Guys, did something the other day with regards to replacing a rear grip that might be of some interest. I had a build that I did several months back where the carbon fiber rear grip (7”) had started to loosen a bit. I tolerated it for a while then decided to work on it. The rod was an Immortal P76M (Butt 0.467”). I bought a 12” length of brass tube (17/32” ID), although ½” would have worked,
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Chucked my 5’ long reamer to my drill press so it extended almost to the floor. Got on my knees and started reaming a rod handle. Leaned over and the reamer grabbed on lock of hair from the top of my headed and just like that I had an instant bald spot.
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With my setup, when I get to the end I drop an adjustable piece of line fr the ceiling that has a loop on the end. I can keep the rod support and the supporting line pretty close together and have just the remaining tip top end sticking out. Frees up a lot of space as well. Works for me.
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Most of my builds are casting rods for using here on the Tx coast and I incorporate several of the good ideas already posted. I, like some, mount the hook keeper on the 180 deg side of the rod. Like Rob mentioned I mount it upstream, from the fore grip but not as far. On one side of the keeper’s wrap I incorporate a two turn inlay in the wrap that serves as the 15” marker from the end of the f
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John, I'm not familiar w a Sully wrapper, and I too wrap everything by hand. But what has worked for me, especially on the tip end is adjust the rod support like Norm mentions, and then attach a piece of soft line to the ceiling and make a loop to hold the butt end. Adjust the line to the correct length. Thread tension keeps the end from moving up. Rod support, if you need it helps stabilize.
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Fact: Rod building and craft beer brewing out of the same shack is a satisfying endeavor. Picking that next blank is as interesting as building that next recipe. Fiction: Neither addiction was meant to save $$.
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Heck Norm. I think that’s it! Thanks
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Gents, a quick question…..instead of cutting a tenon on the handle butt each time on a lathe, is there another way of attaching a butt cap to the end of a custom made casting grip. I prefer the #2 EVA/Cork butt caps that Mudhole sells. Been experimenting with short extensions out of the blank but the hassle factor is a little high. Thanks in advance. Berk
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Mark, great discussion-starting post given the times we are in. We’ve got my entire family in the house so I spend a little time each day in my rod shack in reflection on a lot of things. The answer for me to the most profound aspect of rod building is easy….its the journey. My dad was a dentist. Both my grandfathers worked with their hands, one a carpenter and the other a farmer in central T
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Lance, if you don’t mind, could you please shoot me an email. I would like to pick up a conversation again and get more of your thoughts on a thread I posted a couple of weeks back on longer rods and longer casts. Given both of our fishing experience on the Texas Coast, I think you might be able to assist me. Thank you very much. Larry Berkovsky
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Thanks for your insight Norm. Always appreciated.
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Gents, I’m picking up my original post and attempting to give it another shot at life. I think it died originally toward the end in a flurry of a great conversation on rod tip velocity. So my goal here is to get some thoughts on some blanks from some of the heavy hitter rod builders on this forum who might not have read my original post to the end and who have experience with Rainshadow blanks.
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David, as usual, thanks for your input. The CCS# on your blank really scatter the book specs all over the place as is sometimes the case. By those #s its definitely not a ML considering the #s I have for the P70M are 70/350 g (AA/IP) and the P70M is listed as a med power. Nevertheless, since the weight range I'm looking for is close, and you vouch for its casting prowess, I'm going to put the
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Guys, great feedback and things to consider. Roger, 10-4 on the two-handed casting. Couldn’t agree more. Love the analogy about the musky and 1000s of casts. Next time I come home empty handed from the coast I’ll tell my wife the musky weren’t biting. Lance, drop me an email. We probably tromp around in some of the same areas down here on the Tx coast so I’d love to continue this conv
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Guys, looking for some feedback…..Been talking to a cousin of mine who, like me, is a long time fisherman on the Tx Gulf coast. We throw lots of the same plugs, plastic tails, spoons, etc. for trout and slot reds. I’m building my own baitcasting rods now and what I’ve really settled on for my own use are rods built on several blanks, MHX CB843, the Immortal P70M and the Elliott AP7 M-F and AP7
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David, a quick follow-up on this conversation on something I tried which is a variation to your technique above on handling/shaping tenons. I'm working on a carbon fiber straight rear grip that has the carbon sleeve on it already cured. I cut off one end, with the cured overhang on it, with a miter saw which left me with a nice clean square shouldered end. Then I took the point of a chisel,
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Great video David. Thanks!
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Wow David talk about timing. What Mudhole doesn't say either is the difficulty one might have while trying to put the sleeve over a long piece of core. Yikes that was painful and I only got about half of it straight. It was ugly but valuable lessons were learned. I'd plan to use this as practice to do some cutting and shaping and hoped a grip would come out of it. It's curing up now. I hav
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And BTW, nice piece of work!!
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Yes it does David. Thank you very much.
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Sorry, Chuck I should have been more specific. I'm building grips for some bait casting rods. I've already built a couple of tapered foregrips using the CFX carbon fiber kits from Mudhole. Those were easy. No tenons required. Just follow the Mudhole video. Twist the ends. They're now cured up. I just trimmed off the excess and rough edges on the ends and butt up against the reel seat to
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Guys, some questions.....ordered the CFX grip making kit from Mudhole. Just finished shaping and gluing up some foregrips but still well into the learning curve. Rear grip comes next. First ques....once the grip is cured, what is the best way to cut it to length. I've thought about blue taping over the spot to cut and using my miter saw. Sounds like overkill but I figure that's my best way
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Herb, back to your comment about being less stout. If you’re referring to the P70 then I’d have to agree w you. Hence the reason for this post in the first place. I find that it gets pretty loaded up if I tie a weighted cork, a split shot and a med size live shrimp on it. Not sure why RS calls it popping rod. There are better blanks for this application IMO. But it slings 0.3 - 0.4 oz jigs a
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Yes, jig heads were right out of the package. Sharp but not razor like. Tormented by the over-thinking and the ones that got away. The rod is saved! Thanks guys.
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Gents, finished a build for myself about a month ago. Blank is a Rainshadow Immortal P70M. I love the blank for throwing plastic tails and swim bait jigs w/ braid and Curado. So here’s the deal. Wade fished with it yesterday down on the Tx coast. Lots of redfish in the water. What I noticed was that I had several hookups where the red fought for a while then got off. I thought that this w
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I believe I read on this forum that if you apply a coat of color preserver around the decal edges prior to your next over coat of epoxy, it helps make the edges disappear. I’ve tried this a couple of times and it really helps.
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Gents, first off Happy Thanksgiving to all and I sincerely appreciate all the valuable info from the website over the last two years. Always a good read. So here’s what I’ve been thinking about for a few weeks….a while back I wrapped for myself an MHX CB843 and a Rainshadow IMMP70M. Both are great for throwing jigs, spoons and flukes down on the Tx coast. Very similar in performance for me.
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Gents, 50 years or so ago I was eliminated from my one and only spelling bee competition. My first word was groceries. Pressure was on. I went with g-r-o-c-e-r-y-s. I was politely asked to return to my classroom. I never forget that word and was reminded of it every time I wrote a check at the store and filled in the memo blank with the word "groceries". Well today I was finishin
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Gents, I’m looking for some advice….what is the best way to get a nice straight epoxy line on the blank below the guide ring, when coating the wrap on the ring-side of a single foot guide. I’ve tried to do it by hand and when the blank is rotating and have not quite been successful on either. Obviously its less challenging to get a straight line of epoxy on the butt side of the wrap with the bl
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Gents, I picked up several unknown blanks from the Swampland Tackle bargain box at last week's fishing show in Houston. After looking, measuring, flexing and comparing to the known blanks that I have in my fleet, is it reasonable to believe that blanks that have the same specs (length, tip, butt OD, weight) and bend similarly under simple bending tests will generally have the same performance?
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