Hello Tom, To this date, this is one of if not the finest blank I have fished with or built on. I built on the 706 with spiraling micro guides and a carbon fiber handle and I am constantly amazed at how perfect it is. Perfect for soft plastics and Texas rigging. I have no experience with the 705 unfortunately, so I can't compare there, sorry. I can say the 706 has a good amount of power with
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Beautiful Rod! I like your style as well as I build my rods similarly. Clean and efficient. I see you build with NFC also. Do you find them to be similar? Since NFC is under Batson, I wonder how much influence G. Loomis has had on the Batson brand. I am hoping they are like a higher power rated NFC with faster actions. I have built a few HM NFC rods and I must say they are some of they best
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Hello all, Just wondering who has tried the new Rainshadow Eternity blanks? I can't seem to find any reviews on them since they have been re designed. They look pretty sweet but I was looking for a little guidance from those with experience. Any comparisons that can be offered would also be great. These would be spinning blanks used for smaller plastic baits. Thanks!
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I am sure there is no "right" answer to this question, it's based on preference, but I'll tell you how I do it. I usually put the hook keeper on my rods on the same side as the reel handle that will be used. I also don't use foreground so I set pretty close to the reel seat. Then I have it angled at about 30 degrees or so from it even horizontal point either on top for a spinning reel o
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My email is larrymajkrzak@gmail.com I understand the feelings about fly seats. With them a lot of times, less is more.
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Thanks for all the wonderful ideas everyone. I love how active the rod building community is here! All of your feedback has been helpful. I have a few more specific responses. Phil and Matthew, I would love to see some pictures of what you have done. I think I can image what you are talking about but I would really like to see pictures to fully understand what you are talking about. Nor
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Hello Gents and Ladies, I have been using the pre built carbon fiber rod handles sold by Mudhole (the carbon colored ones, not the mulit colored) for some time now with a lot of great things to say about them. They are by far my favorite handle for any type of bass fishing finesse technique. Others that I have built rods for also love them. The only complaint I have heard about them is the
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Hello Billy, First off welcome to the addiction. I started a year a go as a side hobby to fishing an now I'm building four rods. (go figure). As to your question/s, I would start by listing some of the components that you are interested in. These guys, by far, have the most resources and knowledge out of anyone to help you out but can only get so far with minimum info provided. As to the real
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I can confirm that strait lumiseal will indeed eat away at the decal.
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Thanks for the video. I really like the idea of the heat lamp/s. I think I am going to dry to come up with a DIYS drying box with heat lamps and see if that makes a difference. Thanks again guys.
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Thank you everyone for their thoughts. I had a feeling I would get a lot of opinions and options from this topic, and that's a good thing. It shows there really isn't a right or wrong way but more of a what works for you. Rod building techniques are just as customizable as your rod sometimes. For me it seems my biggest issue is probably the temp of my workspace. I will try running some space
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I will try to do less. I also think part of the problem I am having comes from where I make my rods, which is my basement. It's a steady 65 ° f down there so maybe the cold causes it to thicken quicker? Unless I am just over thinking it again. I just thought I would ask around for input. Personally the best results I have gotten so far are from putting some epoxy on and heating it to get all
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Hello again all, Currently, when I put epoxy on guide wraps I use an alcohol touch to smooth out the finish and remove bubbles. I was thinking about getting a heat gun for this because it seems much easier and safer. I was wondering if anyone here used or uses a heat gun to thin out finish? If so do you have issues with dust getting in the epoxy? Very curious to thoughts on the matter. T
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Go to You Tube and search carbon fiber rod grips. They did a seminar about an hour and ten minutes long. Pretty informative stuff! Also Rod Builder Magazine wrote the article about it. Volume 10, issue 6 i think? Personally, I am going to buy some pre formed grips first, build with them, and fish with them. Then if I see a big improvement over cork and see a need for a lot more rod materials
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I personally feel more comfortable with a slow step down in size transition. Others with more experience I'm sure will have more insight. Because the guides are already so small I'm not sure the difference is so dramatic but it's what I am comfortable with. Also I went with the carbon butt to be safe :)
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Thank you everyone for answering my questions. I really appreciate it. I ordered the parts today with two things on a week or so back order. I'll be posting pics as soon as it's all finished, hopefully in a month or so.
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Steve- I am not going to be passing any knots. The weakest part of a fishing setup is always a knot so i try to stay away from leaders as much as I can. Thanks a bunch for helping me so much with this. It seems others here value your options highly so therefore I will as will. I'm am going to check out the Baston micros and see what I can come up with. I think I'm ready to order some parts,
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Hello John, I think I can help with the printing issue. First off, I always use google chrome because it is ALWAYS the most updated web browser. Personal preference there but a helpful tid bit for trouble shooting because you know it is always functional. Option 1: scroll down on the screen so you are viewing all the information you want to print. if its more than one screen of info ju
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I am building a bass fishing senko rod, as you may have read from my other post. The rod is a 7' casting rod, between a M and MH power. My question is about guide materials. Will it matter using different material for the guides other than looks? The reason I ask this is because there does not seem to be a huge difference in weight for a micro guide vs a titanium guide and I was thinking this
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"FACT: The closer you can keep types of materials in your build, the more sensitivity you will retain and feel what you retain. (Carbon graphite blanks, Carbon graphite grips, Carbon graphite seats)" Would this apply to the fighting butt as well? Or just the places of holding and touching the rod? The reason I asked is because I usually use EVA for the fighting butt just because it
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Ok done. Thanks so much for the help guys! I am going to go with the NFC blank, micro/macro guides, carbon grips, and the MVT reel seat. I'm excited to see how this works out. Pics coming soon.
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Thanks again everyone for the responses! -Steve, you posted a lot of the exact information I was looking for. I am looking more into carbon grips and my even start to make them but that is a whole other story. A lot of thinking and researching to do there as well as get a lathe of some sorts. Thank you. -Thomas, I am still thinking of the blank with all these new options I am finding. P
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Thomas. It's nice to read about some personal experience with NFC blanks. Sorry to hear you didn't like the MHX blank though cuz I was kind on leaning that way... But that is why I posted here. Many things to take into account. I honestly haven't even looked at the IM NFC blanks, thinking the HM was automatically the way to go for performance. I'm am surprised the 705 fishes like medi
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This is good stuff. I know the guides are a bit overkill but since it's a casting rod, the guides didn't cost that much more so I wanted to give them a go mostly as a test to see how much of a difference I see from my other rods. I guess it might be a better idea to invesr that money elsewhere like the MVT reel seat or a better blank though. I haven't looked at Point blanks yet but I will check
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William, Yeah I know. It's a lot. I guess I didn't want to start off creating 8 posts my first day and put it all here. I will try to cut down on legth of my future posts, narrowing my questions. Thanks everyone for quick responses. Nice the see this community is so active. As to the comment from Mat, making your own grips looks easier than I thought. I will be doing a lot of reading and
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Hello Everyone, First and for most I would like to thank everyone for the plethora of information you have shared. I have build two rods with the knowledge learned here and I thank you all very very much! First a bit about me. I am a pretty new rod builder and I live in the Chicago land area. I started late last year and I have the rod building bug. I mostly fish for bass but also like g
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