flechero

Avid, Your surgeon just gave you an excuse to have custom rods made. On a more serious note, you can use any overgrip tape or wraps from tennis rackets or the cork tape to increase diameter. The bad part is that your start point is also in the middle of your grip if you start it at the back of the reel seat on a casting rod. If this is a temporary thing for the spinning rods, just wrap em' up. The drawback is that it will further deaden the cork, meaning less sensitivity.

I hope you don't judge the entire state on this. Even if you were rubbed the wrong way at Fork, there are a bunch of good places to come in Texas.

You can buy cork filler from Lamar manufacturing or Mud Hole.com but I don't know if it's any different or better than Elmer's carpenter's professional wood filler (golden oak color) I got it at lowe's for about $2. (the "Natural" looks like a good match but it dries MUCH lighter ) Some people use cork dust from sanding and mix it with epoxy or glue. The filler works good for a while but when you give handles a good scrubbing you'll have to re-fill them. It's a preference thing, and I never bothered re-filling unless the pits were really big and actually caused the grip to be uncomfortable. These days I only use burl cork on my rods so I don't have pits large enough to fill in the first place.

Raul, Wasn't there a red one somewhere in there also?

I'll be bringing a few extra rods- I had a few people ask to try out a spiral wrap so I'll accomodate as many as I can. I thought I was going to have a new "fleet" by the fork trip but if my blank order doesn't get here soon, I'll be using all my "loaners". ...lol As for the monkey giving you a pass- He and I suspect you will make up for '06, in '07!! ...lol

If you want them to look new again, a mild soap and warm water soak followed by a light scrub brush and rinse will clean them almost to new... but will remove the rest of the filling from the pits. (those pits were there when new, they were just filled with filler) Once dried, it only takes a few minutes to re-fill the pits in the handle.

As powerful as that statement is, it might also be the only reason not to get the Stella. However, if you have $2K or so sitting around to replace the fleet... go for it!!

I think you'll find that there is a pretty evenly divided opinion on this. I never expose the point, but I spend much of my time in brush or weeds and would hang up all the time if I did expose it. I also use heavy worm rods so penetration is not a problem. The ONLY exception for me is on the fat ika but I use a gammy EWG hook so the angle allows it to ride on the plastice and not really stick out. My normal worm hook is an Owner (5102) offset xx strong wide gap and they will hang up horribly bad if rigged exposed. I think a lot of people tex-pose the hook, nothing wrong with that either, just a little less weedless.

There are SO MANY choices these days that you really owe it to yourself not to buy one until you go see/play with them in person as HPBB suggested. Funny he mentioned the 332C wasn't for him, it ended up being the right one for me. ...lol Anyway, I hadn't even looked at it until I was at cabela's. The ele. guy aske what I wanted in a graph and when I told him everything he showed me the 5 or 6 that best matched my wants and were closest to my price. My last 4 in a row have been Lowrance... I've always had the best luck with them so I stuck with them. I have used and like the hummingbirds but not recently.

Just think of how light the 50 MG would be on that GLX rod! That would be my first recommendation for you. They fish like a higher $ reel than they are. A TD-Z might feel right on it as well. For that matter even the 100 size curado or citica might feel perfect. Have fun shopping!

When I faced this decision, I almost bought the stella... I've never heard anyone say it wasn't worth the money. I on the other hand, decided that the Fuego 3000 was a better reel for me... still high end but the cost of your new GLX rod cheaper than the stella. One of these days, I'll pony up and try the stella but for now I am VERY pleased with the Fuego. It's a matter of cash, if you have a few hundred extra dollars burning a hole in your pocket, I bet you'll love the stella as much as everyone else does! You're in a good spot, regardless of your choice, it is a good decision. ...lol

gotcha. Does salt do the same thing if it's poured too hot or cooled too slow?

Avid, Please know I was only trying to get a chuckle, and point out that most of what has been posted, has been posted in some form or fashion before. I meant no harm and certainly wouldn't knowingly make fun of a painful past... we have a couple people in our own family who would describe themselves about the way you did as far as not enjoying the holidays... we joke with them about it all the time and it usually makes them laugh and cheer up a little. I really thought you would take it the same way. I guess my family is not "the norm" and I should have steered clear of potential sore spots. I offer a sincere apology. Best, keith (PM to follow)

First off, I don't pour so this may be a stupid suggestion. Can you pour into a chilled mold so it sets up fast enough that the powder doesn't settle? Maybe from the fridge or freezer? Just a thought.

ReelMech, Now, According to Batson, all the RX7+ and RX8+ blanks are made in the USA. (I don't know when that started though)

Yup, just like we had a bunch of "best spinning reel" threads yet you still started another one, just the other day. Seriously, you didn't know that even though the design is inferior, the Stella and Stradic were good reels before asking the question? And since you hate Christmas, Holiday threads are off limits too. Keep this up and we will only have curent lake reports to reply to. Take all this tongue in cheek... I'm not trying to be a jacka$$ just pointing out that probably 75% + of what happens here can be read about in the archives... but the interactive nature of this board is what people like. Now go buy your wife a nice present... she deserves it for putting up with the grinch!! ;D

Forget the starving kids in Ethiopia, RW has adopted a few smallies for "about the cost of a cup of coffee per day" ;D ;D Roadwarrior, You inspire me! ....lol

Zardon, I've not used that specific blank but I can tell you that I wouldn't hesitate to try one. They have a good selection of popping blanks also, which make great crankbait rods. I have had to use their warranty once also- as good as ANY top name in this business, period. (the breakage was my buddy's fault, not Batson's but they gladly replaced it)

Rods typically don't have a "year model." Every now and then a change will be made, like a different reel seat or guides or something but the model isn't "new" most people don't even notice unless it's something drastic.

5BL, Depending on what kind of rod you want, there are LOTS of good blanks out there. I assume with the statement of: best bang for your buck that you are looking for value. I honestly feel like all the blanks I have built have been a good value... and depending on your application and budget, I wouldn't hesitate to buy any of the blanks on the list below. I have built on CTS T-series, All Star Ti, IM10 and IM6, Batson RX6 & RX7, St.Croix SCIII & SCV, Amtak. I haven't build a Shikari or Lamiglass but both are well thought of. I haven't built a Loomis blank either, but have owned enough of the rods (10+) to know the blanks pretty well. This is the right time to want a Shikari (they got bought and remaining blanks are 1/3 - 1/2 price, depending on suppliers) What are you looking to have built? (worm, jig, c-bait, etc.) There are too many choices out there to blindly make recommendations.

ReelMech has a good tutorial for new BC users setting us a baitcaster for the first time, I believe it's in the "articles" section of his site.

Terri, Keep in mind that you are working with a med-light.... so probably like a 8 or 10 lb test rod? If so, your drag will be set in the 2-3 lb range. Use the expected drag (plus a tiny bit more) as the guide to how much pressure you use in static. My guess is that you are applying too much weight to the blank in your test. With a "guides up" rod there will always be extremes that cause line contact, what you are looking for no contact in the range of "normal usage." As for winding checks, I don't usually use them on my bass rods. If you reamed the cork carefully there won't be a gap between the blank and cork. If there is you can use an epoxy ramp as stated above or you can make a decorative wrap (assuming you have a small gap) and finish with thread finish or you can order the right size rubber check and cut it in 1 place (I use a 45 degree angle, seems easier to line back up when glueing) and install later when it arrives. Last thought, I remember people at RBO saying that home depot ot lowe's or a hardware store (don't remember which) sold seals that were practically identical to the rubber and vinyl checks.

In the beginning, yes, but down the road, I disagree. Having had success in the past with certain baits, conditions, etc. gave me confidence, but my confidence when I get on the lake next time is already in my head, I do not need to catch fish before I can feel confident. Think of confidence as money... you work and then you get paid, the money follows. But when you spend the money, it is leads another process. If there were only confidence after the fact, I would call it something else... Confidence to a starving man would be knowing he was going to get a meal, not feeling like he just ate one. Very interesting to see how each of us defines confidence and some other terms.

Regardless of where you fall on the spining debate, and regardless of the locations of guides on a factory rod... re-wrapping a factory rod as a spiral (even with same locations for cosmetic reasons) will do exactly what Alpster said. (it most likely won't static test perfectly but it will still do the trick, just not quite as good as a fresh start, IMO) The question each of you has to answer for himself is- would you rather just re-wrap some guides or start over and customize everything along the way? Without question, I fall on the "start over" side of that question. ...lol And as far as spining in general goes... until someone can prove that it is a detriment, I will continue to spine each and every blank I build. Even if it was proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that it doesn't help in any way, I would still do it, simply because it is a matter of consistency in my build routine and the final product, the mere possibility of a difference made is worth the small effort required to find and use the spine.

Muddy, I bought a Revo S about a month ago. (I actually wanted the STX but Academy only had that one in the high speed model) I had the money burning a hole in the pocket so I figured I would try out the S model. So far I have nothing but praise for it. Keep in mind that I'm also fishing with several 50MG's and a TD-Z BBS, so the Revo has tough very competition, even for a field test. I haven't caught anything big on it yet so no comments on the smoothness of drag other then it seems nice & smooth in hand. Mine is great and I'm actually happy I bought the S intstead of the STX, even though I haven't fished an STX. ...lol From what I have read about the records, I don't think you can make a mistake in purchasing either one of these.