Rod Building

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

For those of you who are rod builders out there I am building a custom muskie rod on an 8' St. Croix Avid blank, but I am not sure what kind of guides to put on. I was thinking about FUJI concept guides with Alconite rings because those have worked great on spinning rods or should go with something else. thanks. Dano

[upnorth]

I would consider using a spiral wrap. That is where your guides start out on about 15 degress of the top of the rod and make their way to under side of the rod. The theory is that it is better casting and keep the the line off the blank when the rod it bent while fighting a large fish.

[Big Ick]

I wouldn't put anything less than SIC's on an Avid. The Avid's made by St. Croix come with SIC's, why would you downgrade? One of the biggest benefits to making your own rods is being able to upgrade the components for the same cost as going to Gander and buying the same St. Croix rod there.

I also agree that you should look into doing a spiral wrap on the rod. There are several methods (and names for the methods) out there, but they all accomplish the same task: take the line from the top and move it to the bottom. You shouldn't lose any casting distance (may even gain some) and the rod will be stable under a load. Supposedly, the rod won't want to torque like a normal bait-casting rod...I guess I've never caught fish big enough to really notice the torque. In any event, I built a couple of planer board rods and spiral wrapped them. If nothing else, they're conversation pieces when I take people fishing with me!

[CrappieJohn]

As Big Ick has inferred, the Sic guides are top notch and will give you good wearing capabilities over the long haul especially if you are prone to the super braids.

Up North and Big Ick have suggested the spiral placement of the guides. This may be alright with the heavier blanks such as what you are working with, but I don't recommend it for light blanks. Before you purchase guides, look at all of the options available for Sic 's before you buy and wrap them on. Some may come with enough frame height to allow for line clearance and you will not be subjecting the rod to torquing. Also, the rods used for muskie fishing go through the mill....put an under wrap on the blank before wrapping the guides on. This will help prevent the metal guide frame from coming in direct contact with the blank and possibly cutting into the graphite scrim.

I have never seen the need to off-set guides on a rod, but to each his own. My,02.

[ccarlson]

Definately go with SIC guides. The rod I built with Sic guides by far outcasts alconite. Much smoother and therefore longer casting. I used sic with stainless frames.

ccarlson

[Big Ick]

I wouldn't worry about putting an underwrap on a muskie rod in order "to protect" the blank. Proper guide prep, which includes shaping the bottom of the foot with a chainsaw file, should create a surface that won't harm the blank. The underwrap will only add weight. This will reduce sensitivity...sensitivity is a function of stiffness to weight. The human senses probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between a rod with underwraps as opposed to a rod without them, but I find it's a good practice to always question adding weight to the rod and whether or not it is a functional or cosmetic addition. IMO, underwraps for all but the heaviest rods (trolling rods meant for ocean's and sea's) are purely cosmetic. This is, of course, assuming you've given your due diligence to prepping the guide feet.

I have a good article written by guy from WI that goes over what he does for building his muskie rods. I can get you to it if you'd like.

BTW CrappieTom, why don't you recommend the spiral's on lighter rods? Are you talking bass-type blanks, or are you talking UL blanks?

[Scoot]

Big Ick,

I'm confused by your response and I think you're misinformed about spiral wraps. I'm not clear as to how the appropriate prep of the guide foots will aid in keeping line off the blanks. I certainly see your point that this is an important step in the prep of guides for a rod, but I don't see how it fits in conversation about the relative merits of a spiral wrap vs. a traditional baitcasting type rod. The appropriate spacing of the guides will accomplish this though. However, spiral wraps will cast further, all other things being equal. Also, I'm convinced the fight on a spiral wrap simply feels better to me. Maybe this is a personal preference and not a "real difference", but I won't ever go back. Spiral wraps are sooooooo sweet!!!

[Bushwacker]

For spiral wraps, is there a left handed wrap and a right handed wrap, or is it the same for both? I cast left handed 75% of the time, but the other 25% would be from the right side. How does that work with spiral wraps?

[Big Ick]

Scoot - You misunderstood my post. The guide prep. should take the place of the underwrap. CrappieTom was suggesting an underwrap was in order for the rod, and I disagree. The underwrap is an aesthetics thing and not a functional one...as far as a muskie rod is concerned. That was the intent of the post.

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

Big Ick

I would like to know more about this sprial wrapping it sounds interesting and I may try it in the near future.

Thanks Dano

[upnorth]

Bushwacker, It really don't matter which side you spiral to. There are folks out there that say they would build a Musky rod in no other way.

[rangr]

Dino, E-mail Bill at http://midwestrodandreel.com he custom builds rods and has done alot of spiral wrapped rods. He can also help you with the guides your looking for.

[priorbass]

Thanks ranger...I sent a e-mail to dino to give me a call and I'll tell him what he needs to know...dino you can also click on our banner and go to the tacticl twister rods and read a little history on it