grub_man

Well done!

The fundamentals of just about any sport, craft, or hobby are far more important than the equipment used as long as it is adequate. After you learn the fundamentals, and frankly starting off with an old round Ambassadeur or Millionaire is a great way to do it. You get 2 centrifugal brakes and a cast control knob or two. Use those reels to educate your thumb and then move on to the creature comforts of a modern low profile reel. That's where I started, and let me tell you, it took a while to become confident throwing an 1/8 oz. ball head with a grub. Whatever you have, learn the fundamentals of various casting techniques using a weight that your reel can handle well. Then learn to push the lower limits for weight. Once you get there, you will have a strong enough background to have a feel for what you might want in your next reel. I am sure I could set up a reel that would be nearly impossible to backlash, but it sure won't cast too far. I took on a role this spring as an assistant MS lacrosse coach (a sport I've never played in my life), and I can honestly say that there is nothing I could spend on a lacrosse stick that will make me a better lacrosse player until I master the fundamentals of throwing, catching, and shooting. It has been a ton of fun to learn, but I am a true novice.

They were a decent entry level round reel, kind of like the Shimano Corsair of the same time frame (late 90's), I believe. I doubt it will be turning any heads, but if you need a solid performing round reel, I am sure it has some life left in it, or it would make a great gift for a teenager just learning to fish and use casting gear.

Nothing wrong with XML. The spinning rod that spends the most time in my hand is built on an XML blank. It's not the lightest most sensitive blank in the world, but it fishes way better than I ever expected.

When I started, I generally used the rear grip pieces that you ream out and slide down just like any other grip section. The grips I used would have a tenon turned down on the back end to accept a butt cap, something like this. I would finish with an EVA mushroom style butt cap. The geometry of the mushroom shaped butt cap makes it easy to find the butt of the rod for proper hand placement for two-handed casts. Sometimes I would use cork, sometimes EVA, and sometimes woven graphite. Those first woven graphite split grips I used were pricy, as they were made from the Batson Woven Graphite Foregrip Sections, but the grip geometry works perfectly for me and my small hands. Once I got equipped to start turning some grips, my personal casting rods get grips turned to similar dimensions now. Now you can get foam core based woven graphite at a bit more affordable prices, and if you are willing to make them yourself, significant savings. Now, if you use one of the fighting butts with a solid butt, you have ream it out to the maximum OD of the butt of the rod and slide on from behind. This means that winding checks are mandatory to hide the glue line. Personally, I do not like copious amounts of epoxy, either adhesive or finish on any part of my rod, as it is detrimental to the performance of the rod. When you ream your pieces to fit the blank, with cork you want it to have a snug (not tight) dry fit about 1/2" or so short of where you want it to end up. When you apply epoxy to the blank, the grip will slide into place and leave only a thin glue line between the grip and blank. If you do a good job of reaming, the glue line is practically invisible, and you can show off your fine craftsmanship by leaving off winding checks, unless you want bling on your rod.

Older fiberglass rods will take a set when stored for long periods when flexed. Improperly supporting a rod that is stored horizontally can lead to this as well. With graphite rods, it is not really an issue. If you are going to store a rod horizontally, it's best to support its entire length, but not really practical. If you are using horizontal rod racks, support a spot near the butt of the rod and a place in the midsection of the rod that won't introduce a significant bend in the rod. A third support near the tip wouldn't be a bad idea, but not necessary, unless the rod is particularly long and limber in the tip. Since I don't have the luxury of a rod locker in my boat, most of my rods that see regular use are laying on my casting deck with 2'-3' of the tip section not supported. Other rods, I try to store as vertical as possible.

I'm not sure that there is a 'best' reel for any category or price range. We all have our preferences, but I must be way too utilitarian with my spinning reels. All I want is a smooth drag, a smooth retrieve, and instant anti-reverse (pretty standard these days), in that order. That can generally be found in the $60 - $80 range for me. My next spinning rod will sport an old Shimano Sahara 2500 or an old baby blue colored Abu Garcia Cardinal 30 blister pack reel wrapped onto the grip. So, my answer is buy a couple reels in the $60 - $80 range, doesn't matter which brand, Shimano, Abu Garcia, Quantum, etc. and you'll likely be quite happy.

The Batson Forecast and Alps lines both have fantastic micros, as do American Tackle, Kigan, Sea Guide, and Fuji. The PacBay Minima guides mentioned above are fantastic as well. I know many people use Minimas successfully with braid, but I have a hard time overcoming the idea personally, and would personally choose something with a ceramic insert for braided line, especially on a rod that will be used as a 'fish extraction tool.' As mentioned, the actual performance difference between guides using various ceramic inserts is minimal. My personal rods generally find themselves equipped with aluminum oxide inserts. They get the job done very well and do not break the bank. I've built rods with higher grade ceramics and/or PVD coatings, and there is just not enough difference to justify the cost, unless I am looking for a certain aesthetic. I will say that if I were fishing the salt for large fast running fish that will spool a reel in a hurry, where the risk of overheating the line became important, I would certainly opt for silicon carbide or other rings that dissipate heat a bit faster. But, for anything that we encounter in a typical bass lake, I can't justify the difference in cost. Rest assured that anything you are finding available at MudHole, or any of the other rod building dealers that have been around for a while, is up to par. There are a lot of options that will test how deep your pockets go, but they are just that options. Microwave guides on a casting rod are really a gimmick. For a pitching rod, where you are constantly reaching for the line, they have some merit because the extra insert keeps the line a few mm higher off of the blank, but the same thing can be accomplished by going up a size or two on the butt guide, or choosing a butt guide with a slightly higher frame. Microwave guides on a spinning rod are a good thing. It gives you a fool proof way of putting together a spinning rod that will perform very well with a variety of reel size, line type, and diameter combinations.

It's just one of those trends. The blanks available to custom rod builders are going through a similar phase now as well. A decade or two ago, finding rods in between the standard 6" increments was pretty rare. Good rod builders trimmed and extended blanks to develop some technique specific rods, and then all of a sudden the general fisherman began reading about 6'10" drop shot rods, 6'11" pitching rods, 7'3" frog rods, or the 7'11 31/32" crank bait launcher, and everyone had to have a rod of 6'9", 6'10", 7'3", 7'4", etc. Blank makers have latched onto the marketing and it seems like 2" is being added to the old 6'6" and 7' models just to appease the marketers so that they can offer something new or unique to their brand. I doubt that the 6'6" rod is a dying breed, but they are becoming a bit less common. The good news is that in another 10-15 years, people will get tired of handling rods longer than they need and the 'new' technique specific rod will be the 6'4" to 6'8" close quarters rod, applying downward pressure to rod length. I know I love my little 5'8" spinning rod for working in close quarters on foot and around docks and such on the boat. 6'6" 6'10" rods are still my preferred length, but moving to a big lake with more open water, I am appreciating the extra casting distance of the few 7' rods I use.

Next time we catch up, I'll try to get the story, but I'm pretty sure he replaced them with a couple different reels. I'm thinking a reel or two came back out of retirement, as I don't remember many new reels in his arsenal the last we fished together.

That sounds like a winner! If it were my rod, that is the route I would go. The mention of trimming a blank sends some people into convulsions, but as long as it's only a few inches from the butt it won't ruin a rod. If you ever feel the need to take anything from the tip, that is when it is time to sweat bullets. Too much there will kill a rod in a heartbeat. Just so you are aware of the tradeoffs associated with the trim, making the trim from either end results in a rod with a slower action. With the butt trim, the rod flexes the same way it did, but now that the rod is shorter, the area that flexes represents a larger percentage of the rod's length. With a tip trim, you are taking off the most flexible part of the rod, and it will take a greater force to flex the blank sending the flex slightly deeper into the blank. A butt trim will reduce the overall power of the blank. Your are taking away a portion of the least flexible part of the blank. Once you get past trimming 3"-4" on that flipping blank you'll want to be careful, but I doubt you will notice much with your intended trim. Grab and hold the rod where the reel seat would be with and without the trim. Lay the tip along the floor and flex the rod to see what it feels like before you make the trim. Too much of a butt trim will begin to decrease the upper limit for lure weight on the rod, as well as the upper limit on the line rating. A tip trim won't alter the power of the rod much, but it will increase the lower limit of the lure weight range a bit, but it also drastically alters the way a rod responds. If you've ever broken the tip top off of a rod, you know exactly what too much of a tip trim does to a rod.

Wow! Simply incredible! That many pieces put together and no significant misalignments. That is a sight to behold.

Brad, Spot on about the leverage, and about the slower action effectively reducing the lever arm. If Castaway still offered blanks to rod builders, I'd recommend taking a look at the Grass Master blank with its moderate or moderate fast action. I always wanted to build one, but the lakes I spend my time on do not have the vegetation to warrant one. Joe

Getting 5+ pounders out of the weeds is going to be more about getting them going in the right direction quickly than anything else. I can typically get 2 and 3 pounders out with regular success with my drop shot rod when I toss a fluke back in the nasty stuff. If I can't get them to come out I try to pin them down and then go to them. If you are routinely catching 4's and 5's, then the 875 might be the better choice. You won't go wrong with an option either from the MHX line or the Batson lines. Batson does have a frog rod in the current Immortal lineup, but personally, I would shy away from the XF action for this technique, because in order to get the fish going in the right direction, you will be high sticking the rod from time to time, and the faster the action, the more at risk you will be of a failure due to the lighter more limber tip compared to the power in the mid and butt sections of the rod. The benefit of an XF rod to frogging is that you will get a tip that loads a little easier for casting, and will help work the frog a bit better. However, a bit slower action is better at keeping fish buttoned up and a bit less prone to failure as it will load deeper where there is more material to handle a small amount of abusive behavior. Most of my personal rods are built on Batson blanks, but I would probably give the nod to the MHX for this build.

Grip length is personal preference. I'm short at 5'8" and have a pretty stalky build these days. I typically determine where I want the trigger on a casting seat or the reel stem on a spinning reel to be and go from there. I hold both between my middle and ring finger, so the measurement is the same. For me, on rods 6'6"+ that means putting the trigger or reel stem at 9.5" - 9.75" from the butt of the rod. It's basically at the length of an 8" full grip with a 1" butt cap or 9" behind the reel seat. If I go an inch longer, it pokes me in the gut in the gut and drives me nuts. It also means that many of my longer rods fish a bit longer than most comparable factory rods. For rods between 5'6" and 6'3", I'll bring the trigger or stem down to to 7.5" - 7.75". Which effectively eliminates the split grip for me on casting rods, but leaves a small split on spinning rods. I typically like a 3.5" grip behind the reel seat, enough to support the palm of my hand without it falling onto the blank, and a 3.5" - 4" grip at the butt, a bit longer than most factory rods. Again, enough to support most of my hand. The way I approach split grips is that they offer all of the support that a full grip offers, but remove the unnecessary material. The split grip also promotes proper hand placement for casting. I'm a two-handed caster the vast majority of the time, which is why I swap over to the full grip on the short casting rods. For one-handed casting, where the extra material is not needed, you could certainly keep the split grip design. As mentioned, find a grip length that you like and use it as a template for the overall length.

I've used a water based varnish before. It worked ok, but the bottle I had could be slowly wiped away with alcohol even after it cured. Not bad in a pinch, but wasn't an ideal solution, however for a simple repair, it will get the job done. I'm not sure if it is still around, but Threadmaster One is another one part finish that works well in this scenario. A few coats will build up some depth. It doesn't react to thread the same way as the two part finishes, so it will result in a slightly different look on colored thread. Otherwise, stick with the traditional finishes.

Personally, I would probably opt for the 874, especially since you spend your time up north, but I'm the type that typically uses the lightest power rod I can get away with. Either should result in a nice build for the technique.

Astounding inlay work! Also, that burl cork used on the fly grip has an amazing look to it!

Good. Then try to use the smallest spinning reel you can get away with for the line diameter and type you plan to fish, and the rest of the advice I gave you around guide sizing an placement should get you in the right ball park.

You have plenty of options. Spending time on the rodbuilding.org forum is the best thing you can do. For a short quick read, pick up a copy of Tom Kirkman's "Rod Building Guide." There are newer guide models than those featured in the book, but everything else is very sound. In a couple of bathroom visits, you can take in the whole book and have a solid baseline understanding of what you need to do. Batson makes many incredible blanks, many of which are in my personal arsenal, as well as fantastic guides. When it comes to wrapping jigs, it doesn't take much, but the CRB hand wrapper from Mud Hole is worth a solid look. I just picked one up at the ICRBE last month. After 10 years of using the jig I build from cheap lumber and some miscellaneous hardware, I wanted something with aluminum track. I went with the CRB hand wrapper with a track (the standalone wrapper is very nice and only costs a few $ more than my original). You can make this as cheap or expensive as you would like. If you need to justify things to the other half, show her a Renzetti wrapper and a CTS blank price list. Tell her this is what you want, and then show here what you are going to buy and say, but I'm willing to settle for this. ;-)

Farther than I can set the hook and about 2 yd shorter than that bass that just broke on the surface.

As a first time rod builder, you are asking a lot of a first build. A rod blank is a rod blank, and it doesn't care what kind of reel you put on it. However, the guide train design for casting and spinning rods are drastically different. As a first time rod builder, you should be focusing on learning the fundamentals, and how to properly set up and/or choose a guide train for either a spinning or casting rod. Once you get that under your belt, then determining the tradeoffs for your particular multipurpose setup will become easier to wrap your head around. What size spinning reel are you planning on using? Also, when it comes to casting reel, I assume that you are talking a baitcasting reel, but are you using a low profile casting reel, round level wind reel, or a conventional reel without a level wind? However, since you really want to go this route, I would recommend an oversized casting guide train. Start with a double foot casting guide with either a 16mm or 20mm ring (2500 or larger spinning reel, go with the 20mm guide) in one of the taller frame styles. Start with it at 24" from the face of your spinning reel (You will need to do some test casting to find the best location). Follow it up with a 8mm or 10mm guide in the same frame style. Then go with 6mm single foot fly guides to the tip of the rod. You will likely want a total of 8 - 10 guides plus a tip top. After you mount your reel seat and tip top, tape the largest guide to the blank at the prescribed location. (Personally, I like to use small wire ties rather than tape). Tie a string to the tip top and hang weight from it to load the blank so that the rod loads from the tip. Next run line from the reel through all of your guides and begin taping them in place so that the line path matches the curvature of the blank pretty well. Once the guides are taped in place, it is time for test casting. Make a few casts, look for line slap on the rod blank between the reel and the first guide. On this build, you will likely want the guide closest to the reel as far away as you can get it without line slap. After a few casts move it around one way or the other and see if your casting distance improves. If so, keep experimenting until you get the best distance you can. Next, you can try moving around the second guide a bit to see if anything changes. If not, go back and load the rod again, to check the layout, tweak guide locations for the line path. Then give it one last round of test casting to be sure things are still good to go. Next put your casting reel on to see if it performs adequately. Again, make adjustments if necessary, and try the spinning reel again just to be sure. At this point it will be about finding the layout that works okay for each reel, but probably not optimal for one or the other. All of the kits you are looking at should get the job done, but I would certainly swap out the two guides closest to the reel as outlined above. Joe

It sounds like you are in need of a rod built on a Seeker SBS706 or SBS756 S-glass blank. They aren't the lightest blanks in the world, but they are amongst the best cranking blanks ever made.

FYI, this is my first post on Bass Resource. I've been an avid fisherman since the late 90's and a rod builder since the mid 2k's, though over the last 10 years or so, life has gotten in the way limiting my time on the water. In the last year I've been transplanted from my home in OH to the Lake Norman region in NC. It has been fun spending a little time on a big reservoir, where my home lakes would make up a small creek arm. I have to say that I was thankful when Shimano decided to price my beloved Citica and Curado lines out of my price range that I wouldn't need a new reel for a while, because I am not happy with their current price points. After donating an old CU-200 to the fishing gods last spring, I finally got around to getting a blank replace the rod, and entered the market for a new reel. After some tire kicking, I settled on the Revo4 X. I love Shimano, but their graphite framed reels just do not hold up the way that their aluminum frame offerings do. I have a couple Shimano Coriolis reels from the late 90's (Shimano's mag braking of the day is still a great tool for teaching about eddy currents and the effects for changing the angle of the magnetic field relative to the rotating conductor.). They are built on a graphite frame and just do not feel the same as they did right out of the box, where as all of my Citicas and Curados of that era feel and fish exactly the same as the day they were new (still the standard by which all reels should be measured). One of my HS buddies had a couple Caenans from Shimano, a good looking graphite framed reel from them with centrifugal brakes, but the last couple times we've been on the water, the Caenans were gone. He spends in the neighborhood of 150-200 days per year on the water. I haven't gotten the full story yet, but that spoke volumes to me, as he is like me and won't replace reels unless there is a need to. I looked very hard at my options from Lew's and Abu Garcia. I've never really handled anything from Diawa or Quantum that just felt right to me (not that they are bad reels, just not for me). The aluminum frame in the Revo was a major player in my choice. I'm still up in the air on the magnetic braking, as I much prefer centrifugal brakes, but time will tell. The Revo will be going on an MHX MB843. With the weight of the lures that I typically use on that rod, the extra resistance from the magnetic brakes shouldn't be a horrible thing. About the only reel that really has my piqued my interest in recent years is the Carbonlite reels from BPS. I love light reels, and anything much over 8.5 oz. feels like a tank in my hand (goes back to those old Coriolis reels mentioned above that were my first semi-reliable reels that weighed in at 7.9 oz.). I've just shied away from house brand reels over the years, because I want to be able to replace a worn level wind pawl, broken clutch spring, etc. and I've never seen great availability of parts for BPS reels, though I may be mistaken. Of course, time will tell, but the Revo line has been around long enough and developed a strong enough following that I figured it was worth a shot. Joe