I am definately new to this addiction so please bear with me. I am building a light surf rod for my wife who is a die hard Jimmy Johnson fan and has been for a long time. So I picked out some colors that closely resembled his car. All was going well and it looked great until I put on the first coat of epoxy. The yelly disappeard on the guide wraps but didn't on the furrel wrap. All threads w
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So I finished my first ever rod this evening. I'm sure its not the prettiest first rod built, but I'm fairly pleased with it. I used a mud hole Value E-glass blank. 7ft XH with a simple spiral wrap. I know one thing for sure, this hobby has already cost me a small fortune (in relative terms to me) and I've already ordered a bunch of other crap. Thanks for all the info and input I got from you guy
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I've seen several posts about braided lines and cut guides. Other than old plain chromed steel guides, I've not seen any cut guides here. I've been using some form of braid or Fireline since it came out in the late 80's, I've never experienced any wear myself, but the earliest type of guide I've used with Fireline was most likely the old white ceramic guides with a black shock ring or those F
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Does anyone know who carriers the Century Surf blanks? I was down at the outer banks this week and stopped into Hatteras Jacks and he showed me a couple of the Century Blanks, the C3 and the Kompasite (sp?) Thanks for all reply's Brad Hetzel
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Hi all, would it be possible to build a quality 14' HMG surf rod for under $200? It must have a fast action and be capable of casting 8 ounce and heavier, with a line class of 35-45 lbs. I am actually looking into getting a private label surf rod built to suit our conditions here in southern africa. Can anyone help me in this regard?
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I've been talking to a friend about building 2 surf rods-I know very little about them, but I do have Volume 7-Issue #1. Tom states in the surf rod article that in writing it he assumed the reader had some basic knowledge of surf rod construction. Not this reader....... Do two piece blanks come ferruled? What is a "normal" seat size(spinning) on an 8or 9 ft.rod-2-5 oz-40 lb braid
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Greetings, My first post. Have been lurking for over a year now and have learned so much from this site. A tremendous resource. I bought a kit to build a 9' surf rod thinking it would be easier to learn to build because it might have some basic directions for the setup. All I got (which is OK - no complaint) were the raw components - which is fine but has left me with some questions. I fi
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Hello all, i'm fairly new to the rod building game, with only have one complete build under my belt. Being in Australia at times our availability to quality blanks is quite poor; most blanks require a blind purchase, as such quality advice is paramount. I do a fair bit of surf fishing and am looking to upgrade my gear, i'm going to purchase a Daiwa Saltiga 4500Z. Does anyone have any suggestio
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Not too long ago someone posted about a symbol to use as a way to recognize other builders. The example used was the “Diver Down” symbol used by scuba divers. You know the red one with the white strip that runs diagonally across it. It is a flag used and does have its purpose as a warning to other boaters that divers are in the area. Well you see a lot of stickers or license plates on cars
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Well, I finally have all of my ducks in a row to get all of my federal and state license, EIN, Etc. I have my accounting stuff setup as well. What I am wondering is what kind of fishing related things would fit in as deductions....reels, entry fee's, etc. etc. Does anyone have an idea of where I can find that information, or what some of you do.
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I'm thinking about building a surf rod for this years Alaska trip. I plan to target halibut from the Kenai Peninsula beaches i.e. Homer, Anchor Point and Kasilof Beach. I'm looking for blank suggestions, requirements lure weight 2-12oz line rating 20-40# multi piece for transportation purposes. Also what guides do you suggest? Handle- cork tape? Thanks in advance for your help.
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I've built a few spinning rods for light saltwater use and was thinking of building a surf rod. Have a couple of questions if anyone would like help. Compared to the spinning rods, it appears there are way fewer guides on surf rods? I have more guides on my 6' 6" rods than most 10' finished surf rods I've seen. Guessing this a casting distance issue? My saltwater fishing involves plan
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I had a "discussion" with a gentleman about how he would never own a 2 piece rod. His reasoning is that a 2pc comes apart at some time of the day, after throwing hundreds of casts, ( he fish's bass tournaments). I've never heard of this happening unless the rod wasn't properly seated in the first place. I've thrown 2-3 oz. for the better part of a day surf casting a 2pc. rod and never h
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Just wondering what everyone sees. Do you see many people still buying rods at smaller independant tackle or bait & tackle shops, or mostly the big Cabelas, Bass Pro, Gander Mountains? Obviously, as custom builders we won't be selling at a meg-store, but there are lots of contacts to be made at the smaller shops. If you don't mind, please post where you are in the US - it's neet to see i
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My sons and I made 6 rods this summer. All went well, and other than a bit of an alignment issue, the rods work great. Yesterday, while putting the rods away for the season, we noticed that the flex coat on two of the rods have turned milky in color...... Any suggestions?
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I never heard of these blanks until a few weeks ago, and then all of a sudden I heard about them from four different people in a matter of a few days. I did a search here, and learned that they're going to be at the Rod Expo (one more reason to go), but other than that I didn't find anything. I checked out their website, and found some info there (I like the fact that these guys seem to be di
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I am trying to find a 2 piece 8'6" blank rated to upto at least 3 oz. to use as a mullet/flounder/pompano rod in the surf. I've check out the rainshadow blanks and they only offer an 8'6" version in 1 piece. I would really like to stick with 8'6" for two reasons. I'm going to need to get some decent distances and so I don't want to go any shorter and I also want to try and make
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I have not tried the simple spiral yet. I am wondering how the 2 methods compare. I prefer the Forhan method (I think). It seems to make for a smoother transition to the 180 guides. Also does anyone change the guide sizes when using Forhan's method. For example on a 7 footer instead of 12 double foot ,10,8,8,6,6,6,6,6,tip - use 8 single foot,6,8,6,6,6,6,6,6,tip. ?
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Any insight on which will cast farther if distance is the sole concern - ABU 6500 class vs. 4500/4600 class? Assume bearings and such are the same. Is the narrow spool a better caster because it has less inertia from spool/line weight and thus able to be tuned faster w/o backlasting? Is the wide spool better because inertia and slower depletion "dumps" line into the cast better?
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Here is an idea I've been kicking around for a while, similar to teh NERB project rods that we did on the sneak a couple of years ago. Basically what my challenge to EVERYONE who builds rods is this: Your next rod try to do someothing a little different on teh grips. OBviously this will vary based on skill level, tooling, grip material, and types of rods, but hopefully it will get people to tr
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I have a request for a 10 to 12 ft surf rod, 10 to 20 lb test line, lure is up tp 5 oz. The customer wants the rod as light as can be. He fishes nothing but self caught sand crabs on a standard surf rig. He says the current and wind can be brutal, that's why he fishes such a heavy wieght and swears the "Big ones" are farther out there. Any (very light) 2 piece rod blank suggestions ple
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Since I am so geographically challenged I can't enjoy all the good Trout and Steelhead fishing that most of you can, so I never got much involved in fly fishing other than Bass and Panfish . I would like to know the structural difference between a Steelhead / Salmon rod and a Fly rod of comparable size. How do these rods differ in action and power ? My curosity got the best of me. Jay
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What are your thoughts on surf rod ferrules? Do you prefer tip over butt or butt over tip and why? I have always prefered the tip over butt thinking that they are stronger. Due to a good price that I got from Richards Rod and Reel a couple of years ago, I ordered four surf rod blanks to keep in my stock and later make up some rods for winter fishing the surf for redfish. The rods came with th
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I have seen the suggested rule of thumb to wrap the length ferrules 1 1/2 to 2 times the diameter of the blank. Is this for all type rods and materials, specifically what about the "pure carbon fiber" surf blanks made by Wheels Reels? Thanks!
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I recently made an offer to a rod builder to trade him a new Flexcoat Four rod dryer in return for him wrapping and finishing 20 rods for me. I do all the gluing up and furnish all the materials all he provides is labor. I usually pay 20.00 for wrapping and finishing so this is 400.00 worth of labor for a machine that retails for 400.00, the advantage as I see it is that he doesn't have to come
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Ok, I can't seem to think of a tactfull way to put this so I'm just going to shoot from the hip here. When it comes to selling rods you have built. Unless you have built enough of that type of rod and they have been in service long enough to withstand the abuse and conditions that anyone can put them thru without mishap and the ones using them are still very happy. DON'T SELL THEM TO THE
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Will appreciate some comments on Threadmaster as I have just bought a new set to try on. I am very used of Super Classic Coat and loves how it brings out the shine when used directly on nylon threads. Need your expert advise on the following as this new product has just become available from my part of the world, Singapore. 1. How is the viscoscity when compared to Super Classic Coat? 2. How
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I will gladly pay from $ 17.50 to $ 21.35 plus shipping for a little bottle containing 100 two inch long x 4.5 64ths diameter high temperature hot melt sticks for tip top installation. I am down until Tuesday with a razor blade cut finger! Guess I will have to fish a couple of days! If you are interested in anything you do not have that would make your rodbuilding life easier please list it o
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One of my sons is going to be visiting the SC low country often this summer(girlfriend, what else). The island he will be visiting has a fishing pier as part of the nature preserve. I've only fished piers on occasion and always just used my inshore rigs. I know that this would work OK for him, but would like to build him a rod to use specifically on the pier and with the techniques for the most f
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The guide set up I was recommended was 50,40,30,25,20,16 Fuji Hardloy BSVLG's and a 16 top. Seems big, conical and different from what I've seen. But what do I know. The reel seat is already 18 inches from the butt and will be paired with a stradic 5000. It's my first, but I'm stoked with the way the split cork grips came out, so I really want the rest to come out well for some long term use.
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