Quote:
Originally Posted by DZ
Nice to see some of us still like it simple, cork tape with no reel seat is definitely old school but perfect if you plan on using different reels on the same blank. I also still use two larger stainless gathering guides because I go back and forth between using braid and mono. The larger guides are perfect for mono and adequate for braid use. But using mono with those smaller braid gathering guides just doesn't seem to work efficiently for casting.
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Pleased to see that somebody is wrapping up some of those old yellow Lamiglas fiberglass blanks.
This boring winter, I rewrapped two of these antediluvian 1970's blanks: 9.5 and 10.5 ft. spinners, that were in my hands during those years. These fiberglass rods were immediately retired the first time I put my hands on the Lami graphites-- specifically the (one piece) GSB 132 1L and 1M. Each of these blanks have been completely stripped down, and rebuilt 3 or 4 times through the years, to keep up with modern components. I am still using these same graphite blanks today, and they are shown in the pictures.
I often drive my scientific and learned friend, Numbskull, crazy the way I rig (or unrig) my plugs that he gives me; so, why shouldn't I continue to do the same when I set up and wrap my surf rods? Prior to graphite, the varsity rod in my hands was an SB 136 4M. I bought it out of Edgartown Hardware Store around 1974. The builder liked to cut the butt down 12 inches or so, and build 10.5 footers. The original wrap started with a 70 mm. hoop guide, and four more tapering but huge wire guides. I kinda agree with Mr. DZ, in his post: I am too old to move, totally, from my past. So, I rewrapped this old blank with a 50 mm. wire gathering guide, and four SiC guides further out.
I weighed the old guides that I stripped off, and the new components I wrapped on, and the weight savings was over 3/4 oz. That's good progress, IMO, removing 3/4 oz. from the lever arm of a stick. What a nice, soggy, bendy action these old fiberglass blanks have! I might even carry and use this rod, especially when I am working all day in N.B. and want to fish on the way home. Nobody would think of stealing it.
If one makes the irrational and unscientific decision that you want a gathering guide larger than 30 mm., then I suggest that you think about using a wire 40 or 50. Wire, in this size range, just looks cosmetically neater than similar sized ceramic guides, which just look so "clunky". And wire in these larger sizes, is lighter, too.
There was a Vineyard tackle shop in Oak Bluffs, Clayt Hoyle's. He "built" fishing rods; and capitalizing on his local reputation, sold them for relatively outrageous prices considering the amount of non work and non effort he put into them: A typical 11' rod had two guides, a tip top, and a reel seat. No grips, and just a butt crutch tip. No cosmetic wraps or underwraps. I remember the propaganda, that anything beyond that was unnecessary and ruined the action and the fishing experience.
Anyhow, it all works. IMO, don't be too scientific.