The CCS system would be more useful converted to some standard measure of weight anyway. Since it is about weight, there is no reason you couldn't do as you propose. As long as you have an accurate conversion from cents to Aus 5 cents it should work fine. Hopefully, someone will come up the the gram equivalent of cents and the CCS system could be gram based rather than penny based.
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I've built the RX8, MHX, and Quickline all in 8 weight so not sure if it's directly applicable. But, of the 3, the RX8 is the most powerful. I also like the way it casts a 30' 350gm sink tip better than the others. It's a fast , quick recovering rod with lots of reserve power. It's a great blank for the $$ spent. I have to say that the RX8 was a better blank than I expected and since I bui
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Very odd, as the Pro Kote does not yellow much at all. The first rod I built 2 years ago is still crystal clear and I used ProKote. It's been to Alaska twice, stored in the garage (hot) and no issues. There is nothing about the curing process that should cause it to yellow either. If it was clear before you mixed it up, there is no reason it should yellow, unless you introduced something to t
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Just my view, but I would stay away from high end blanks. Something inexpensive and "tough" would be appropriate and better for a 10 year old. 10 year olds do not take care of gear very well, and an IM6 rod is likely to hold up better to rough treatment. The Batson RX6 DSS1024 or 1025 would be ideal for this,.or for a few more $$ the IST1024 or 1025. NGC set up with good quali
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Got mine from Donart. Drew
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Just done building an 8 wt Quickline. It's light, has a nice glossy black finish and turned out very well. I've cast it at the park but won't get to fish it until July. It casts as an 8 wt should. If I had to make a seat of the pants estimation, I'd say the MHX feels a bit crisper, but then I'm more used to it. Seems very small butt diameter for the line weight size, so I will be curious
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If you don't want to wait for more mail order metallic thread, the Sulky metallics from the fabric store works great and I actually prefer it even to the small stock of Gudebrod metallics I still have. The metallic coating on the thread itself stays put, and the thread itself seems plenty strong. It is just slightly smaller in diameter than Gudebrod if that matters to you. Drew
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It's interesting, I was in the local fly shop yesterday buying a few flies and looking around. The Sage One, Sage's newest flagship model was there for $850. I was surprised by the price since my factory Z Axis 2 years ago was $200 less. The rod was very nice looking with decent attention to the wraps and finish. The cork was particularly nice quality. In light of Scott's comments above, I
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I think it's an aesthetics thing. As someone else said, "you have to catch the fisherman, first." Either that or the factories buy the guides in sets. I do step down the strippers, like 12-10 or 16-12, but I make all the runners the same size. If you think about it, the NGC for spinning rods is the same thing--a short run of progressively smaller initial guides, followed by
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Brad Karczewski Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > One more thing I forgot to ask is about the > flexability of the Recoil guides. This has to > affect casting and overall feel of a rod. I think > I am going with snakes but for the stripping > guide/tamer, you would think something rigid would > be more sensitive to rod response, right?
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I replied in the thread listed by Bill Boettcher, above. My experience with TFO rods has been very good. Good rods for the price. THe BVK is their latest and greatest, I'm guessing it will build into a fine rod for you. Their customer service was outstanding the one time I had to use it (grip started to get loose). Unlike many here, I am not a huge fan of ceramic ringed running guides o
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I have the same issue. I build rods in a spare bedroom that is a long way from the furnace and so stays about 55 degrees in the winter. Last winter I had some issues with finish that I thought might be temp and humidity related. For this year I got one of those inexpensive space heaters. It has a thermostat, can keep the entire room at 75 degrees easily, and I can get two coats of finish on
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That sounds like the stuff on the Cabelas Fish Eagle 2 spinning rod I replaced some guides on. The finish was super hard and difficult to remove even with heat from a hair drier. Whatever it is, it would make a good, tough coating, but it does pull away some of the finish from the rod when removed. Drew
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Russel B: "Any concerns with regards to brand of reel matching seat size?" No, kind of a standardized thing at this point. If you use an older reel, test fit for sure. On the bigger rods, add Galvan to your reel list. Great reels, great drag, and will hold up to salt water. For graphite seats, the size 16 is the only one that will securely hold the reel foot, especially side to s
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Reel seats--Just me, but the Fuji graphite/nylon reel seats are ugly. If you want to use them, the size 16 is what you want. Your rods will look cheap. That's OK but most people want a nice looking fly rod. I am a big fan of the Batson high end salt water seat kit for heavier (7 and up) rods. It's a very nice seat, works well. looks very nice. Not bad for $35 or so. My favorite is the Str
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Never had a problem with either of those products. ProKote is a bit soft and flexible. That's mostly an advantage. There is some interesting discussion on the NERBS website about mixing threadmaster and ProKote that I am going to try at some point. I have used both Rod Bond (the gold standard) and Pro Bond and I can't tell them apart. In fact, I think they are the same product just pac
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No sweat. One other thing. Fuji has recently published some net based software that is really fun and helpful in setting up a spinning rod. I have built only 1 rod with it, but it worked out great. Even used a combo of KW and KL guides for the reduction guides and the spacing determined with the GPS software. I did "tweak" the choke position a bit to get everything exactly how
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I've built 20 or so rods with just this: I wish it turned faster for applying finish, but it works OK and the price is right. In retrospect, I wish I had bought this: Both of these driers can be upgraded with faster motors if desired. There are cheap motors available anywhere if you want to homebrew your own. I'm working on a 30 rpm drier now with a motor I bought from Mudhole f
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Hmm.. If all you wanted is a rod that can fish, then why have custom rods? A WalMart rod will catch plenty of fish. There is a time and place for the good stuff, and a place for the cheap stuff. For a custom rod, where everything is a bit better, it seems like the place to use high grade stainless or Titanium. If I were looking to sell a rod to a customer, expensive guides would be a per
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The briefest of searches would have yielded this:
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That's very cool. Love the old time basketball pictures. Thanks for putting this up. Drew i
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Billy Vivona Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bill I got the e-mail, I read the post, I didn't > answer it. As I said, I was waiting for Amtak > guides & the orange blocks of foam, which I now > have in stock. So I took thetime to answer several > questions, sharing my knowledge. Then I get an > e-mail telling me that the info I shared
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Re: Orvis. I don't think they offer any warranty on their blanks, only their factory completed rods. Since they tend to be extremely light and fragile, I would not see this as a good choice for a new fly fisherman. With regards to specific recommendations (this is just my biased opinion, nothing more!): Struble U-15 reel seat with fighting butt, and the REC inletted cork Guides: Fuj
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Are you looking to build your own, or have it built? 8 wt sounds right. If it's your first build, build an inexpensive blank. Your first rod will likely be functional, but not that nice. If you are having it built, then what you get is up to you and your resources. It sounds like you like top shelf rods. If so, you will do no better than a St Croix SCV, and that's what I would use
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Full length. I like the beige poly arbors, as opposed to the black graphite filled poly arbors. They are so light, there is no reason to chop them up. Plus, if they are in separate pieces, it is extremely difficult to use the Flex Coat pilot bit and not make a mess of the arbors. Also remember, that you glue the arbor into the reel seat first, allow to dry, then ream, then glue onto
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The way to use those is to glue into the reel seat first. When set, then ream to fit. If the butt of the rod is greater than 3/8 you can use the Flex Coat bits which save a ton of time, plus the material reams so easily, that you can hand ream in under 5 minutes to a perfect fit. It could not be easier or better. Drew
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It would be helpful to know what size rod and what the fishing conditions are like where you plan to fish.. Personally, I like double foot snake guides for heavier rods and single foots for 5 wts and down. If the conditions are rough or a hike in through brush, then the snakes hold up better. I also like REC guides for everything, whether single or double foot. For any given circumstance,
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The Fuji TKWAGs are by far my favorite fly rod stripping guides. I've done 4 recent 8wt builds with them as the stripping guides and REC snakes as the running guides and TFAT tops. They are awesome guides for an 8 wt. T Assuming you use a 16/12 or 16/10 they will not be too tall. If you stay with the AmTac's, I agree with the NIRLC recommendation above. That's a nice rod for a "no
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If you have not bought the blank yet you might check with Utmost. I got a "closeout" RX8 US made 10 wt blank for $30. Most of their stock was RX7 but they had a few RX8 sprinkled in at the same price. The blank seems perfect in every way but the warranty(none). You might give them a call. In Batson's spinning blanks at least, there is a very noticeable difference between RX6, RX7
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I'd recommend against the versa-tip. It's expensive, too complicated for new anglers, plus with a 5 weight, you'll virtually never use the sinking tips. I'd keep it simple. A weight forward 5wt floating line will do what you want, which is to get your fly on the water. It sounds like you might be fishing under an indicator-if so, you don't want a sinking line. One other thing I don't like
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