What da' ya' think??? - Striper Talk Striped Bass Fishing, Surfcasting, Boating

MountainBreeze · 03-21-2003, 10:02 PM

What do you folks think about the grip configuration on this 9' surf rod?

Please be honest!

Thanks,
Rob

Goose · 03-21-2003, 10:08 PM

Spin or casting? Whats the length on the forgrip?

MountainBreeze · 03-21-2003, 10:12 PM

Oh yeah...

It's a spinning rod. All the cork pieces are 5". The "butt" of the reel seat is 16 1/2" from the butt of the blank.

Thanks,
Rob

Goose · 03-21-2003, 10:22 PM

Looks good and I like the specs.......Nice

Billy 40 · 03-21-2003, 11:01 PM

THat 2nd photo - is that a Tennesse Sensor mateial (woven graphite) between the split butt grip, or just the way the blanks looks in the picture?

5" Foregrip for me is too small, my hand doesn't fit comfortably. Looks good to me though.

Billy 40 · 03-21-2003, 11:02 PM

I see that woven look in the first picture too. What blank is that? And what is that contraption in the background?

bud8fan · 03-21-2003, 11:48 PM

Rob,
I have a custom St Croix 8'6" spinning rod built on a Steelhead blank that has split cork grips like that! I use it for throwing small jerkbaits and jigs to the schoolies!
I really like the feel of the split rear cork grip!

Nice!!

MountainBreeze · 03-22-2003, 08:08 AM

Thanks for the feedback folks.

It's the new 9' surf blank St. Croix came out with this year.

The carbon fiber "weave" seems to be tape to me with a light coat of epoxy ,maybe.?.?

In any event, I like the feel of cork over a tape grip and I think the layout will be fine for me.

Just wanted to get some other opinions.

Thanks again,
Rob

BTW:
Which "contraption " were you asking about Billy?

Billy 40 · 03-22-2003, 09:04 AM

LOL!! The bike in the background of the first picture. The 2 pedals (or lack thereof) looks like some sort of thread tension device. I was only kidding about that, sorry.

I don't thikn I like the cork tape thing myself. I'm just wrapping my first surf rods now - one for me Lami GSB1081M extended about 20 inches, a RS 1088 for someone else, and an Arra 1204 which will be extended to 11 feet (if I can find a piece to extend it!!) with Fuji Titanum coated Gold Low Riders. Should be sweet.

Fishpart · 03-22-2003, 03:03 PM

Looks nice. I have never fished with a rod with a split grip, but it looks good on that blank.

MountainBreeze · 03-22-2003, 09:39 PM

Thanks Fish.

Thought you folks might like to see what I'm doing for a "butt wrap."

Please feel free to comment! Always looking for honest feedback!

Note:
The grip on the left is the butt grip, the one on the right is the grip under the reel seat. I'll give the grip above the reel seat the same treatment. Also, it's hard to see in the pic but there are 2 threads of silver metallic leading the white on the under wrap.

Tight Lines,
Rob

Fishaddict · 03-23-2003, 07:39 AM

Looks great ..... Love the look that the carbon fiber gives it.
Silver and black go well with the blank...and the white should turn a nice translucent gray once you coat it.....
keep us updated..
Bob

Billy 40 · 03-23-2003, 09:10 AM

You do know there are reel seats to match that blank, right? Fuji Cobra inserts, and if they are no longer sold, you can look for Tennessee handle material, and hope they have it in a size you need. Too late, now that it's all glued up, but for a future project it may be of interest.

MountainBreeze · 03-23-2003, 05:05 PM

Thanks for the heads up Billy.

I think I like the gray reel seat on this blank as it breaks up the carbon.

And, like Bob mentioned, the white should "tone down" a bit which I hope will make for a nice transition.

I'll post another pic when I wrap a giude.

Tight Lines,
Rob

chumbucket · 03-23-2003, 08:14 PM

Billy 40, I'm new to rodbuilding(only one rod built). What is the purpose of extending blanks like the GSB 1081m you are working on? And how do you do it?(Maybe a couple of pics would help).
MtnBrz1, Nice job with the cork and wraps

Billy 40 · 03-23-2003, 09:41 PM

CB - I still haven't built one surf rod, so the why on anything regarding anything to do with surf fishing, is pretty much a second hand answer on my part. I'm told the longer rod will allow me to cast further - a considerable amount further.

As for how to do it:

1. is to find a piece of spare blank which fits into the end of the blank you are building. Make sure it fits snugly inside, and about 4-5 inches inside. If wrapping with cork tape, you'll need to build up this transition so the cork tape is smooth. I usually ectend blanks for boat rods which are covered with EVA so building teh blank up isn't as much of a concern.
2. Find a piece of blank which fits over the end of the blank you are building.
Again, make sure it fits snugly for 4-5 inches. I haven't done this, so I don't know how hard it would be to build up the blank, but the taper with teh extension will go from thin to thick, then taper to thin again.
3. The ideal way to extend is to find a piece with the same OD as teh butt of teh blank you are building. Then you have to find a 8-10 inch piece of blank to fit inside both the extension and butt. Glue the inside piece intot eh butt of the blank you are building, when glue teh extension piece over this. This will make a seamless transition- if you can find a piece which is the same size as your blank (good luck finding this)

I'll post pics later this week (if I remember)

mikecc · 03-23-2003, 10:03 PM

I have extended 3 rods in the past 2 weeks the same way as mentioned above for guys on the board. Nobody can tell that they were ever done.

Fishaddict · 03-24-2003, 08:21 AM

Mike, which blanks did you extend? Am curious..
Thanks
Bob

jettyjockey18 · 03-24-2003, 09:02 AM

mike extended the handle on my loomis 1084c salmond rod by 8" last year and it came out perfect...

mikecc · 03-24-2003, 09:30 AM

a lamiglas 9' S Glass to handle length Bud8 desired , sabre 1088 from 9' to 9'-4"' & 1209 american Tackle Patriot from 10'to 10-1/2' new rod he just wanted a 10-1/2 and did not want to pay for a Lami $$

MountainBreeze · 03-26-2003, 07:35 AM

Hey Folks,

I think I decided how I want to wrap the area of the rod where the carbon fiber "fades" into the blank. It looks a little rough so I wanted to put a wrap on it.

Can ya' take a look at this pic and tell me what you think?

Here's another shot showing up to the stripping guide.

Thanks for any comments.

Tight Lines,
Rob

Billy 40 · 03-26-2003, 06:17 PM

If I were you, I'd keep it the way you like it. It looks good, and it is your idea. Answerring questions like this without offending someone is not all that easy, since we all have different preferences.

If it were me, I'd shorten the white trim bands at the end to about half the size you have them. There is NOTHING wrong with what you did and it looks great. My personal preference is to keep trim bands short.

jettyjockey18 · 03-27-2003, 08:47 AM

looks good to me...like billy said, everyone has different preferences, stick to what you like...

btw, what kind of washers do you have under the metal washers?? some sort of felt or sumin else??...just curious...

MountainBreeze · 03-27-2003, 11:04 AM

jetty,

I put some of those sticky-back felt pads that you usually find under chairs on there. Helped keep even tension on the thread spools until my thread tensioners came in.

Rob