Rippin' Lip Outdoors Muskie Rod

[unfrozen]

Just finished a muskie rod for Jon. It's built on a Batson RX8 IMU86XH blank with custom walnut handle, Throop tiger wrap and spiral wrapped zirconium micro running guides.

[A.W.Wolfram]

Nice tiger. What are the colors?

Is that a olive branch I see?

I think it will be interesting to see how the micros hold up to 80# braid and 10,000 casts of a 4oz. bait.

Please let us know.

[unfrozen]

Everything I've read days the micros have performed great for other builders who have used them. Maybe Jon can report back to us later this summer after he's had ample time to use it.

Yes, you do see an olive branch. It's silver with a gold trim in the center.

The tiger wrap was done with a black/white underwrap for maximum contrast. The top wrap is the same Fishhawk teal that I used on the guide wraps.

[sam10basefish]

Whats the advantage of micros?

[unfrozen]

There are several advantages.

One, they are much lighter than other single foot guides and way lighter than double foot guides. After you factor in the extra weight of thread and epoxy the weight savings is significant when compared to a double foot guide. This allows the rod to be more responsive and retain more of its inherent sensitivity. Granted, we're talking about a muskie rod in this case but the fact remains true no matter what kind of rod is being built.

Two, published testing has shown that using less weight on the rod can improve casting distance by 3% to 5%. This increase is attributed to the fact that the rod can expend its energy casting the lure instead of trying to control the weight of the larger guides. Think of a sports car when it is cornering...nice and tight. Now throw a bunch of sand bags in the trunk. It still corners but not as well.

Three, the same published testing also showed a slight increase in accuracy when casting.

[A.W.Wolfram]

The forty is that they look cool

There is no doubt that the line travels thru the guides better with less friction making for grater casting distance and lighter rod weight amounting to faster tip speed and less fatigue.

The issue I could see happening is with the smaller diameter of the ring there is more surface area contacting the line. This is not a huge issue when casting. The studies I have read are on casting distance and accuracy do to line coil. I have not read anything on line retrieve and loaded retrieve.

With increased friction I could see more heat buildup at the friction point of each guide. This could lead to guide ring separation and line damage. Placing the guides in a spiral will compound this issue due to the severe angles the line travels thru the guides during the transition. During a retrieve with minimal load the guides would operate fine, the thing I am most curious about is when winching in a DC or working a 1lb Bulldog the amount of force on the guides will translate to a lot of guide friction.

Chad, do you think this would be an issue?

[unfrozen]

Granted, the smaller ring provides less total area for the line to contact. However, at any given moment it still only contacts the guide at one point. This is true of any size guide ring.

Heat buildup may become an issue with lesser quality guides...to what degree depends on the material. I know that zirconium is excellent at dissipating heat so I would be surprised if it became an issue.

So far I've used the simple spiral on all casting rods I've built. Which simple spiral I use depends on the line that is to be used. If I'm always using mono, like for topwaters, I don't use the bumper guide. When braid is used it's necessary to keep the line off the blank finish so I'll use the bumper guide. That's the only purpose of the bumper guide. It doesn't bear any load...or very little if any.

Lastly, I always wrap single foot guides using the locking wrap. It's very cheap security againt a pull out.

[Scupper]

Very nice.

And thanks for the science lesson that importantly lay's behind your craftiness that I wouldn't even consider.

Scott

[Nick Kuhn]

Looks awesome. Not sure about the micros though: I know why they are used but those are factors most don't care about when muskie fishing. Guys put 20 ounce reels on 12 ounce rods: weight doesn't seem to be a factor in many people's decision making.

[upnorth]

Nick it isn't always just a weight in your hand thing. Weight at the tipf of the rod affects action and sensitivity and granted pitching 3/4 ounce plus baits the sensitivity aspect is pretty much moot, but all the same. Lighter at the tip is never going to be a detriment.

[A.W.Wolfram]

Granted, the smaller ring provides less total area for the line to contact. However, at any given moment it still only contacts the guide at one point. This is true of any size guide ring.

[Jmeyers]

Rod looks great Chad! I'm excited to get out and use it. I'll post updates on how the Micros's hold up. The reason I got them, and disscused with Chad, was more about the sensitivity then it was being light. Also it sounds like the casting distance is quiet far so I'm pumped for that.

Thanks again for the work Chad it was greatly appreciated! Looks great and I'll put some updates out when it's Musky season

[harvey lee]

Very nice Chad as always.