer your questions: In short, it's a method of laying out guides on a spinning rod that happens to work extremely well. Highly recommended. Drew
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Just back from 10 days of fishing in Cordova, Alaska for Silver Salmon (Coho) and thought I would report on the Quickline fly blanks. They don't get much press here. I built an 8 wt Quickline with REC guides and Fuji K strippers and compared it to MHx, Rx8, and my Z-axis, which were all built with REC running guides, and Fuji strippers. I will say that these blanks don't get enough attention
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I had this happen on one rod. It was the same finish mixed the same way as I always do. The surface looks like oil poured onto water if you look in the right light. The only difference is that I applied it in a back bedroom, in the middle of winter. So it was cold and humid. Since then I've run a small space heater in those circumstances and it sets up perfectly. It has to be "amine bl
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I've built an 8wt Quickline. It's a nice blank that is better than it's price would indicate. The gloss black finish is really nice. I would reconsider the ceramic guides. Keep the rod light. Consider REC single foot running guides, to minimize weight and because they are excellent, nice guides, and perfect on a 5wt fly rod.
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Tom Kirkman Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > The thread binds the guide and provides the > strength. The finish simply sets it in place. > > Try adhering guides with no thread, only epoxy. > They'll pop right off. The thread is what holds > them to the rod blank. > > ............... No doubt, but the two together, thread and
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My guess is that it's the CP and that it wasn't sealed enough and water got in and ruined the integrity of the wrap. Try it without the CP and my guess is you'll have no more problems. The dark integrated colors of no CP look better on a fly rod anyway. Drew
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Ask him what country these are made in. $275 should get you a near top of the line blank from a US manufacturer. My guess is that he is selling a graphite $80 import blank at a premium price and calling it titanium because it sounds sexy. But I agree with Phil. In 14 years these would be mainstream if they were truly exceptional. Just because he's a "physics scientist" doesn't
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I found the GPS software put the first guide a bit closer than the 27X method. Keep in mind there is nothing magical about 27X, it's just a well tested number, but there is nothing to say that 25X would not be equivalent. The GPS software takes a different approach and lets you set up a "glide slope" reduction train with the specific heights of their guides and your reel, or lets you
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I would not agree that fish in the boat is the best measure, unless you are fishing for a living. Since I think most of us here fish for enjoyment, the true measure is fun per day of fishing. The number of fish caught is an important part of it, but unless you fish for extremely dumb fish in waters choked with dumb fish, you spend much more time fishing than catching. So "fun" can
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I think the KT running guides actually hold up better than normal single foot guides, but nothing holds up in rough conditions as well as a snake guide. I should add that I bent the guide accidentally whacking a tree branch, not while actually fishing. It was self induced rod trauma, unfortunately. It did bend back into position without issue, and went right back into service. I probably won'
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I use the K guides as stripping guides on just about every fly rod I build. They are great, especially the titanium ones. Generally If I'm building one for a friend, I use the stainless guides, and for me, I use titanium guides. Both have an excellent finish. They do not look weird, and theoretically shed tangles better. The running guides are your call, I've only built 1 fly rod with t
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You basically need to decide of you want a USA built reel for $$$ or an Asian import for $. There are plenty of off-shore reels that will work, but generally they are built to a price point and the machining and precision will suffer. I totally agree that on a 5 weight, a good drag is not all that important. Your reel is basically a line holder and you strip the line in by hand with most smal
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With no real good reason, I'd use 2 stripping guides either 16-12 or 16-10. With the boat fishing in the equation, you could have a fish that goes deep where you will appreciate a bit more strength down in the power section of the rod. A 6wt is one of those in between rods, where you might find yourself fishing for fairly strong fish, and so 2 stripping guides is not a bad idea. I would li
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I'm mostly a fly rod builder too. For stripping guides, I generally prefer the Fuji TKWAGs or KWAGS. These are just great guides with a beautiful finish. I also like the Batson LXN or MXN. For running (snake type) guides, I always use the REC Recoils either in single or double foot. These are trouble free, damage resistant and will never corrode due to the titanium/nickel material they a
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Same here. TM Lite is my favorite with ProKote a close #2. The ProKote has a longer pot life, but there is plenty of time even with TM Lite to do an entire fly rod (10-11 double foot guides) including the butt wrap around the hook keeper.
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We all have a different method. Here is mine after 2 years and 25 (mostly) fly rods. (So very limited experience compared to many here!) Warm the bottles of finish in a bowl of warm water-to roughly 90 degrees F. In winter I warm the room to 75 degrees Mix 3 minutes in shot glass-flat blade spatula to mix Pour finish into inverted aluminum can and allow bubbles to rise and pop-assist b
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>>>The rod, action or the fly fisherman?<<< Rod, fisherman, action. Make sure the blank you choose has enough power to cast the line and fly you want to use and can handle the fish you might catch. I would get the line and fly you plan to use and test cast some factory rods. Make sure that you really want a 7. Salt water flies and sinking lines take lots of relative pow
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Knock on wood, I have never had finish not cure. It can basically be only 1 of 3 things. Either you did not measure exact proportions, or you did not mix enough, or you mixed 2 portions of the same part of the epoxy. The stuff will cure every time when you thoroughly mix equal portions of the resin and hardener. It's chemical destiny. So: How are you measuring? How are you mixing? A
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What blank are you using? The spline of the rod isn't going to make any difference if you use a slow blank to start with. Find the right blank and build on the straightest axis. Drew
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