Garry2Rs

There is a village downstream from Caledonia called York. There is some sort of little park along the bank of the river just down from the bridge. It used to have lots of little small mouth and rock bass

I was out everyday this week. Saturday was awful with the snow and wind...We only lasted an hour in total, , Split by a warm-up break going for gas at the Rez. Sunday was good. No big fish but lots of fun. Monday and Tuesday we sunny and the bite was slow. The water was up about 4 inches each day. Wednesday, in the rain was great!...Again no size but lots of action. Thursday wasn't very good, but the water is dropping.... I'm hoping that this weekend will get things going in my other spots.

Yes Buckhorn, sorry I thought it was self-evident. I tried all my other regular spots, in that area and only found action in one sheltered spot on Upper B... However, with the warmer weather this week, next weekend should be good all over. .

Hi all; We wanted to fish Saturday but the snow was blowing sideways around here. This morning, Sunday, it was still pretty cool, but it was sunny and promised to get warmer as the day went on. My neighbour, his daughter and I drove over to Buckhorn. There were tons of Sunfish, but the Crappie fishing was slow, but steady. When we left after 4 hours we had 33 decent Crappie between the three of us. Garry2rs

Fear not my frozen friends. I have the truck full of 90 degree air and I am bringing it home this weekend. Of course by the time it gets spread around, it won't feel like summer, but you will know that winter is gone. Garry2rs

The first split grip I saw was in an article about some pro who had customized his Flipping stick back in 2001. This guy only Pitched and Flipped, so he built a rod with almost no cork and very few guides, to reduce the weight. In a tournament, he felt this helped reduce fatigue. I think split grips caught on with custom rod builders because it gave them a savings on cork, but also because the open space gave them another place to add thread work etc. The swoopy profile also helped to make their work stand out. As rod companies jumped on this new style, one high end rod company exec. was quoted as saying that split grips were more costly to make, than their same rod with a straight grip, because of the extra time needed to fit them and do the clean-up work etc. However he went on to say, that at that time, (4-5 years ago) their customers were buying about 20% more of their rods with split-grips, so that's what they were making. In the past I have had some issues with the knob end of the butt snagging on loose cloths. This was with a rod that had EVA handles, and the problem might have been exacerbated by my big belly...Grin. Anyway, cork is much less catchy and I don't have any trouble in Tee Shirt weather. Garry2rs

It must be the warming weather...The Saps are rising!

There is a fishing area behind Hutch's on Bay St. North. I have been there for Perch in the Spring. I have also seen Trout, Pike, Sheep-head and Bass caught there.

N.A.W. In March, having it near a lemon tree helps a lot, if you are turning the cork outside...grin. Good call Davey! The blank was 84 inches long. It was going to have a 10" handle with the center of the reel seat at 72 inches. However the parts turned out a little larger than I expected. The choice was to cut them down, or spread them out for aesthetics. As it stands, the handle is 13" with the center of the reel seat at 69 inches.

Thanks Guys! This afternoon, I ordered the guides. I'm planning a spiral wrap with 10, 8 and 6's. I did the same blank, last Fall, using a spiral of 10, 8, 6 and #4 mini's. That rod works fine, but the larger guides will accommodate the bigger knots when I attach a heavy leader for Pike in May. Garry

I'm working on one more rod, before I pack-up my toys to head home. The rod blank is my all-time favourite casting rod, the MB843. It's a 7ft. medium heavy for 1/4 to 3/4 oz. baits. To spice it up a bit, I did a little different type of tiger wrap and some fancy cutting and gluing on the grip. I don't know about anyone else, but I like the split-grip, no fore-grip look. Details... This one is for me, and I look foreward to water testing it soon. Garry

Thank you sir! I glued up another handle today using cork, burnt cork, redwood and some fancy hardwood laminate. This time I used epoxy instead of wood glue...Tomorrow we will see how it turns down.

The handle is turned on a steel mandrel To keep everything tight, I use a collar clamp, with a washer, on one end and a washer and nut on the other. To protect the tools there is a sacrificial piece of scrap cork on the ends. These rings are trimmed off in finishing. Those Wieber / Schaeffer "Super Sticker" grips were very pretty. Mud Hole has closed them out, but I think Cabela's is still offering a couple of sizes. Garry

I have seen a picture of Stan McLean's Hammer handle grip...The idea has merit, but it's butt-ugly...grin. I use Aero and Fuji IPSM seats on my personal rods. In both cases down locking to keep my hand on top of the handle, and away from the locking threads. I tried a Fuji VSS in size 16, but found it too small for my hand. The size 17 might do the trick. However, I have gone away from the both the Fuji IPSM and VSS seats because of the special cork that's needed. By the time you buy the cork, you're up to the cost of the Aero seat. On top of that some of the cork I've had has needed a lot of trimming and fitting...

The handle is bullet shaped. If you are see flat areas, it's an optical illusion. The pictures are out of order...Number 5, the last picture, is the side view of the number three, rotated a quarter turn to bring the trigger into view.. The little pedestal at the pointy end will be removed in finishing.

Last week I finished a new rod. Burnt Orange and Gold Toger-wrap. Yesterday I cut and glued some pieces and today I turned the first part of a new laminated split-grip handle. For the picture I have it modeling a casting reel seat, but It could be used on a spinning rod just as easily. I'm unsure which side should be "up" however I'm leaning toward puting the wide panel on the side. Garry2R's

The original post was from back in August... FYI, if you are launching anything bigger than a canoe you might need a 4X4 to get in and out of the public ramp.

There is a world-wide shortage of fine cork. EVA grips are one answer to the problem. There are also various colours and textures of processed /rubberized cork blocks and rings. This is the direction I think that I want to go next. One benefit of these materials, might be that they aren't slippery when wet... Garry

Surf rods are generally wrapped with cork tape. Tape or Shrink Tubing are fine on large diameter blanks...They might not be very good on an Ultra-Light...Grin.

Hi Albert; I was leaning toward a sliding compound saw, until I read that to create a 4 inch ellipse you have to cut 2 X 2 stock at about 15 degrees. This can be set-up fairly easily by making a jig on a table saw sled, but I thought it might be awkward to do on the miter saw because the cut is 6 or more inches long... There's also the quality issue...Since I didn't want to spend a lot of money, I felt that it was easier to make a cheap table saw cut straight than to tune in a cheap sliding saw. I expect to be in Brantford for a couple of days starting April 6th. Maybe we can get together. Garry

I did all my experimental cuts with a miter box and back-saw. Having decided that this is an idea that I want to pursue, I have now aquired a table saw with a fine tooth blade. To make repeatable accurate cuts easier, I built a sled for the saw. A fringe benifit of this could be that I finally finish installing the laminate flooring, that Albert and I started about five years ago...HAHAHA.

Thanks guys.

To glue the pieces together before turning, and to attach the handles to the rod, I use a two part epoxy. This epoxy is a slow cure paste type that is made for attaching cork, wood or EVA handles to rods. You would have to cut them off to remove them once this stuff sets!

What's wrong with Fire Engine Red? Or was it the black with a white stripe that bothered you? HAHAHA Your right about the colours but the choices were limited. Now that I have tried it out, and have a feel for the process, my next project will be laminated cork.

This winter I have become serious about turning my own rod handles. I tried different colours and textures of cork rings, but soon wanted to cut and laminate some angles...However, chopping up cork and hardwood is an expensive way to make saw dust...Grin. So...I bought some EVA foam for experiments. Garry2rs