New rod gsb 108 1L

[dannyplug1]

Thinking of having a new rod made at CMS. ANY ONE OUT HERE have any experience with that blank and what weght plugs it will throw? The ratings on lamis are not very accurate would be interested in real world experience with this blank. Thanks

[lamigsb1]

Don't have an L but do have a1081m. Over 2.5 is pushing it. 1.5-2 seems to be the sweet spot with lower end at 1.
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[chief10]

I have one 2 1/4 oz is probably tops imo. sweet blank. I put a vs 150 on it. I use it in the spring and up in the bays later in the year. If you like lami blanks you love it.

[stripermaineiac]

The secret with these blanks is to keep the guide weight down so that the blank works to its best. The more thread the heavier the plug it will throw.Great for A-salts an other swimmers like them an 2 oz is the sweet spot for loading the blank.20lb braid an 30 lb braid work best.Will send 3 oz metal a long ways out.Guide set up with hardaloy 40 ,25,16,12,10,8. works great. with an 8 tip.K frame 30 20,12,10 8,8,8 with an 8 tip.top spacing will be around 4 to 4.5 in an back from there. The lighter the guide weight the more the rod will throw. I've built a lot of these to include metal guides long ago.. sweet blank for the money.It will handle 40 lb fish as long as you don't over set the drag.Remeber use the braid for it's casting ability not break strength. set drag to match the rod so as to not break the rod. Ron

[numbskull]

The rod will be best with a midsized reel (5000 shimano). Set up with this it will work great built 25,16,10 to size 8 runners. I just test cast one that way using BMNAG guides. I doubt CMS will suggest it, however.

It will throw 1-3oz just fine. Sweet spot is around 2 oz. It can lob over 3 no problem. Under 1 is hard to feel unless built light.

[dannyplug1]

I need to be mor 1 Mecific I have a Lami GLB 84 1 L that I use for a light rod and a lami GSB 1 M wich I use for live eels and pluging with the sweet spot arround two through two and a quater (throwing the atom 56 P popper or AH needles or live eels. What I want my new rod todo is throw and work pencils spooks and popers around 1.75 would the GSB 108 1L be able to throw and work plugs in that range? I was thinking I could go with the 108 1L and have it wrapped up fish it through the rest of the season and if it is not stiff enough have it cut back a few inches (not sure how much definatly need advise here). be interested in input here and about my rod questions thanks for all you help. Its a ton more usefulll to get real world experience on rods as opposed to lami's rod ratings. charlie

[pbadad]

I have built & fishedvboth the L & M 108. I recently toyed with the idea of making a softer & powerful 9' rod. Thought of chopping a 10L for myself which has been a succesful modificaion .Also have a MB1143m blank coming soon. Will check the action and power and see if trimming tip and butt will fit the bill. Will post my findings in the off season.

[numbskull]

This is a repost of what I put in the main forum. On second thought it fits better here.

Here are my thoughts. Keep in mind that body size and casting styles differ.

I used a GSB 1081L blank wrapped conventional and paired with a 6500 as my primary rod for about 10 years when I first started surf fishing. I didn't know better, got bad advice from Sauerkraut (he should have told me to get the 1081M for what I was doing), but I loved the rod and it served me very well. I would throw every thing from .6 oz Slivers and small needles to 3.5 oz Gibbs bottles and big BM darters with it and it did fine.

I know better now, and don't use the rod much anymore, but do have a spare 1081L blank in the cellar. This am I set it up spinning with a Shimano 5000 reel. Put a NPS 18 seat with the stem at 19 3/4 " from the butt (light slow action rods cast nicely with shorter butts).
Taped on BMNAG 25-16-10-8-8-8-8-8-8tip. Distances from the tip are 5 3/8, 11 1/8, 17 5/8, 24 3/4, 31 5/8, 39, 47.5, 59. This puts the 25 collector 29 1/4" from the reel stem. Took to the nearby beach and threw a 5/8 oz smackit, 1.5 oz little neck, 1.75 oz pencil, 2.25 oz polaris, 2.75 oz pencil, 3 oz BM wad.

The 5/8 oz plug is too light. It goes somewhere but doesn't load the rod. From 1.5-2.25 oz the rod was very happy. At 2.75 -3 oz I could power the rod as much as I wanted (I am 5' 8" and not strong) and it threw the plugs easily and comfortably but took its time doing it. The distance gain over 2.25 oz was minimal which tells me the rod has past its peak range.

As BillWetzel points out, you are not going to be powering large plugs into a 25 knot blow with this rod. Like all GSB blanks, it unloads slowly as you increase the weight and your casts take a leisurely arc rather than a bullet straight line. This, however, is a big advantage if you fish the rod at night and cast a lot. It does not take much effort to load the rod and the work to throw 3 oz isn't much more than the work to throw 1.5 oz, maybe less since your stroke will be slower.

If you want a rod for .5 to 1.5 I think you can do better. If you want a 9 foot rod 1-3 to whip metal by day into the wind, I think you can do better. If you want a rod to throw 1-3 into the night over and over and be able to think about fishing rather than casting, the GSB 1081L paired with a mid-sized reel is a good option. Just find somebody who knows how to build it lightly. I can't imagine using this blank with 30 and 40 mm collector guides (even the 25 seems oversized to me but you need the height) and a full sized reel. If you are looking for power and want to throw 2.5 - 3.5 oz stuff mostly with a full sized reel this is not the blank. For that I'd get a 1081M.

I will mention that several years ago there were reports of a bad bunch of 1081L blanks with tip breakage 18" down. My older blank has withstood unbelievable abuse and gouging, however. Take it for what it is.

[dannyplug1]

Numbskull what's the full name of the guides that you suggested for the GSB 108 1 L you called them BMNAG ? I get my rods done with cork tape with no reel seat will that be ok with the rod will it effect the rods action or weight negate the action or the capabilities of the rod? The wraps should be what size thread and have no under wrap? Right. Thanks going to CMS on Friday thanks again
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[numbskull]

Originally Posted by dannyplug1

Numbskull what's the full name of the guides that you suggested for the GSB 108 1 L you called them BMNAG ? I get my rods done with cork tape with no reel seat will that be ok with the rod will it effect the rods action or weight negate the action or the capabilities of the rod? The wraps should be what size thread and have no under wrap? Right. Thanks going to CMS on Friday thanks again
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They are older Fuji guides and have been supplanted by the K series. B is the color, black, MN the frame style, A the ring material (alconite) and G stands for guide. I would not, however use those measurements exactly for several reasons. First I am still fooling with the rod and think I can do better using lowriders (not something I advise, however, since it is fussy). I just taped those guides on without any big effort to optimize them. Secondly the best guide placement will depend on the height of your reel (in your case this will be lower than a rod using a reel seat) and spool size. Finally, the ideal collector guide for this blank is probably just becoming available and is called a KLH 20 (a size 20 ring on a single foot extra high K frame). If there is no big rush it is likely worth waiting for.

Rather than walk into a company and tell them how to build your rod (which they will do whether it works or not), I think you might do better to discuss it with an individual builder like Saltheart. He could give you his input, which may well be different than mine, then also take the time to set up a test rod with several different layouts for you to cast so you could compare and see what feels right. I think you will end up happier, with a better (and more current) end product, and at similar expense.

As for your other questions, underwraps are optional (I use them), thread size isn't crucial A or D are fine, most guys these days use xflock heat shrink over cork tape (but it costs about $15 more) but it might twist with a taped on seat since it does not adhere to the cork other than by shrinkage....I've never tried it. If the rod is not going to be thrown around too much, single foot guides (KLH-KL-KT) are worth considering on a light rod like this. I use them on several 10 and 11 foot rods and when wrapped on right they hold well and cut weight.