flechero

Sweet! I've never used the cb series, be sure to give us a review. The CTS blanks are nice, I've got a couple of them now.

That's how it is in Tx, just fill out the form and if no ID# they will issue, but if you invent one (IE: something custom since you built it!) and already have it on the boat, it's good. Also on homemade boats, TPWD requires an inspection (I think just by a game warden) for basic safety and stability.

Prepare yourself for trouble down the road. I made that mistake years ago. If you have a saltwater boat that doubles for fresh, routine stuff. They make an aerosol "corrosion protector" you can spray on all your connections in the back compartments and under the dash and anywhere else you have uninsulated stuff. Flush out motors, pumps, etc. as soon as you get out and wash down the entire boat and trailer while you are at it. The trailer will rust anywhere you have a scratch, very quickly! Trailer lights don't last long either, once you dip them in the salt. A real pain but your boat will stay clean. ...lol I didn't think about the corrosion protector under the dash... had to do lots of rewiring and replacing of stuff within a few months. And then shortly after that, I got to buy a new trolling motor... a saltwater rated one, and then never went back to the coast in my boat again! I hate to sound so negative but I never knew there were so many things on a freshwater boat that were truely for fresh water only! It can get $$$ if you aren't real careful. I hope you have better luck than I did!!

I'm at $400/yr. with State Farm... Had farmers back when they could write boats, they were less. My advice would be to call around. You actually need more than liability... you need theft and comprehensive also, since you said "payments"... the lender will require "full coverage."

Yes, 365 days a year... at least in the south.

Actually Skeeter made a mini... the SS90 was I think 15' or a little shorter. I bet they are within your "budget" now-a-days!! (I for some reason think they made one smaller than that, which didn't sell well) If you are talking about an electric only... you don't need a v hull. Why not take a deep jon and flip it over and add some wood flares to the sides for width and shape. Glass it from the top... that would solve your immediate need for a true form and when your done, your original jon pops out of the new hull. (assuming you coat it to prevent bonding ) You could also run a ridge around the outer perimiter and have a good place to connect the "cap". You can build out the interior hull as you wish with livewell, storage, batt compartments etc. and then use structural foam in all the voids. Deck the top of it all as you please and go fish. You gotta start with something... very few prototypes ever come out perfect on the first try. Sounds like a costly endeavor but if it works out, it will be cool.

Valuable practice and time well spent! Always cool when you find a fun way to practice anything. What Loomis blank did you order??? (I just got my new CTS [6'6" MH,F] worm blank unpacked )

Yup get it down now because one of these days your partner will hook a big one and call for an "assist" if you miss it, your likely to get plunked in the head with a premium beer!

My father taught me from an early age- without your integrity, you have nothing.

I can't help specifically on the where part but most bass boats have them at the driver's seat somewhere on the side wall or floor(under seat). Try a local dealer and ask one of the mechanics, they should be able to tell you exactly where to look for the control. Then you will most likely have to remove your batteries and charger (and oil tank if you have one) the subfloor will come out (without removing the gas tank) and expose your bilge pump, livewell pump(s) and probably a fishfinder puck. The fill lines to the livewell(s) should be right there with a clamp holding the control lines at a fitting to the valve. disconnect there and at driver's seat. Once everything is loose you tie a pull line to whichever end is smoothest and pull them out from the other side which will leave the pull line in the right place. The tie the smoother side of the new cables to the line and pull those into place. Hook up to whatever fitting you have and adjust for full closure. When you are pulling, you may need someone on the other side pusing the cables in case you hang on something or have to turn a corner under the floor.

And be sure it has a coast gaurd label on it, they are required by law in all (I think) states. I wouldn't worry about a bilge unless you have a sub floor in the boat (or it just leaks a lot) then it will be required, as will a fire extinguisher... which may be required in your state anyway if you have a gas tank. One other thing... in Taxas, if you were born after a certain date (I believe 1974) you have to take a boater's safety course offered by the coast gaurd to legally operate a boat on public water. Check your state's DNR for a list of requirements for you and the boat.... all that info will be online.

I'm sure that someone has a "soap" for livewells by now. I normally just use clean water and a towel or plastic "steel wool" pads to get the junk off and call it good after a rinse out. Or you could use a mild (and diluted) bio-friendly detergent, clean it out and just be sure to rinse out several times over and first time back on the lake fill and drain w/ lake water and run the aerator (to check for suds) just to be double sure the soap is all out. I don't fish many tourneys anymore so I don't worry much about the livewell.

Sounds like you two might enjoy the planning and design side of this hobby as much as I do! What a cool deal, I hope he also fishes, this could be a neat hobby to share. It's probable that you each would excel at different parts of the build so you could have multiple rods in process and each have some equity in the rods you build. The only drawback to that scenario is that you may have to share the first few rods! ;D Once you build the first one, you WILL decide to replace all you factory rods... it's a sickness, and a natural progression. ...lol If you two decide to give it a try, Please start with Tom Kirkman's book, it's a fantastic overview and he outlines different ways to do things. (as opposed to "do it this way") It is the most recommended book for new builders. It's a quick easy read, cheap and you will keep it as a reference. Any questions along the way, just post them here and one of us will jump in and help out.

How about Monkey Chow it's an expression we use around here but pretty much sums it up!

For me it began as a way to have a rod with certain features that wasn't commercially available. From there it evolved into a love of the craft. I "normally" actually don't save too much (by choice) by building my own... I end up spending almost what I would have paid for a Loomis or St.Croix but have much nicer components and a grip made to fit my hands, configuration to suit my needs and I can dress it up or down with decorative stuff if I want to. The trade off is time... what is your time worth? I can't measure all of my rod building time in dollars and cents because there is a theraputic element involved for me. Time spent building is similar in reward and recreation to time spent on the water (especially if there is bad weather.) So when I do build "for profit" I can do it for a reasonable price. There are elements of woodworking, engineering, physics, epoxies, finishes and other disciplines, if you choose to apply them. Or you could also just glue a kit together if you wanted to. I tend to plan them out and spend more time than needed because I enjoy the thinking and planning part as much as I do the hands on material work. I believe in the end that the rods I have built do fish differently than those I have purchased in the past. (I sold all my Loomis IMX and GLX factory rods) Even on my "budget rods" I have nicer components and features than many of the high end rods. One cool thing I have found is that I can take an inexpensive blank and with careful planning and fitting of the build... make a rod that fishes as good as a factory rod of 4-5 times the price. Some of my builds have been as little as $50 total cost, plus my labor. Some of my builds approach $350 in blank & components alone. ;D Maybe you should marry him before assigning a honey-do like that!! ...lol It can be as tedious as you want it to be... My build times vary a whole lot depending on the goal... some of the budget rods went together in under 10 hours. (over a 3-4 day period due to epoxy cure times) to as many as over 40 hands-on hours for rods with inlay work and other unique detail or decorative threadwork. Some guys have weeks invested in threadwork alone... weaves of detailed pictures and other stuff that's WAY WAY out of my league.

When I lived in and fished north and east texas, I considered deep to be anything over 15' now that I live by deep clear lakes, 25'-30' is a normal depth to fish on any given day. Deep now is 0ver 30' for me.

We've been using stuff I had leftover from a saltwater trip. Mostly clouser types and some generic baitfish patterns. White bodies with a few strands of flash are what most of them are. I've since found about 5 more grass beds that are pretty sizable! Not thick beds yet but spreading across good sized areas... and some smaller spots just starting to grow. Yup, our fingers are crossed for it to establish. I don't worry about it taking over since we have so few shallow areas in that lake.

What, You did a great job on your 10 wt! You should have posted it in the tacklemaking section also. Those matrix blanks are sharp! What reel seat is that? Gene, We went out last Sat., and fished Westcliff at sunrise- I used the new 4 wt (pics in tacklemaking) and Steven used his new 8 wt. We caught several smallies and largemouth... Steven caught 2 channel cats on the fly! ...lol I had to use the 4 wt. since I had just finished it! My rod of choice would be the 7 wt. if I was in a serious mood. (no pics, it's a factory built rod- orvis T-3) As far as leaders go, I use mono or fluoro 7.5' tapered with a perfection loop. I use as heavy of a leader as I think I can get away with when I fish the timber. If the area is pretty clear, I'll scale back to "normal" size stuff, which for me is about an 8 - 10lb tippet on the 7 wt. No, you are casting the line, which is weighted to carry a fly. A "heavy" fly might be castable with a good ultralight rod, to give you an idea of the weight. On smaller fish it's quicker and easier to just pull the line by hand but on big fish or fish that make big runs (usually saltwater) you'll get to use the reel.

If you have a pic, show us! (and give details on blank and stuff)

I don't fly fish for bass that often... a couple times a month, depending on the weather and if I am taking people out. When I do, I'll use any number of rods... Usually a 7 wt is the choice... sometimes as heavy as 9 wt or as light as 4 wt. (I will try the 2 wt though, just to see how I do with it ) I have an extra spool with a sinking ghost tip for the 7 wt. so it is my most versitile set up. the rod is an Orvis T-3 907-4 with a Battenkill LA V reel. I'll be replacing the 7wt and 9wt rods this winter with customs on CTS blanks. I'm really looking forward to this fall though... I will be chasing the smallies with a fly rod a bunch.

Thanks! The problem I had was that the realseat hardware and knurled check are actually "Shiny Gunsmoke" as Batson calls it and the guides are chrome. (they only offered that little seat in shiny gunsmoke or black) I opted to use the shiney gunsmoke since the ultralight fly reel I have is also "shiney gunsmoke" and a dead on match. No guides available in that finish. :-/ I wrapped each of the ferrules and guides in a different trim color and asked my wife to help me decide. We had 2 clear winners inside the house but when we walked out and the sunlight hit, everything changed! Somehow I doubt the little rainbow trout of Nolan Creek will mind.

You are on your way! Do you have the guides taped on yet? You might be able to finish it this weekend! (wrap and static test on saturday and apply finish sunday or even saturday night??) I'm just not real patient on my own stuff. ...lol I looked at what they carry... you are kind of limited at $50. There are some really good $50 blanks out there but only a few options are listed at janns. (they probably have way more than the website shows. Be sure to ask them when you are there, just in case) I have an RX7 blank and I'm really impressed with it for the price, it's under $50. Also St.Croix SCII is within a few dollars of your target and the Matrix blanks are great looking... I haven't used one personally but have heard nothing but praise on the rodbuilding.org site about them. Of the stuff listed in your price range, the RX7 would be the one I'd buy first and the SCII would be a close second. If the rod was for something other than plastics or jigs (feel baits) I'd try a matrix because they look cool and you can get reel seats and handles in the woven twill to match.

and the thread colors... sorry for the blurr. Not sure what happened. ...lol Garnet nylon, no CP and med gray trims, no CP. I tried 6 different metallic trims and none looked right.

Pics aren't great, I was running out of daylight. Just put the finish on it this morning so I had to wait as long as possible since it's not 100% cured. I always wanted a 2 wt., never needed one but now I can have fun with the little fish. ...lol Its also a Forecast blank, 4 pc., 6'6" 2 wt.

I know it's a "small potatoes" kind of thing but here is what I was talking about with the bolt... it's just a lot easier to glue up. Oh and another reason I like to work fast is I use a 6 minutes epoxy gel for everything except long, full length grips, so being able to get everything situated and tightened up quickly is a must.