S Hovanec

Price for wrapping guides varies by builder and location. I charge $5/guide for single foot and $7/guide for double foot.

They save weight where it matters. Split grips and shaved reel seats just save weight. ANy time weight is removed in front of the reel seat, it makes a difference. Take a normal build with 7-#6 running guides...replace with 7-#4 guides....It's like removing 4 guides. 4 guides worth of weight in the tip section of a rod is significant.....especially on ultra-light, light and medium-light rods.

Don't know about hype, but they do save on tip weight. Any time you remove weight from the tip end of a rod it's a good thing. a #4 Alconite weighs about 1/3 of a #6 Alconite. There's a lot of weight that can be shaved on the tip of a rod by using them. but remember......the smallest guide to pass your connections should be used.

It was at the ShowPlace. http://www.icrbe.com/id7.html

I use the vinyl tubing, 4 different sizes of it. I still use a Forhan wrap, but had to modify it. I go with 2 locking wraps instead of 3. and 2 blocking wraps after the locking wrap.

Don't mean to hijack ej's thread but I'd like to chime in on the micros. I prefer the Fuji's also. The geometry is more pleasing to the eye (IMO). The ring on an Alconite is thinner than the Batson. A #4 Alconite is smaller (in overall frame dimension) than a #3 Batson.

It depends on the water I'm fishing as to the rods I take. I don't want to re-tie every time I want to use a different lure. When I fish Lake Erie, I have 1 M/F rod with a tube, and 3 rods rigged dropshot. 2 M/F and 1 ML/XF. The mediums are for the larger baits and the ML is for smaller worms. Plus, once I net a fish with a DS rig, it's pretty much out of commission til I untangle it from the net, so I grab another rigged set-up. When I fish a local reservoir, I take a MH baitcaster for topwater, a M spinning for tubes and 2 DS rods for the same reason mentioned above.

Here's a couple current builds.

If you're coming in May, you don't need anything deep. For 3 weeks in May this year, I didn't fish any deeper than 12'......with x-raps and slender pointers.

Here's a couple pics of one of the Forecast's. Components: Forecast SH1025-2 blank Alconite guides Decal Connection gold waterslide. Scarlet nylon (no CP), copper inlay, gold trim. Triangle Mooseskin foregrip. Painted Fuji reelseat (closeout from St. Croix) Various composite cork with a coat of Tru-Oil. Pac Bay butt cap.

The wholesale price isn't much better on them either. The only blanks available so far are the IM series, so I fear the prices of the HM once they are available. Here's what Karen has so far: MB665- 10-17 1/4-3/4 6'6" Fast MH MB666- 12-20 1/4-1 6'6" FAST H MB668- 12-25 3/8-1 1/4 6'6" FAST MAG-MED MB705- 10-17 1/4-3/4 7' FAST MH MB709- 12-20 1/4-1 7' FAST MAG-H MB661 2-6 1/32-3/16 6'6" FAST UL MB662- 4-8 1/16-1/8 6'6" FAST L MB663- 4-10 1/8-3/8 6'6" FAST ML MB664- 8-14 1/4-5/8 6'6" FAST M

Black Widow II......discontinued.

I have more than a few rods to build. 2 - Forecast SH1025-2's (1 needs finish on the guides and the other one has the grip about half done on the lathe.) 2 - Rainshadow ISB841's (have the elliptical inlays turned) 3 - American Rodsmith 7' MH (Grips and reel seats all glued up, just need wrapped and finished) 2 - Shikari's - MB705 casting and IP-7000 spinning (Grips and reel seats all glued up, just need wrapped and finished) 1 - St. Croix 3S50ULF (haven't even started) 1 - Fenwick 5'6" glass (Grips and reel seats all glued up, just need wrapped and finished) The problem with all this is: not a single one of them are for me :'( I have a few CTS blanks and a St. Croix with my name on them, but who knows when they will get built. I've also been warned that I have at least 10 repairs being sent my way soon from a few Captains in NY.

You'll spend as much on shipping it back as what it would cost to replace the guides. I'd just replace them with Alconites. If it were higher-end rod, I'd consider Ti/SiC.

They are built on the same blank (SCVI/SCV) as the comparable model LE, just a different color, split grips and Recoil guides. not a fan of Recoils. For the $ they want for an LEX, I'd build a custom LE with Ti/SiC guides.

No problems here. If they're ceramic, you'll never have any grooving from line.

I painted the blank white at every location that there was to be a wrap to help maintain the bright color. Here's a a very poor pic of it before I applied the finish. Here's another crappy pic of it after being in service for 3 years.

are you looking at it thru polarized glasses? If so, try taking them off or turning your head. I have to have my head on the same plane as the screen on my Garmin and Raymarine. If I tilt my head left or right, it starts to get darker til it's totally black. Same thing happens with my cell phone. Have to be looking at it straight. If I turn the phone 90* to my line of sight, the screen goes black.

That's a sharp looking color scheme. I built a LTB for a customer that wanted the wraps to match his Sol. Ended up using Sunburst with color preserver. It actually looked pretty nice. The orange really popped against that blue blank.

Gulp Nightcrawler Jackall Cross Tail Shad Gulp Goby (Erie/Lake O only)

After the May jerkbait bite died down, the Jackall Cross Tail Shads have been my best producer this year.

My Honda owner's manual says that the maximum allowable ethanol mix is 10%. I think that's pretty standard on any current outboard.

Rod Building Guide by Tom Kirkman is a good place to start. http://www.mudhole.com/Shop-Our-Catalog/Rod-Building-Books/Rod-Building-Guide-Fly-Cast-Spin

Most Berkley and Fenwick rods have guides with stainless inserts. I recently replaced the tip on a Fenwick for someone. It had 9 grooves in it. They use braid alot. It's not actually the braided line that cuts the guide. The culprit is the dirt and sediment from the water that gets deposited in the pores/weave of the line over time. Dirty mono will do the same thing, just not to the same degree. Braid will NEVER cut ceramic guides, even the cheapest ones. I'd use the braid for a while and keep on eye on the tip. Once it starts showing signs of wear, have it replaced with a Fuji Alconite. You'll never have any problems after that.