kemper

Tie that first one on an intruder shank, and I'd swing it for bows...

Nice flies

Wish I had the room to do that. Im sure it,s a great satisfaction,to fish with your own creation.

 

Look forward to the finished builds Kemper..

 

Nice tease with steelhead.

 

Very soon, I hope to be on the river up here.

For building multi-piece rods you really don't need all that much space. I used to build in my mother's kitchen - all you really need is a table!

It does help to have a fully detached, insulated, 40X30 workshop in the yard though

As for the steelhead, I had a little rod testing session the other day. That fish was one of 6 hookups in 8 consecutive drifts, a mind-blowing day indeed.

That's a classic, and I'm not a Kimmel fan

I came home to a plethora of goodies this afternoon!

Cork, guides, blanks, thread, hardware, and other assorted bits.

This pile of parts along with some others that arrived earlier will soon become three custom sticks.

One for myself, one for an OFC member, and one for another angler.

And just for good measure, a steelhead.

It should be a fun weekend!

As Buckster says, it was pretty easy to understand the sign posted. It read to the effect of "No fishing on the "upstream" side of the CNR bridge.

 

I think what finally made them say enough is enough.... People were actually standing on the extreme up stream side and then casting another 20- 30 ft up from there. Their reasoning???? One guy said "well I am only casting up another few ft, it gives my float a chance to settle"....

Wouldn't the regs trump the old sign?

Without actually looking it up I'm fairly confident that it's said "Southern limit of CNR right-of-way" for a while now

I guess any excuse to cheat is a good one for some people

Always a few knobs under the bridge.

I've never understood what was unclear about "THE SOUTHERN LIMIT OF CNR RIGHT-OF-WAY"

We had this discussion a while back...

New "winter" tires are much different than older "snow" tires. Winter tires are a softer rubber compound and are VERY useful.

My little honda blasts through just about anything with a good set of winter tires, it certainly does not without them.

Depends on the car - if you drive something with AWD/4X4 then a good set of all seasons will probably work just fine.

Remember, 4x4 doesn't help you stop...

Cool video!

Tried to help you out with the video, but I couldn't make it happen either.

Strange, I've done it before...

A friend gave me a "Fish'n Canada" cheap knock off "somethingorother" telescopic rod as a gift a few years ago now. I blew up a Loomis frog rod and grabbed this one as the spare one day in a T. I could horse anything in with it, cast a mile too, loved it. I didn't put it down for the next few years. That cheapo rod cashed more cheques for me then any other one rod I owned at the time. Ceramic popped out of the top eyelit, still gav'er. We were actually "with" Gloomis at the time too My bro got cut up pretty bad from a crucial that blew up on hookset. Fished the full day and got a few stiches that night. Prettys sure he still has some graphite in his bottom lip beside the tip of a balsa stream float

Gotta watch out for floats and busted rods!

I got cut up pretty bad by a splitshot once when I snagged up on bottom and broke the lead off

You get all the graphite out of your face?

Had that happen to a Abu a couple years ago trying to haul an average bass out of a larger than average pile of cabbage

I've got no issues with the fit and finish on my Avids.

That's one rod I've never taken a close look at - but have heard good things.

Like you I came from a custom built Steelhead rods to walleye and bass.

 

Like you my first set of sticks bass/walleye all custom built by me for tournament fishing.

 

My first point is tourmament fishing is just way to hard on custom built for me. To just drop one grab another kick it out of the way, throw it back between consoles. I just couldn't do it.

 

By the time I started winning tournaments I'd worked my way down from high end factory rods to factory rods under $100.

 

Nobody is more mussy about the correct action than me. I also don't care what anybody else thinks I know what works for me.

 

About every 7-8 years I just get rid of all rods and reels. Particulary reels.

 

I buy rods in sets of 4 all exactly the same model 2 different spinning 4 different casting models.

 

I too went thru the quality issues of rack rods and learned most are off minor importants.

I agree - performance wise most factory sticks are just fine. Sometimes they are a few guides short, or they cheaped out on cork etc but does it affect the performance? Probably not much.

Custom rods look good at the dock, but at the weigh in if you are still thinking about your rod it means you didn't catch fish. I think for some fun fishing or collecting custom is the way to go, but factory stuff and cheap stuff has its place. Tourney Bass fishing is one where a decent quality factory rod will do very well. Maybe a nice custom drop shot rod for finessing finicky smallies, but I don't think I would want to be pulling logs up off the bottom with a 600 dollar custom.

Agree again - although unless it's covered in gold I wouldn't be paying $600 for a custom bass rod...

I should have been more specific - I guess I was speaking more to the fit and finish of factory rods and what seems to be a complete lack of care taken when building them (obviously, as is anything mass produced).

If I do buy a factory stick (which has happened exactly twice since I started building) it tends to be Shimano. I find they stand up to the abuse of being kicked around in the boat better than most others, and the guides are generally straight which can't be said for most rods.

Next time you're in the tackle shop pick up an expensive rod and look down the barrel, you might be surprised.

I have a lifeproof for my iphone now. It's 100% waterproof

Careful, a friend of mine dunked his in the Saugeen in a lifeproof case, and it was toast!

Should have seen that one - my bad.

Roy I posted in the Tyler thread as well but can you confirm whether the two bids are standing on the second set, or were for the first set only?

Cheers

Hey OFC,

I'm looking for a pair of Leafs tickets sometime in March-April, and I'm in a hurry.

If there's any chance you are selling or know of someone who is selling a pair, please let me know!

Apologies if this doesn't belong on the main board

[email protected]

Thanks!

Anyone who has climbed the Niagara gorge knows that steroids are a distinct advantage.

Yup. I started building almost 40 years ago. All my personal rods(100+) have been built by me. My loaners are store bought sale items. I simply will not buy a store rod for myself the reasons that you stated. All my graphite reel seats have graphite bushings. I an amazed how many high end rods still use wood inserts or making tape under the reel seats. All the store bought rods have the same guide spacing. Every one of my hand made ones have the guide spacing adjusted for the best performance possible. NO two blanks are the same.

 

Next time you go into a store, take the tip section and rotate it under slight pressure and watch where it jumps on the spline. Now look where the guides are placed. I agree with 100%, you just never noticed.

 

muddler

Yup - most factory rods are not splined.

I suspect that might be partially because the blanks aren't straight, so the rods are built on straightest axis (which I'll also use sometimes, depending on the rod/application)

Nice rod - nice fish!

I got my new build out on the weekend as well, nothing like the feeling of a brand new stick battling early season chrome!

Ever since I started building rods I've found myself looking at factory sticks in a new light.

Are the wraps clean? Are the guide feet straight? Are the guides themselves lined up? Is the blank straight? Why is there a thread sticking up on a $300 rod? etc, etc.

Now I don't claim to be a master builder (insert joke here), but after only 4 years and give or take 20 rods I can answer those questions YES about my own builds.

Last week I went to Sail to browse some rods - I'm looking for a new medium duty spinning rod and I have 5 builds on the go already so I was thinking I would just pick up something off the rack for now.

Every brand has an offering in the 6'6" medium spinning category, and I couldn't find a single one that I thought was worth the $$. Oddly enough, when looking closely what I did find was the moving up the price scale actually increased the gap between price and (perceived) quality.

I'm not suggesting that the $30 Ugly Stick is better in performance than the $300 Loomis, but it surprised me how close they were in aesthetic quality.

Crooked guide feet, misaligned guides (this is a BIG pet peeve for me, how can anyone pick up a $300 rod, look down the barrel at crooked guides and make the purchase?), and poorly thought out wrap design (light bright red accent bands on translucent wraps - not great if I can see the tag ends...).

I never gave any of these things a second look until I started building myself, but now it's like a big red warning light goes off every time I pick up a factory rod.

I guess my question is this - is this a new thing that has happened with the mass market appeal on high end rods, or has it been happening forever and I simply never noticed?

/rant

Kemper

For Small outboards you can't really go wrong with any of the brands for these sizes .For quiet go with a honda or yamaha for power and ultimate reliability go mercury,evinrude tohatsu (tohatsu makes all these motors under 25hp). An outboard is as good as its owner, As long as you do proper maintenance they will all last forever. I just upgraded this spring as well. I had a 25 year old 15 evinrude that's still running pretty strong with almost 3000 hours use on it, but I bought a new boat this spring too so I decided to upgrade the motor too. I ended up picking up a 20hp 4 stroke Merc and I'm licking my chomps waiting to use it this summer now.

Tohatsu manufactures the motors for other brands you mean? Or they also offer a line of motors under 25hp?

I drove a boat with a 9.9 Tohatsu last summer and I think rowing might have been more efficient. That thing was completely useless.

I do almost all of my shopping at SAIL now.

I like to support the little guy (in this case gagnons) but when it comes to prices for the things I buy often, Sail comes in lower.

As a University student - price means everything.

The other beauty about sale is that they seem to be having a hard time moving the top notch gear and it is deeply discounted. Quite a few fly rods in the $650-$800 range that are up to $300 off...

Nice lakers Mike!

You'll be back out there in no time sore lippin' some more - we're all pullin' for you.

Came across that yesterday, good for a laugh!

As long as they don't test for beer...

Makes sense, I cast with my left hand right on the end, so the split grip gives me something more comfortable to grip. If I casted like you I definitely would not have split grip.

Do you switch hands with a baitcaster? I do...might be why I don't reach right to the bottom with my left when casting?

I've never really thought about it too much, but noticed right away when I bought a split grip caster a couple years ago

I prefer cork split grips. I find it more comfortable to hold

Dan the problem I have with split grips on casting rods is the way I hold the rod when casting.

I don't have my bottom hand right at the very bottom, so it makes it awkward because I have my hand half on and half off the bottom knob.