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UtahAngler

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  1. I noticed on the mudhole website that they are closing out the cascade composites rod blanks because they are going out of business, does this mean rainshadow blanks will not be available now?
  2. Hey thanks for all the help. I made my first rod with a 6'6 mag bass rainshadow blank and it turned out great. I like the matte finish on rods and I made it all black I even used a split grip with black foam grips. Im not a flashy kind of guy anyway. Caught some fish with it and it seems to work great too and i love the soft feel of the foam grips. Its a lot easier than I thought it would be. Im sure glad I didnt buy the power rod wrapper. Wrapping it by hand is pretty easy. I did however get a power drying motor and that works great. Now Im addicted like I knew I would be. Its time to try a crank bait rod next. Then a drop shot rod then.....
  3. Ive been reading a lot about rod blanks on the rodbuilding.org forum and have learned a lot in a few days. Just like most people all I knew a rod by was the IM title it had. I have since learned that a good rod is subject to opinion so in your opinion Matt and others on here, dollar for dollar what company makes the best blanks? I know youve said Shikari makes a good blank, are they better than St Croix? Or is it just impossible to compare because of variables? I have several Avid series rods and have never had a problem with them. In fact the 6'8 medium action avid spinning rod is my favorite rod in the box. I know some rod blanks are much cheaper in price than others such as the rainshadow blanks, are they just a mid grade blank? Any comments and opinions would be appreciated thanks.
  4. Hey thanks for the advice, I will definatly check out the Shikari rod blanks. Hey shouldnt you be out elk huntig this time of year Elken? Fall is here and the hunting feeling is in the air. Too bad I dont have the time and money to hunt and fish, at least the fishing is great in the fall too.
  5. How many manufacturers of rod blanks are there here in the US? Seems to mee that many of these brands are made by the same company and someone else just puts their name on them. Am I wrong do all these different companies make their own rod blanks? Also is there a huge difference in one rod that is say IM6 and another that is IM6 made by different manufacturers? Another question for those in the know what modulus are the St Croix rods? Say the Avid which is SCIII is that smiliair to an IM8 or IM6 or what?
  6. Thanks for the advice guys, I ordered my first rod blank yesterday and Im going to make a hand wrapper similair to the flex coat one made of wood. I also ordered a finishing motor so Im set to get on with my new addiction. There are only so many soft plastics a person can make before he wants to try something new. I noticed that I will save a lot more money building the more expensive rods than the the medium range rods is that usually true or is there a way to cut the costs on a medium range rod? Take the St Croix Avid series rod, which is my favorite rod, I can buy one for 150 dollars but when I added up all the stuff to make it myself it comes out to be 130 dollars. If Im only going to save 20 bucks I would rather just buy the pre made rod. But when if I want to make a Loomis drop shot rod Im going to save more like 100 dollars.
  7. You guys are right I feel pretty stupid I should have thought to loosen the drag. When Im throwing frogs I like to cinch it down tight to get a good firm set and since I use the same rods for both I forget to loosen the drag for throwing jigs. And Utah actually has some great bass fishing, our state record is only 12 pounds but we have a lot of fish in the 5 to 10 pound range in southern Utah. And smallmouth fishing here is exceptional. 5 to 7 pounf smallmouth are pretty common here in one lake. And thanks for your help guys.
  8. Ive been using a 7 foot St Croix MH fast action rod with 50 pound power pro braided line and throwing jigs on it in open water. I seem to be breaking a lot of fish off with the hook set I went to the power pro because I break off all the fish on the hook set with mono lines. Im a pretty big guy and been told I set the hook too hard. Im just wondering if there is another action I can use that still has some backbone but will soften the blow when I set the hook because its hard to start setting the hook more timid. Do I need more of a moderate taper or an extra fast taper? Im not sure exactly what you get with the action. It seems to me the St Croix is a lot beefier rod than say a loomis IMX or GL. Any suggestions would be appreciated I would like to build the rod myself once I get all the items I need to get started. Oh and I can still use the ST Croix as a frog rod I dont have the problems with it when throwing a frog with braid must be the different angle or something.
  9. Im just getting started and looking to buy the parts I need to make rods. Where I am confused is, can you use a power rod wrapper as a drying stand also? And is it worth the money to buy say a 300 dollar power wrapper will it make it a lot easier than say wrapping a rod by hand on the simple wrapping stands? What do you guys prefer? The 300 dollars doesnt scare me I just want to buy what makes it easier and more enjoyable for me. Im sure this will be as addictive as making plastic baits has become but thats point, seems anything fun is expensive.
  10. I realize that the product cant be used for some but seems to me that the best way to remedy the problem is to just buy plastic somewhere else and chock it up to lesson learned because its just not going to be replaced. Of course they dont care if as many as a dozen people dont buy their plastic. They make thousands of gallons a day. The only one that it may hurt is Del in the long run. I agree customer service is the best way to keep people coming back. But some companies seem to make it work without it.
  11. Another thing salt does is cloud the bait so its solid and not see through. I dont know how many fish or crawdads are see through but I know where I live they sure arnt. I do way better even in clear water will drab salted baits that are cloudy and not flashy dull greys, greens and browns. Bait is supposed to blend into the surroundings naturally. I think too many guys get into making flashy plastics to hook fisherman rather than fish. And from a busines standpoint thats smart. Something like a spinnerbait is a whole other deal the flash is a reaction getter rather than a close inspection of a lure. I learned a valuable lesson on lure size in a recent tournament. I knew the fish were eating this years hatch of minnows and I knew the minnows were around 1 to 2 inches long. The water where I live is very clear. I was throwing a 4 inch senko and hardly had a bite, I switched to a 3 inch and caught more fish, but once I switched to a one inch tube I caught 20 fish from the same spot I was fishing the other baits. I knew the fish were there because they are always in that area this time of year. The problem was this year the hatch was late compared to other years due to heavy run off that went into the summer. They knew what size their food was and keyed on that size. It goes back to fisherman catch fish making the right decisions.
  12. Ive also found that the M-F has a much better smell to it when you cook it. I use a microwave and a hot pot to cook it. I have a fan over the hot pot to draw the smoke out so it has very little smell. But the microwave when you get it real hot for pouring fine detailed stuff it makes the plastic smoke more, still havnt burned any even at high temps, but the smell is way better when I take my mask off the room doesnt smell as much as the calhouns made it smell or its just a less offensive smell. Maybe its just me but I sure like the difference. I have seen the tiny bubbles when its mixed in the pyrex cup but once it gets hot they are gone and you can pour a totally clear bait. The calhouns bubbles also make it hard to see the glitter because it clouds the bait to the edges. The M-F gives a nice clear edge and just looks clearer. As far as I am concerned its the only plastic I will use from now on assuming they keep it the same. I also want to comment on how much easier it is to pick up the 5 gallon bucket and give it a few shakes then it pours right out without any mess. No need to transfer it to other containers. Ive also used the calhouns softener with it because I had purchased a one gallon bucket of softener and didnt want to waste it and no problems at all if anyone is wondering. Thanks M-F its a real pleasure using your product.
  13. This still shows that it is something wrong with the buckets they package them in. No problems with 50 gallon drums or 1 gallon buckets. The 5 gallon bucket I bought has a lot of bubbles in it but I can still use it for what I use it for. Im not selling baits so its not as big a problem for me.
  14. I had some baits fade that were originally motor oil. They turned grey overnight but still a greenish grey so I didnt really care but thought it was odd. They were stick baits and I wonder if it has something to do with the salt. I think I ground it up too fine. They still worked great but its something to think about if your baits are fading. Also mine faded without adding anything else to them. I let them cure over night then oil them before I put them in a bag.
  15. I will agree after using M-F I will never use calhouns again. I made the mistake of adding softener to the super soft M-F and it doesnt need any even with 50% salt. That there is less hassle. It pours better and smokes less. I guess some people will still use calhouns. That is fine. People need choices. The 5 gallon bucket I bought of calhouns will still work if I heat it in a hot pot and make sticks the bubbles float up and the baits turn out ok. I dont sell baits I just make them for personal use, give some to friends and to use with clients when I am guiding. So as long as I have confidence in them then thats all that matters. I will say that using actual senkos for guide trips was killing me especially when they get thrown on every fish that takes the bait. I am making sticks for a lot less and they will catch several fish without coming off. Some of my friends were skeptical that they would fish as well as the senko but when I caught more fish with my custom colors they were believers. Im thankful there is a forum for guys like us that love to make things. And a way to discuss the successes and failures so others can learn from it.
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