That's good news Marc. What weight did you build for him? What weight line was he casting with it? How did it do with a fish on? I ask because I built an 8 wt for one of my friends to take to Alaska this year on our annual trip. It feels very light and I'm hoping it will have enough backbone for the Silvers we'll be catching. These are very nicely finished blanks and given the warranty
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Tony Scott Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Drew - > > Now that you mention it, I have bent some of the > titanium guides and I have no idea where or when. > > > I do like tthe AT guides because I can build 20's > down to 8's in the same frame style, but I also > use their black nickel stainless guides in the > same serie
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On a heavier salt water rod, especially if used in open water, the 3 transition guides is not a bad idea. Your original set up of 20-16-12 will work great. There is no need for a 4th double foot guide in my opinion. I'd use all 8mm runners. Are you using stainless or titanium frames? I ask because I had some bending problems with the AT titanium single foot guides. If they do get bent and y
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If you want a chart, email Batson. They are great about having a "recipe" for you and that's how I did my first rod. With that said, the NGC method is a quick and easy way to come up with your own spacing in virtually no extra time. I would recommend you learn and use this as it will yield a great result the first time through. You can also try the GPS software which I found to
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Russell Brunt Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > FWIW Michal......A bit ago I bought a few fly rod > blanks from Utmost. They have older closeouts at > great prices. The list some as "RX8" but in > reality they are "RXF". I had previously bought a > 12 weight in this series from Utmost. It was nice > and had a gloss bl
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Dave-I think these guides are great, and use them (KW) as stripping guides on every fly rod I build. I have also used the guides (KL and KT) on the last 2 spinning rods I built-really like them in that application as well. They are very versatile, well made guides. The titanium ones are especially nice. Both the stainless and titanium have the nicest finish I have seen on any rod guides.
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4. Much better for travel and that trumps any supposed problems with 4 piece rods. 3 piece rods are OK, but need to be fully derigged to break down and hike. A 4 piece can become a 2 piece and left rigged when carrying on the stream and hiking. Related question: Why are there so few 4 piece spinning rod blanks? They would be great for us travelling fly fisherman that still take some
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The 91% isopropyl alcohol from the drug store works great. Avoid the 70%. Or denatured alcohol as mentioned above. The blue automotive paper towels work better than regular paper towels. Drew
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I tried and could not make it look right. The way the legs rise from the base eliminates the space a locking wrap would use, and the thread would gap on the blank. Post up how you made it work in the pics as I would love to see it. Drew
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I used Fuji size 7s as the runners on an 8 weight. While they look a little small, the rod casts well and the size has been a non-issue. Drew
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It doesn't really work with these guides. I thought about it and gave up. Drew
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Bill Hansen Wrote: > > I was originally going to go 20-16-6 then 4's to > the tip. Anyone think this would be ok? If so > would the spacing be the same as if I was using > the smaller diameter guides? Should work but it will look funny. How about 16,12, 4s or 20, 16,12, 4s? Keep the running guides all the same, 4s are big but maybe appropriate for icing conditions.
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Put me in the camp that says build a new one and retire this one. Maybe repair it to honor your Grandfather but I would not fish for heavy or powerful fish with it. I doubt that as someone new to this, that anything you do as a repair will come out good enough to land a fish with. You can, however, build a nice new rod from scratch that will suit your needs. And even your first new build
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I have used a quick shot of automotive type spray paint. It's dry in 10 minutes and works perfectly. I used a sharpie just yesterday on a single guide re-wrap. It works ok but it is easy to rub off. I'll stick with spray paint in the future. I never use CP and you cant tell that it's a flat black vs the shiny black of the guide itself. Drew
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Awesome. What a great reply from Karry. No wonder I like my Batson builds so much.
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Thanks for the replies. I think I am going to redo the 2 largest guides, and leave the rest as is. That will preserve the first build "character" but it won't make me think it's an ugly rod every time I look at it. The trim wraps will still be too wide, but the worst of the ugly will be gone. Thanks, Drew
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I've been building rods about 2 years and have just completed rod #24, mostly fly rods with the odd spinning rod thrown in. I'm comfortable with my procedures and the rods all look good and fish well. I do not sell rods. I pulled out my first rod yesterday, It's a 9 foot RX7 Batson Salmon rod-IST1085 to be exact. That rod has been to Alaska twice, both times loaned out to my brother, and i
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Greg Foy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I am going to throw in my two cents and recommend > you use your original setup except drop the #20 > stripper and go 16, 12. I suggest Batson LXN or > Fuji KW strippers rather than UD or N style. > Double foot snake guides let knots and loops pass > through more easily. Agree with this comple
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Those single foot ceramic 6's will be really small. Might work, but at the limit if you know what I mean. 7's would be a better choice and even 8s would work well. I have 1 8wt with ceramics, and just replaced AT NIRLFs #7s with Fuji TKTAG 7s due to bending issues with the NIRLF guides. Definitely would not want to go smaller than 7s for what I do with it. Also, I built this rod last year
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I'd love to see more stuff like this, to objectify all the hyperbole. Very well done. I'll bet that was a fun day. Interesting that COF did as well as it did. Props to the NERBS. Drew
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I don't even surf fish and I'm looking forward to the data even if it's a synopsis. Thanks for doing this. If I were closer, I would have been there. 3000 miles is a bit of a barrier. Also-never heard of a tilefish but Wiki has an excellent article. Drew
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If the guides do not determine or cause significant friction then they don't affect casting distance. Since lighter vs heavier weight does affect casting distance, it would seem that the lightest adequate guides would be the ones for the job. I don't know of any guide, even a minima that is as light as a REC single foot (or even a steel light wire single foot). I don't understand how the use o
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On a rod that light, I can't see it. Casts are not that far, the fish when caught are small, and the ceramic guides are generally heavier than light snakes or single foots. In lighter rods, I like the REC single foots. they are very light and nice. I agree with Phil that I've never seen guide wear on a 3, 4 or 5 wt fly rod. Ceramics are just not needed. Drew
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I've recoated ProKote several times after 8 hours or so with no problems. ProKote will not be "dry" to the touch at 6-8 hours. It's often tacky up to 24 hours depending on how warm your room is. Drew
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I built an 8wt Quickline a few months ago and was extremely pleased. It's a nice rod blank for $75. Used a PacBay channel lock fly seat (also a good buy) and REC guides. Very happy with it. I liked it enough that I'll build more. I just wish they had a 3 wt, but the lowest they seem to go is 4. Drew
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No matter what you do, I would use an all titanium guide set up for salt water. I'm also not sold on the ringed guides for fly rods, (especially a light rod like a 6wt),, but the titanium ones will minimize the weight penalty. I do like ringed tops on fly rods over 5 weight. This assumes a 6 weight rod-- Some reccomendations: Fuji TKWAG 12, Fuji TKWAG10, REC #2 double foot snakes x8, Fuji
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The Fuji KW guides are just what you are looking for. Very strong, great polish/finish, and really perfect for fly rods. I like the titanium version if there is any chance the rod will see salt. The rings are deep pressed and "swaged" I guess is the right word. The Batson LXN and MXN are also really nice, but not available in titanium. The finish on the American Tackle guides is
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I don't fish stripers but I do fish for Salmon. I get them on the reel to play them in. Trout short of steelhead get played by stripping the line. If you look at factory fly rods, virtually everything 7 and up will have a fighting butt. But again, it's your choice. Drew
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Since it's your build, you can leave it off if you like. I like a fighting but enough on a rod, that I put them on rods down to 5 weight. Striped Bass will test a 7 weight, and for that reason you might find a fighting butt useful. Drew
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Sorry about the duplicate post -Drew
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