JimRippe

Got a brother who is moving to Rockville, Maryland this May. Need recommendations on where to fish when I visit him.

What line do you guys like better and why on spinning rods? My target is 10lb test and will tex. rig. Currently, I use Trilene XL and may want to try something else.

Flechero, nice looking grips. That burnt cork is sweet. Reelmechs grip is really nice too. Well, I am still working on this camo rod. To many things were going on I had to put everything on hold for a while. Starting back up. Here's an updated photo.

Bass XL, I had no plan at this time to sell it, but things can change.

O.K. guys. WCCT is correct. I got the blank from http://www.blackbearpontoons.com/CamoRod.html I knew about these rods for about a year now but Scott Melton, the owner of BlackBearPontoons, did not start the operation until this summer. He use to order them for about a year or so. You would be surprized on what this guy can camo. Contact him about a blank that you like and he may be able to camo it for you. The cork I used is Burl cork, brown and green burl from Mudhole. And then burnt burl and laguna cork from Lamar. Thanks for the comments.

Here's another photo.

New rod in the works. Camo rod and seat.

Sure do. http://www.blackbearpontoons.com/CamoRod.html I received a blank and seat in the green leaf pattern. They are expensive. Email Scott at the company and ask him if he will do a blank of your choice. Early summer he told me he probably will do this type of service so if you want a St. Croix, Loomis, and so on done, he might do it.

Yes, T.K. He want top quality photos if I ever get them to him. No interveiw! Just photos. It would be a few months out if he publishes them. Cork would be to heavy so I used Flexcoat Arbors.

O.K., here is a close up photo of the wrap too.

DETAILS, DETAILS, DEATAILS. O.K. I can only give out some of the details. An editor has request photos of this rod and has ask me to quite down some. Anyway, the blank is a CTS colbalt blue, 6' 6". The grips are a white polyester imitation pearl rod that I ordered from Masecraft. They have alot of colors. The came to me in 5" lenghts so I had some fun turning them on my wood lath. I then sanded them until I got down to 2000 grit paper and then used "Hut Ultra Gloss" polish. This polish is for plastic. To reduce some weight from the polyester, I drilled them out to near the end and then used a Flexcoat arbor to fill the gap. After I had the grips done, I knew I had to do an easy wrap that was not too busy. I didn't want to take away from the grips. So I decided to do a scale wrap. The thread I used is Madeira, polyneon #40, colors 1843, 1842, and 1801. Hope this helps. Below are links where I got the polyester rods from. http://www.masecraftsupply.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=MU&Category_Code=DSS

Last photo.

Here is another photo.

Recently turned these grips that are a polyester white pearl imitation. They are installed on a CTS, colbalt blue blank.

Can someone define "Yo Yoing"? I have just picked up on some Chatterbaits and saw in a post about Yo Yoing.

I fish out of a Wilderness System, Pungo 120. I have mounted two flush mount rod holders (behind the seat) and one Scotty up front. I also mounted a fish finder where the transducer shoots through the hull. I have only fished out of a kayak last summer and I won't go back. It's a blast! I would recommend this awesome kayak fishing website, http://kfs.infopop.cc/groupee/forums This is a great forum and there is alot of info.

For rod building I am going to recommend that you check out www.rodbuilding.org The site has a ton of info. on rodbuilding and if you don't find what you need, ask.

Reelmech, How is Lamar's cork? I am sure it is great quality. I will have another going soon myself. Have you ever tried flocking a grip? It is sure comfortable.

Well said Upnorth!

No problem reposting the photo. SFC AL, I'm not rich either, not by a long shot. Here is another photo. This rod cost me somewhere around $100.00 in material. Every guide to include the tip top was marblized in camo. The grips were from Pacific Bay and got them before they were released to the public. Thanks for the kind comments on my rods.

The spine is very important. A rod where the spine has not been found is more likely to break. In short , it will cause the rod to twist and that will cause the rod to break when under stress. Most manufactures do not worry about the spine and most of there workers get paid by the rod.

SFC AL, I am retired Army, 21 years. Camo colors can be done! I recommend using Madeira Poly Neon #40 thread for this. There is just too many colors to choose from. The photo colors are slightly off. Hope this sparks an interest.

That's a nice bass. Congratulations! There is nothing like catching a nice fish on a rod you built. I got a 30" Muskie on my first rod about 6 years ago. Nothing but fun!

It does not take too long to learn how to do these. I have only been building rods for about 6 years now. I can also say, I have alot to learn still.

It is good to use the Sureform blade and get it fairly close to the finish size. Then on multi-material to finish, I found it best to use a sanding block. The sanding block will not give you humps or depressions. The photo will show burnt burl and standard cork. The burnt burl is really dense compared to the standard cork.