MickD

What are the recommendations for lathes for use in forming cork rod handle components?

No one has mentioned my favorite reel under $200, the Shimano Calcutta. Only has 2 ball bearings (where do the other reels have their 10 ball bearings, anyway). Most important are two that mount the spool, a good drag which it has, a good backlash preventative system which it has, a good anti reverse which it has, well made in all other aspects, has lasted 15 years of pretty hard fishing and still casts like new. I have a few other reels with more bearings, but they don't cast as well. When I buy a new reel I may go Curado based on all the stuff I've read here, but if bucks are an issue, check out the Calcutta. More important than getting everyone's opinion of their favorite would be to find out where we can try out the various reels before we buy. How about some help on this issue, guys? (and gals, sorry)

Re:A CLAG7 weighs 3.9 grains. A BLAG7 weighs 3.7 grains. A LSG7 weighs 3.1 grains. A TLSG7 weighs 2.4 grains. A TLSG 6 weighs 1.9 grains. and since a grain = .002285 ounce, the difference is a max of 1.5 grains or about .0035 ounces. 3 1/2 1000's of an ounce! The difference between two blanks of different graphites is easily .25-.5 ounce, or about 100-200 grains. While the percentage difference between the guides mentioned is arithmatically significant, it would take the princess with the pea under 10 mattresses to feel the difference. It is difficult to believe the difference is functionally significant. I still maintain that $80 will be better spent on better graphite than on the insignificant difference in mass between the better and the best (for mass) guides. And I think that was sort of what the original question was about-whether titanium guides for $80 extra made sense. As you said, just my opinion. But the only way to tell is to build up two identical rods with the different guides, and hope that you wound the guides identically, finished them identically, had no differences in the cork or other handle material, and the blanks were identical. Then fish them. Not a bad idea, because I expect you would have two terrific rods instead of just one. All in the name of science! regards, Mick

Re: I had to add exactly 3/4 oz of lead to re-balance! and tiny amounts of weight out on the rod make big differences back at the butt. If you start weighing the guides and checking the differences, you will find the weight difference between good quality stainless steel frame single foot guides and titanium frame single foot guides is of the order of a few hundreths of an ounce. The blanks have a larger impact on the feel of the rod, by far. Note that I'm not talking about the kind of guides you find on Ugli Sticks or cheap rods, I'm talking about the difference between good Fuji guides and titanium framed Fuji or Amtech titanium/nanolite guides. You will probably never find differences in guide sets that will come anywhere close to 3/4 ounce, unless you are talking some heavy salt water rods. Keep in mind that the biggest guides are closest to the butt making the small differences in the biggest guides less important. If the 30mm guide were on the end of the rod, then it probably would be a different story. If you want the ultimate, go with titanium. If I can get a good deal on them, I do. But I still maintain it is essentially overkill. I would rather go up $80 on a blank or rod than spend $80 for titanium guides.

See if Cabelas is still on sale with their version of the Daiwa for about $70. Cabelas name for it is Prodigy. I have three of them and really love them. Silky smooth, great drags, all metal bodies, and normally sell for about $120.

I made an 843 for myself last year and love it. It handles the lighter crankbaits very well, and handles big fish very well. I love it, and let my son use it, and he fell in love with it too. I am now making one for him for Christmas/birthday present. As I've mentioned before, if you cast a lot, for many hours a day, a stiff rod will kill you. The softer action of the 843 will load well and throw a long way, is still quite sensitive, and at the end of the day, your arm will feel so much better not having been stressed by the old "broomsticks" that came in with the typical graphite. If you will be throwing mostly lures heavier than about 1/2 ounce, go up to the next stiffer crankbait rod. Yes , they are expensive, but they are really wonderful rods. My 843 is exceptionally light, actually the lightest rod I've ever built. It needs, and has, a light casting reel. You asked what they are made of-Loomis says they are blends of graphite to meet specific technique requirements. Based on price and weight, I would say they are close to their IMX, but have no solid info.

I agree with reelmech. You will never see the advantage of spending $80. I've been making some rods recently and weighing all the components on a postal scale. The difference between Ti framed guides and stainless is almost indetectible. Use a good quality guide from the major manufacturers, and if you want a little reassurance for braid, put a Si C or nanolite tiptop on the end of the rod. It takes the abuse, the rest of the guides take very little. If you are talking about Recoil guides, I know little about them, but they might make sense if you are very tough on the guides, and tend to tear them off. I don't.

Garmin GPS Map76Cx - $400 Display Size: 2.2" x 1.5" Resolution: 240 x 160 pixels Memory Card: 128mb SiRF High-Sensitivity Receiver Waterproof <> Floats Better test it in your sink before trusting the "floats" claim. While researching gps on line I read a review by a person who bought one of these, tested it by dropping it over the side, and watched it disappear. I don't know what the truth is, but don't count on it floating without more/better info. Take it into the bathroom of the store and try it before you buy. Mick

More important than having detailed contour maps are two other issues where any gps can really contribute to your fishing success and safety. First, most units have floating navigation aids preprogrammed into them. If not, don't buy. With this you can always, when fishing in areas that have them, like Saginaw Bay, Lake St Clair, NYC harbor, SF Bay, and so many other areas, find where you are by sliding up to a nav aid and correlating its number and location with what you are viewing on your gps. Second, you can go back to the same hot spot over and over with ease. My old Magellan takes me back to a small perch hole in Canada year after year, accurate to less than 6 feet even though it has no WAAS. These two features of any good gps are much more valuable than detailed contour maps.

Regarding sources for blanks and components, I usually shop Jann's Netcraft and Cabelas. Sometimes I can get what I want at only one. Recently bought a Loomis Crankbait blank from Netcraft-was more than $20 less than Cabelas and Loomis direct. It may be that Netcraft is sometimes a little slow in raising prices to new levels. I like the titanium frame nanolite guides, and they are pretty reasonable from Jann's. Service from both is excellent. Haven't tried Mudhole yet. For guides, shop ebay, also. "Handler Custom Fishing Rods" often has premium guide sets removed from rods damaged in shipping for good prices, and he is a reliable person to do business with. ebay also sells winding and drying motors. It is easy to build your own "supports" and add the motors. Drying motors are a must have, and buy a collet with the motor to make it easy to adapt something to hold the rod to the motor.

Thanks, David. It looks like I need to shorten up a little on the length of the butt cork. I was thinking, after fishing with my rod, that 10", as in your rod, would have been about right. Mick

Looking for comments from some of the rod-building experts: One dimension that I haven't heard mentioned much on spinning rods is the reel post to rod butt dimension. I made a 7 foot spinning rod recently using a 9 inch rear cork and a 4 inch reel seat. This positioned the reel post about 12 inches from the butt. When jigging the butt keeps hitting my body or biceps-the dimension is too long. With that reel seat, it appears I should have used only about a 7-8 inch rear cork. Or it may have been possible to cut off the reel seat. I haven't heard of that either, but the reel seats seem to be at least an inch longer than necessary. Having said that, you also have to keep rod balance in mind. My rod feels fine for balance with the reel I plan to use most of the time, so I'm not sure how it would feel with a shorter rear cork. The main point is, consider that dimension when designing your rod, and the design of the reel seat will also be a factor in that dimension. I would appreciate comments from some of you expert rod builders on this issue. thanks in advance. Mick

What makes a crankbait rod a crankbait rod? I believe it is that it is somewhat softer and forgiving than most of the graphite rods so that the angler isn't as likely to set too fast and jerk the lure out of the fish's mouth. The softer tip also seems to give better action to hard jerk baits. I tried a glass crankbait rod and really hated it. It was much too heavy and felt "dead." I made a Loomis CB 843 7 foot graphite (they call it a blend, I'm not sure of the details of the material) rod and love it. It is very light, sensitive, yet fairly soft. Check it out at the Loomis site, for a discussion of their crankbait rods' characteristics. Trying to cast crankbaits with a fairly stiff rod is very hard on the arm compared with using a rod like this that loads easily and has a lot of flex. If you choose to go with a cheap glass rod and don't like it, keep in mind that the difference between that rod and one of these Loomis rods is night and day.

I use braid, but always with a fleuro or mono leader tied to it. For that I use the uni knot and have had excellent results. It can be a little tough to tie the first one, but with practice it becomes very easy and reliable. Directions at http://www.fish4fun.com/Joining2Lines.htm These directions say it is good for lines of similar diameter, but I've used it many times when the difference in diameter is about 4 times (thick line to thin) and it has worked fine. There is a double line version of it, but I've not tried that. If you run it through the guides be sure to check the condition of the knot and the line near the knot now and then. In time it will get weakened from repeatedly going through the guides. I use it casting for pike in Canada, hundreds of casts a day, and retie about every other day, so it's not like a few casts will damage it. The recommendation on using palomar for terminal knots sounds good. My son uses it all the time and has no problems. Only problem I've had with it is when I want to tie something large on. The lure has to go through the loop.

I use braid on both bait casting and spinning, and love it. The primary reason I use it has been given very little empahsis on this forum, and that is that it has little or no stretch. Therefore, bites are very much easier to feel on jigging, and hook sets are very much more reliable on bait casting with spinner baits and crankbaits. If it were not for this advantage of braid, I would very much be pleased with using mono. I am willing to put up with the hassle of tying on a fleuro leader to my braid, and retying it every now and then as it becomes compromised by constantly going through the guides, in order to get that really solid feel of braid. I use 10-30 pound braid on spinning, and 25-65 pound on BC depending on the reels and what I'm fishing for and what reels I'm using.

Fusion may not be braid, but it acts like braid with respect to its stretch, or lack of stretch. It is about twice the diameter of usual braids, about half that of monos. Because it is not as thin as most "braids" is doesn't have the tendency to dig in as much. It has just seemed to handle better on my bait caster than any other I have found. And it seems smoother though the guides. I tried Iron Silk, which is probably another "fused" line, and didn't like it. Too stiff. I couldn't find Fusion on line at any retailer, so it may be "was" instead of "is." I may have to go to a higher pound test of a line like Power Pro to get the diameter I like. I have used 65 pound Power Pro on an in-shore BC reel and liked it. I have noticed that Fusion does deteriorate in time and I will cut off the end a few feet now and then, but I have not felt that it deteriorates any faster than some other "braids" I have tried. Power Pro seems very durable on my spinning rods in heavier pound tests. The 10 pound test, as is logical since it is so thin, is more fragile and needs replacement more often. Since I use a clear leader with all braids/fused lines it is necessary to put on a new knot fairly often with any line/leader combination. The knot going through the guides so often gets beat up.

All these responses to setting the drag properly, and the percentages of line pound test, and all the science, are certainly interesting, but for bass, it's in my opinion much ado about nothing. Bass are just not that challenging on drag setting accuracy. Just set it so you don't break the rod or the line on setting the hook and so that the line doesn't imbed on the spool, and go fishing and have fun. If you want to really get into the importance of proper drag setting, go salt water fishing.

The best braid I've found for baitcasters is 24 pound Fusion. I'm sure there are many that are as good, but I haven't found them. I use a clear mono/fleuro leader of about 6-8 feet connected with a uni knot.

A couple comments: One dimension that I haven't heard mentioned much on spinning rods is the reel post to rod butt dimension. I made a 7 foot spinning rod recently using a 9 inch rear cork and a 4 inch reel seat. This positioned the reel post about 12 inches from the butt. When jigging the butt keeps hitting my body or biceps-the dimension is too long. With that reel seat, I should have used only about a 7 inch rear cork. It may also be possible to cut off the reel seat. I haven't heard of that either, but the reel seats seem to be at least an inch longer than necessary. Having said that, you also have to keep rod balance in mind. My rod feels fine for balance with the reel I plan to use most of the time, so I'm not sure how it would feel with a shorter rear cork. The main point is, consider that dimension when designing your rod. The design of the reel seat will also be a factor in that dimension. I would appreciate comments from some of you expert rod builders on this issue. thanks in advance

I have used factory rods with that type reel seat and have not noticed any problems, but. . . those rods themselves were not top of the line rods. I think that the more sensitive the blank, the more important it is to have the rest of the rod designed for max sensitivity. I think you can dull a great rod with the wrong components, and reel seat would have to be one of the most important. Having said that, the foot of the reel is still going to be in contact with both the rod and your hand, so I doubt if it will dampen sensitivity noticeably. I use woven graphite reel seats on my rod builds. I use masking tape to build the rod blank to the proper diameter. Then epoxy the seat to the rod, which should give a direct path for "feel." People using the rods rave about the sensitivity of the top of the line rods, so I think it does a good job. I expect they are also lighter than the type you mention, but am not sure. Light weight is a very high priority with me. The reel seats cost about $10.00, which is sort of high for reel seats, but I like to use high quality components. They really grip the reels well. One issue I havn't figured out yet is that the reel seats are 4 inches long, which is longer than necessary for my spinning reels. On my next build I think I will shorten the seat about 1/2-3/4 of an inch in order to shorten the butt section of the rod a bit. They seem a little long, sometimes causing the butt end of rod (with 9 inch rear cork-may shorten that to about 8 inches, too) to hang up on my biceps when jigging while seated in a boat. Anyone with comments about this issue?

I gave some bad info yesterday. the 7 foot SC V rod I made weighed 4.2 oz, not 2.4. With the components I used, the rod will weigh about 2.5 ounces more than the weight of the blank. The cork weighs about .9 oz, the reel seat about 1.1, the guides about .3, and the epoxy, masking tape shim, and winding finish about .2. The rod is still a dynomite rod! I weighed a 7 foot old Shakespeare Ugli Stick today, and it weighed 5.4 ounces. Seems like that extra ounce between the St Croix and the Shakespeare means a lot , because I don't think I could go back to the Ugli Stick. Of course there is a lot more to it than weight, the St Croix sensitivity is in another league from the old Ugli Stick. I made a Cabela's XML 7 foot fast action, medium light power, rod recently, using gold Fuji SiC guides, not titanium frame, and the rod weighed 3.7 ounces. Other components same as the St Croix. Looks like the XML blanks are really light, too.

If you haven't yet made your decisions, I may have some info of interest. I made a rod for my son last Christmas, and he absolutely loves it. Friends who have tried it also rave. I am going to make one just like it for me. Blank: St Croix SC V 7 foot medium action # 5S70MF. If you prefer medium light action use #5S70MLF. I think for most spinning work the MF is best. Blank will cost $140 from most places, buy in next few days from Cabelas and they will give $20 off on a special promo. One piece blank will cost + $10 to ship. Use their credit card for "bonus bucks" that may be redeemed for Cabelas stuff. Make sure you ask for the brown, 2006 blank, not the old spruce green one. If they don't know what you are talking about, talk to customer service for fishing and the people there know and can give you the proper number to order. If buying from a local shop, just make sure you and they are talking about the 2006 brown blank. If you don't do this you will get the old 2005 green blank. Guides: Use American tackle titanium frame/nanolite rings available from Cabelas or Jann's Netcraft. Fuji SIC guides with aluminum frames are great also, but more costly. SIC is a little harder, nanolite is much tougher. Will cost about $50 for Am Tackle , but will keep the rod really light. The rod I made only weighed about 2.4 ounces. The blank weighs 1.7. Guides are the most important element in making a really nice rod ,after the blank. Don't put low quality (heavy/soft) guides on a premium blank. Save up and do it right. St Croix blanks have a lifetime warranty, but St Croix doesn't advertise it much, so go to their website to register the blank. I use Cabelas premade 9 inch cork rear grips and 3.5 inch front grips. Will add another $20 to the bill. Put a nice hook keeper on it. I used brown thread without color preservative and the windings take on the color of the blank, almost disappearing. I like the understated look. I have found the Cabelas two part rod finish does a great job on giving nice glossy smooth windings. I have a rotating device to keep the rod turning until the stuff hardens. Prevents droops. Check eBay to buy one if you want one. I bought the motor and shaft connector for about $15 and attached a tuna can to insert the butt into to provide the turning torque. Look at the premade ones and you can see how simple it is to cobble one. For a real seat both Cabelas and Janns have a nice woven graphite seat in brown color, looks really sharp with the brown blank. This rod will cost about $200 to make, retails premade for $310, but the premade one doesn't have titanium frame nanolite guides, so what you build will be better. The two easiest mistakes to make in building a spinning rod are: 1. not locating and setting the blank spline properly to the guides. If in doubt, write me and I'll get you a resource. and 2. Not locating the reel seat properly relative to the guides. Once built, these problems are either impossible or very difficult to fix. Mick Rod making is one of the most rewarding pastimes I have.