tHeINFamoUS

Agreed….its like the Wild West out here these days. Anyone with a moderate set of skills and an Instagram page full of fire emoji’s can monetize their hobbies. That’s not to knock the folks out there doing it well, just seems like it’s too easy for the others. My stomach would be in knots if I had a conquest dc floating around out there. Hope you get your reel back OP. Most reliable service I get is from the manufacturers, you can usually call their reel service department to schedule a return for service or find an authorized tech.

They don’t get any hotter than a standard black nylon reel seat. 110* heat, I put a laser thermometer on the alps reel seat and a Fuji, and the Fuji was hotter. Neither seat felt unbearable when picked up though. In the cold, metal will absorb the heat from your hands. Unless you’re fishing extreme cold, you’re probably not going to find a noticeable difference. Functionally, Nylon seats are pretty strong; there’s a lot of different ergo shapes to choose from, different trigger styles etc, so you can find one that’s comfortable; and they’re lighter. I have had nylon reel seats break down over time, split in the hood, stripped threads that won’t tighten, but it’s usually when the rod is at the end of its useful life…..like decades old. Style wise…..nylon seats have a ton of options; hydro dipping and different paint finishes. You can do some cool thread work under some of the skeleton seats. Aluminum seats, they’re stronger and heavier built, will last forever, feel solid in your hand and the bling factor, they are cool and the colors can really pop like a gemstone, especially on a custom rod. Ergonomically, they fit my hand perfect but that varies by user. Alps is starting to offer newer shapes too, so we’re probably going to start seeing more options there. Theoretically, you’re gonna be dropping some coin and your rod is a tool you’re gonna be physically swinging around a couple hundred, possibly thousand(s) of times a day. You can usually work with your rod builder to discuss goals, techniques and specific characteristics that you’re looking for……then choose the hardware. I’d go with nylon if weight was an ultra high priority, or if the ergonomics of a particular seat fit my hand better. If it’s your first custom build or you want something that’s general purpose, the alps al seats are the standard and again….they got the playboy factor to em. If you have a specific goal, feel or look in mind…..nylon may be the best bet. In the pics attached. The rods with alot of thread work wouldn’t have been done any justice with a nylon seat. The rods with the carbon grips have a light feel, and I went with nylon handles…..they got the f1 racer effect to em. Last one with a little threadwork under the seat. ……..infinite possibilities.

Now that we got to the bottom of that one……with Christmas coming up, whose this Jesus dude everyone is talking bout?

Theoretically, when the rod is flexed, the line should be supported through the length of the blank, so as to not rub the blank (heat and friction will break line) and prevent any hard angle changes that will stress the line. A foot between guides anywhere near the arch of the rod would most likely touch, and be a no go. If it’s closer to the butt section where the power is, the rod won’t flex that much and you may be able to get away with it. You can run line through the rod guides and test it out Practically speaking, I’ve seen guys with 7’ ugly sticks, factory built with too few guides…..line rubbing all over the place…..land good fish. So depends on your appetite for risk. 4 weeks is kind of a long wait. Try to find a local rod builder and see if they can slip it into their rotation for a couple bucks over their normal guide replacement cost. Or grab a repair kit and do it yourself, it’s not that hard.

Time for an 808

A 10lber, ten years from now……is a small fish at present. And rare would imply there’s few with potential to even get there.

I did…..still sounds silly……what am I missing?

…..so your thesis here…..is that you have a preference for lakes with no big fish, instead of lakes with lots of big fish?

I’m opposed to there being any additional rules imposed by SU……but that doesn’t mean that there can’t be an unwritten agreement amongst members that we absolutely flood the inbox of sellers asking to pm offers on hype baits. PS…..someone needs to start a swimbait escrow service for them high dollar transactions and trades.

The pistol grip is a “unique” option. I seen them at the ISE show in Sacramento and kinda dig em. The guy in the booth said he’s been using them and the ergonomics were comfy for them long slow soft bait retrieves. It was a wider grip and I didn’t notice anything uncomfortable about it lol. I’m glad to see some innovation and would probably build myself a pistol gripped rod if the handle was available to the public…..but it’d be more novelty than necessity. I think the average angler would be fine palming the reel with a regular trigger seat. It is kinda cool though.

…..grown man…….came from Facebook to trash talk on the internet…….oh the irony

How’d the rod break?

That’s a good primer to get ya started. A couple more nuggets: NFC makes good blanks…..but still check em all before you build. Have a friend hold the tip and put a good bend in it, from different angles. If it’s going to be a one and done, you can build your own jig in about twenty minutes with a $10 piece of pine from Home Depot. Be sure to make an extra support, like in the pic below, it will come in handy once you get to the tip section. For the tensioner, you can use a fly tying bobbin ( just rotate the rod with one hand and hold the bobbin in the other). I actually still use them occasionally, despite the big fancy carriage on my lathe. When you start putting the handle together, spacing wise, a good starting point for the reel seat is about the same distance from your elbow to your palm. For the reel seat, you may have to build up a tape arbor to get it centered on the blank. Go heavy on the epoxy and ensure the arbors are fully encapsulated in epoxy. Once it’s set in place, spin the reel seat a couple times for good measure, it’ll help the epoxy cover all surfaces. I also sand the surfaces (blank and seat) before I start my glue up Epoxying the handle section can get real messy, real fast. I usually put a couple layers of masking tape on all the parts before hand to keep em clean.That stuff gets everywhere. Paste is easier to work with than the liquid epoxies. If you use epoxy to seal the guides, Have a butane lighter or an alcohol torch ready to flash over the finish. A couple quick passes will help release any bubbles in the finish. If you can rig the rotisserie motor, your finish will be much nicer than the occasional 1/4 turn. For the guides, I wouldn’t reuse single foot guides. You bend those things back and forth a couple times and they have a tendency to snap. They’re cheap, just replace them. Style wise, thread inlays are simple and make for a more finished look. Find a few videos on how to do em. If you order from get bit, go through PayPal. Have read about some issues with erroneous credit charges after shopping on their site. I always go through PayPal, never any issues.

Not sure I’d buy one second hand unless there was a swim video with it. I got a big hater that’s never leaving my wall cause the bill slot is not cut perpendicular to the centerline of the bait…..it’s crooked AF and the bait just spirals through the water on the retrieve. I always suspect that the baits in the BM don’t swim…..but that’s cause I only have as much faith in FE as they’ve earned lol.