The only thing I’ve noticed about the RECoil is that they are louder when you shoot line. Does it matter? Nope, but I like the quiet of ceramics. Personal preference only. Not a real difference between them though, IMO. You need to build one, Tim! Bring it to the Fish-In, and I’ll bring my wrapping jig for you to use while we are there. You could easily get all of the guides on during the evenings at the cabin, and probably the first coat of finish as well. Just sayin…
Sorry, I agree with what you said and understood that. All I was intending to point out was that hugefish had said that “spending 200-300 on this rod” was “out of the question”. It just seemed to me that both of these are pretty close to that $200 mark. I’m sure I would like that kit too. But it is also out of my budget range.
You’re going to make this too hard to resist Greg.
Would you mind pointing out what ceramic guides you like? [FONT=Arial]I don?t know that I mind if the guides are a little bit louder. Does anyone think that either one would shoot farther though? That might make more difference to me, especially on an 8wt.[/FONT]
The tricky part of building rods, is if you want a specific action or blank. If he wants the specific TFO TiCr X action he’ll need to build on that blank, and the blank alone is $125 from Mudhole. Even buying the cheapest parts, it’s still going to be close to the kit price.
When building you either build what you want and close your eyes at the total cost, or set a budget and possibly compromise on parts to keep the price in your budget, but you most likely wont end up with exactly what you want. If you want the exact action of a specific blank, you start with that blank. If you’re not as picky you find the cheapest blank that will do what you want and that fits within your budget.
Everything is relative. $200 is a cheap rod for some of the builders here and high end for others. Everyone has a comfort zone for thier ‘price range’. You just have to establish how much you want to spend then build the best rod you can within that range.
I’m sorry, I think there may be a misunderstanding. I don’t really care who makes the blank, what I am looking for is a fast action 9wt. I simply used the TFO TiCr X as a comparison for the type of action that I am looking for. Honestly this rod is going to spend most of it’s life throwing big pike flies, big bass flies, wiper/striper flies, etc. couple the size of the flies up with the fact that it is ALWAYS windy when I go fishing and you can probably understand why I am looking in this direction. Also, I have friends that live along the gulf coast and so this rod may get the chance to try the salt at some point.
Ok, I am sure that I will end up going to rod builders hell for this question but here goes. Some of my newer, high end bass hardware has grips made out of a foam material that is harder than eva foam. This stuff is fairly stiff, easy on the hands and has a really decent grip to it. Des anyone know what this material is sold as? Have you ever seen it as a fly rod grip?
Claims have been made about ceramics shooting farther, but when you look at real numbers, it is negligible IMO (adding only inches IIRC). Each style has positives and negative, but most of them boil down to aesthetics. To me, snakes are easier to string line in when you are rigging you rod up, and will pass knots better. The ceramics are quieter, and don’t have grooving problems.
I personally have used many styles of ceramics, from inexpensive to Titans. Not sure it matters much. I’d pick something that looks right to you, and the performance will be just fine. I find myself using the batson XP series mostly. Not terribly expensive, but fairly tough. For snakes, I try to stick with stainless wire, but don’t like RECoils.
heavy is certainly not an issue with this stuff, the rods i have are quantum superlights and my 7 footer is lighter than my old ultralight spinning gear
I posted something here without realizing you guys were on page two. Edit: I believe Hugefish can build a very nice fast action 9 wt rod for around $200. Batson rx8 and Mudhole MHX are lighter than TFO TiCrx. Personally I would not buy a TFO 9 wt factory rod only because they use HUGE guides and I see no reason for that. PacBay just came out with a new line of fast action blanks, too. Dan Craft prices have gone up.
Just got first order from Seiver Manufacturing, for salt 9ft 12wt build. Tigereye blank ( mod. fast ) looks far betterthan the $30 it cost. I ordered all components except for handle as I make my own foam covered fiber carbon. total price including shipping a little over $60. Fantastic service, but call as numerous products are out of stock. I’ll post more after rod is completed.
just putting it out there that Utmost enterprises has a killer deal on blanks right now, including some 9’ 8wts. i just picked p a 3pc 9 7 wt with shipping for just over $30.
Something to consider - the manufacturers do not use single-foot guides on rods larger than 5 wt. The reason? I was told the force/torque on them in the larger weights is enough to tear them off.
If it was me, I think I would start with the Tiger Eye blank. I did one for my lawyer not too long ago and he uses it for bonefish and loves it. The foam might be an option. There is nothing saying you can’t use it on a fly rod, nothing at all. The graphite grips work well, too and are very light. My choice would be to turn a custom grip from cork, cork mixes, and cork burls and seal it well. I would make a matching fighting butt that mounts permanently to the rear of the blank.
Double foot guides over about 6w are the “norm”. However, considering that an 11’ spinning surf rod that will chuck a half pound of bait 100 yards or better and can drag some fair sized fish to shore uses single foot guides, I don’t think it would be absolutely necessary to use double foot guides on an 8w. A 3 turn Forhan lock on the wraps would certainly be in order, though. I think you will break your tippet or leader before you pull a guide loose.
If you like ceramics, Fuji SIC micro guides might be an option. If you use the concept system for placing guides, you will have more guides and the weight will be distributed more evenly along the blank. They shoot like crazy, too. Of course, snakes are always an option, but go for higher quality stainless snakes instead of plated ones due to the salt. Snake Brand and the Fuji SIC guides are both pricey. Using these will preclude using an expensive blank to stay under the $200 limit. The REC guides do sing to you, but it’s tough to destroy one. Since most folks are more careful than that with their gear, I do not see them as worth the price. My choice would be a nice Fuji stripper and taming guide followed by TiCH (not plated) H&H single foot guides. These will wear and function well at a moderate cost. Not the cheapest, but far from the most expensive, too.
For your reel seat, the convention is aluminum or something with a graphite insert. If the insert is made with stabilized wood, it should make no difference whatsoever. I would probably go with one of American Tackle’s fancy cutout seats with the contrasting aluminum insert. They are sharp looking and moderate in cost.
