Alpster

The butt cap does not screw in, you can buy it at 'mudhole.com' here is the link. http://shop.mudhole.com/s.nl/it.A/id.6012/.f?sc=2&category=12 Foam is especially easy to fit if you buy the right size, relative to your blank. Ronnie

As promised, a few pics of the finished "Slate" split grip with foam. I am pleased with how it turned out. I'll let it cure for a few days, but I can't wait to fish with it. Ronnie

Belize, do a Google "fishing in belize" you will see why. JMHO Ronnie

With 50 lb braid & a heavy stick, winch her in as quick as you can. If you play a big bass for very long she will wrap you around some structure or spit your lure back to you. JMHO Ronnie

Arron, The rod in the second pic became another rod all together, those were just pieces of cork I had laying around and I pieced them together for the picture. That particular butt cap was a longer handle that I cut off and was going to sand it up real nice on the lathe. You can buy ready made butt caps that are real nice from several sponsors on this board, if you don't have a lathe to turn em yourself. You can download the "Mud Hole" catalog from their website as a pdf and shop on line. I do a lot of buisness with them. I actually replaced all the cork on that rod (G-loomis Slate IMX) with eva foam with a pre-made foam butt cap and I really like the way it turned out. It's hard to get a picture right now, as it's turning on the dryer. I will post a picture on this thread when I am finished in a day or two. I hope this is helpfull. Ronnie

wheezo ....from webster's dictionary: finesse is "to bring about or manage by adroit (skillfull) maneuvering". In fishing refers to small, delicate lures presented slowly with the idea of really immitating a natural bait, usually worms. JMHO Ronnie

If you use modern threads & finish it is unlikely you will need color preserver. It will probably cause you more problems than it might solve. Flex Coat products are high quality and easy to work with. Follow their instructions to the letter and you will have good results. Have fun fishing that new rod! JMHO Ronnie

Here's a couple of recent fly rod builds and spinning rod I am just starting. Click on the thumbnail to see picture. Ronnie

I get to tell this story all the time, cause this bass is hanging on my wall. I was doing survey work on a big powerline and we were headed up the river in a work boat back to our truck. We saw this bass swimming on surface we eased up beside him and I slipped my hand under his belly and just flipped him into the boat. No fishing poles in the boat at all. We guessed he must have been hung on a trot line or something cause he has big hole in his lip. He was in bad shape and was dying is why I was able to grab him so easily. He hangs on the wall of my office with a little plaque that says "caught bare handed". Everyone asks to hear the story and I like to tell it. Oh yea - he's about a six pounder. Ronnie

If you can find a storm culvert or pipe that dumps into the reservoir, the riffle from the pouring water puts a lot of oxygen into the water. All kinds of good stuff happens here. JMHO Ronnie

I love the summer time!! Surface jerkbaits and buzzbaits at dawn & dusk in shallow water. Later I pitch heavy weighted big (10" -12") plastic worms and big ugly jigs/trailers in deeper water. The best spots are lilly pads and grass beds. My 3 PB were all caught with a jig & pork trailer in mid day in deep water structure. Did I mention....I LOVE SUMMER! Ronnie

I have been spending & collecting for a long time and now that I have most all of the high ticket items (boat, very good rods & reels) paid for. It's not too expensive to pick up and occasional Lucky craft or replace a sack of plastics. I just bought the components for building a G-loomis spinning rod for my recently aquired stella and that will be my last big dollar purchase for a while. Now I'm thinking of saving for a couple of guided fishing trips in Canada & Belize, hey, maybe this monkey is just changing colors. Yea, it's worse than I thought. Oh well.... Ronnie

Weakley knows that fish is still there and can still be caught. That bass is worth way too much ($millions$) to be surrounded by any controversy. It will have to be caught perfectly, with every detail documented properly. The foul hooked fish was illegal in CA and record fish must be caught legally. It was just good business to turn her loose to be caught properly another day. I would be satisfied with a picture of a LM that size. JMHO Ronnie

I just orded a set of Fugi SIC single foot guides for this rod. Thanks for your help. Ronnie

A great friend gave the best advice. For bass fishing and for life. "Begin to begin and keep on keepin on" get started and don't give up untill you are a success. JMHO Ronnie

I am going to (attempt) to build a spinning rod similar to the St. Croix 3S70MHF you (Reelmech) are working on in the "exotic burl thread". I have been a die hard bait caster & fly fisherman all my life and have never owned a decent spinning setup. All of my baitcasting rods are factory made. I have built a ton of fly rods and one spinning rod from a kit for a friend (I just glued it together, wrapped and finished it). ANYWAY... This is my first (decent) spinning rod and I want to do it right. I have ordered the blank (Loomis SJ722 IMX), flawless cork rings, and a few colored burl (accent) rings. It will be fished with a Stella 1000FB. My question is about which guides to use. I already have a set of Fugi SVSG (double foot) guides. My question is..other than the weight of the finished rod, is there a big disadvantage to using the two footed guides over single footers? Thanks for your input, sorry for my ignorance. Ronnie

Welcome! I am also new here and have learned a lot already. Fish early and fish often! Ronnie

Take your $ and finish fixing the Lund just the way you want it, don't buy someone else's problem. Just my opinion.

Don't mess with Texas. I like the T-rig because I can peg the bullet weight in front of the worm and fish it like a c-rig when conditions dictate. Fish them both slow and deliberate. JMHO Ronnie

....you have to keep expanding your rod rack! Guilty!

Kind of like some of the posts above, try just breaking the surface of the water with the spinner blade(s). Bounce the spinnerbait off of stumps & stick ups. Make a lot of noise when you bang them against structure. The reaction strikes are priceless. JMHO Ronnie

For me, flippin is swinging (kind of like a pendulem) a big 'Arkie' jig with an 'uncle josh' frog or black widow eel (uglier the better) gently next to some likely structure. To horse em out of the thick cover, I use 20 lb. line, a 7' long stiff rod with a boat wench reel. This takes a lot of patience, my two biggest large mouths were taken this way. Ronnie

I often cast a 10" or 12" culprit with a 4/0 or 5/0 hook and don't miss the weight at all. Boated quite a few nice fish this way. Ronnie

I voted for a Texas rig plastic worm. Can fish em in all kinds of cover and depths. JMHO Ronnie