allen glover

yep your right orange bluffs is upstream from where I usually go. have fished both up and down through the bluffs from other camp sites on the river but never camped there. looks a good site

Fisheries have the list somewhere on there website and if it aint listed it aint designated. You will find most if not all the new england streams designated. The area covanova fished was going to be listed but thankfully it has been deliberately left off as the fish are mostly migratory and you can only get at them at this time of yr.Easier water that has effectively the same fish in it is designated. The effort needed to get to this spot is also a reason it isnt designated. Cova has down played this a bit as its truely tiger country and definately not for the faint hearted. Trust me 3 days is a minimum. Ive done 1 or 2 overnight trips there and have always been near crippled with pain and complaining muscles afterwards. Even with packs nearly half the 25kg Covanova humped.

Basserman the streams in this area arent designated but bag limits still apply if your masochistic enough to want to hump 10 fish out of there Covanova Great report from a great area. how many did you end up with for the trip? The pic is a mate starting the ascent at the top of what we have euphamistically named/ cursed the "first lump". Which, if I have your position right is on the spur you walked in on and opposite where your campsite was.

90 degrees has been the standard and only true test for blank strength since day dot, its building 101 and isnt extreme anything let alone high sticking which is classed as only starting OVER 90degrees!!! For future refference if a blank isnt tested this way its nowhere near a true test. and any claims of a blanks, load bearing capacity based on such a test like this can't be true either. but thats neither here nor there Have a look at the pic in the report it looks pretty close to 90 degrees to me a pretty standard angle for any "vertical fishing Rod". I cant help but think that if you had made this revelation plain in the first place, all would have been avoided.

You aint testing a reels drag setting here. try it at 90 like its supposed to be done.

I can fish 50lb over a 3kg rod if need be but it wouldnt last long if done properly. Saying that what you write proves my point that if you can properly fish 7kg over a rod day in day out thats supposedly only rated to 3kg drag max then it is not a 6 kg rod and simply cant behave like one. I contest that If you truely put up 7 kg on it on any sort of regular basis you will be looking for a new rod quick smart either that or you simply havent bought a 6kg rod. Look dont get me wrong Im not trying to lay aspersions on Rohits bonafides its just that Im in a position to be far more aware of the products he is using than most of the people who read these posts. I know the blanks I think know a bit about rod building. and IMHO its dangerous ground for customers to make descisions based on claims this grand given the stock being used. Simply temper the claims!

not 3 thats for sure

Im not sour at all, I work in with a lot of very knowledgable builders from both Aust and OS. I just know through experience that things like 130lb spiral wrap jig sticks and overloading chinese blanks like pac bays are a quick way to disaster. Do it all you like on stuff you build for yourself but when people are paying for rods like this and you are using it for promotional purposes I think they have a BIG right to know that what you say in promotion of your product in some instances may not neccesarily the best for them. You can push the "It hasnt been a problem yet" angle as much as you like but thats not the point ( though It will become the point soon enough trust me) The point is that people pay hard $$$ for our product based on advice we give as a proffesional. but IMHO advice like spiral wrap 130lb jigs or treatment like this, of a rod that has all ready been prepaid for is far from providing that level of proffesionalism the market should be able to expect. even in an unregulated industry. Apart from the fact that as a custom builder you still limit yourself to one range of blanks to provide all the markets requirements. True proffesionalism would mean at the very least you would have tested each item prior to even offering it to the market and if it is in fact erroneously rated by the factory( which I would doubt) and it is able to stand up to a lifetime of true 10 kg fishing then be knowledgeable enough to not sell or market it here as a 3-6kg blank let alone try and pass it off as a some plainly ridiculous rating of 3-15!!! Geez the fact that you are spraying peoples purchases all over the web is poor form. Even with their permission. I know I wouldn't want my spending practices told to the world, least of all by the guy Im giving the money too. Allen Glover bet this wont last long

Pushing a blank to even near its point of failure is a risky game. In fact If I was the customer Id be having second thoughts about taking the rod cause of the over exertion the fibres have already endured through this. Its easy to push a blank well over its rated breaking strain but you will only get away with it once or twice. Im sure you are aware the Industry std is half failure load at 90 deg of a number of test blanks, not just one blank bent a few times.

Why such an under rated reel class the maximum drag load of a Tekota 800 is only 24lb or 10kg and they surely cant get even close to the potential of an 130lb rated blank. And how do you jig properly using a belt ? Also doesnt that contradict what you were saying about spirals being twist proof if you are using a belt then of course it isnt going to roll its jammed into a gimbal ! most proper jigging is done with the rod held under the arm pit. gimbals simply kill half your stroke straight off the back. BTW Isnt targeting big cod illegal up there or is that just keeping them?

Each to his own I suppose. Maybe if Bash gives your 50lb'er a shot he can put a report on its performance up Contrary to his unfathomable penchant for shimano back bones he knows his rods better than most. Why not shot him the 130lb model at the same time if you have one hed have a reel to give it a proper test out somewhere.

130LB WOW tell me more, what guides successfully handle 60kg capacities?? My problem with any sub 6ft rod, apart from maybe the lightest baitcasters, is that they usually fall into bluewater non casting setups and these require a longer overall grip length thus you have insufficient room to get the spiral over and done with. Especially given that it will be spiralling well into the working section of the blank. Even in short strokers with a short rear grip you are still say 2in gimble, 10in rear, 5inch seat, 14in foregrip. thats 31inches off a rod that is only about 66inches(5ft6in) long. You are then left with 35inches(2ft11in) or less than a meter to successfully spiral a minimum of 5 guides. I Would love to see a pic of a rod like this loaded up and how you overcome this issue alone . esp in 60kg. Also I note you mention the weight of the lure "locks the rod in place" Im at a loss to see how this can be as roll problems are inherant in all overhead Jig sticks (let alone spirals). Given that the very aim of jigging is to loose all lure weight on the drop stroke to allow the jig to fall as quickly as it can. Its this very loss of weight that jig users look for so they can let a lure flutter on the drop. Also Its the inherant wobble that results from jigging OH rods that Heavy duty threadlines have become a far more desirable option for this form of fishing.

My experience with both spiral and std OH jig sticks is that there is very little performance difference between the two until hooked up. Infact spirals tend to jerk and wobble a lot more when being worked due to the fact that the spiral only offers beneifts when under load. On the wind or drop stroke the rod will still tend to roll as normal ( if not more) as it doesnt have any load on it. Then when it does suddenly load up on the pump/lift stroke it straightens up far more savagely and abruptly than a std OH due to the spiral pulling the rod/reel upright, something that simply doesnt happen on std OH's as they want to stay down and are held upright by the angler all the way through the process. Also for the same reason that Short strokers dont make good spirals, the shorter length that Jig sticks are trending toward doesnt lend itself to spiralling as your line angles through the spiral have to be to sharp for the line loads. Thats been my experience anyways be interested to hear how your prototypes differed from mine. Allen

IM not a fan of OH jig sticks for roll and line lay reasons but they do allow for a slightly shorter rod. some of the latest options in this range are now coming down to 5ft'8 or so 6ft'ish HD threadies are better options for this job IMHO

when used on a OH jig stick it nothces into your fingers a bit better than a round seat imagine how your hand sits on the bottom of the seat when laying line on a jig stroke the shape provides a little more support to stop the rod wobbling it also has a flat real seat so reel clamps can be eliminated. not Ideal for some applications but don't discount them outright when building up most blue water rods

Truth be told they are actually designed for OH jig sticks but they do make excellent threadie seats too. re supply questions.. Not any more . Ask your local tackle store to get it in from Freeway or your local distributor of Freeway stuff. IF you have any dramas though give me a call 0419 895 074 and I'll try and find you a local supplier.

here ya go

At risk of crossing advertising boundaries you could check out the Freeway ALPS seats prolly the easiest model to get here in Australia also think AMTAK make the same style but thats a US brand they do look the ducks guts dont they

That it does a lot of manufacturers use it pac comps do it in some of there blanks and the old silstar traverse x's are a fine example. G-USA's have 2 which allows them to get away without a scrim .

Iceman. correct me if Im wrong but isnt it the stretch in the toe ?? The higher the mod the less stretch unidirectionally. As opposed to a property of the sheeting which is usually bidirectional and would be greatly affected by the weave density itself. (Im imagining pulling the ends away from each other on a woven sheet of mat as a test of stretch here) Either way what a high mod simply means in a rods sense is that it returns to a static position quicker. but then nothing with blanks are ever simple.. Resin, wrap and taper have a great affect over the rods overall action. IM rating stands for either Internal modulus or Impregnated Matt (been told both) either way its normally a dud measurement in rod terms. To me any company that uses IM ratings have something to hide and that is the rod is prolly not full graphite. it prolly has a "very thick" glass scrim. You dont need much graphite sheet in a rod to call it "graphite". This is the very reason loomis dumped the IM system to rate their rods content due to every chinese hack company bastardising it in there $50 composite knockouts. All labeled IM something simply cos it has an outer wrap of poor quality chinese graphite sheet. IMHO it has only gotten worse since then. any one ever heard of IM 14, Ive seen it on the label of an $80 special

With all graphite, breakage is an issue but it is usually dependant on size and quality like all blanks the lighter, cheaper ones are always more prone to breakage but the CTS blanks struddie sell and use in their upper end ranges are some of the best quality high mod blanks around.If your not keen to front the cost for quality US rolled graphite its been my experience the NZ stuff is a very close second.

If you like the struddie why not use one of their blanks. Give Peter Campbell a call at strudwick they distribute some awesome blanks from their OEM manufacturer in NZ.

Given that a mobiles tendancy to fag out is in direct proportion to the need to make the call the number one safety device you need you will need be ALL the 1:25000 topographic maps of the area you will be traveling through. You will also need to know how to read them epsecially if you are going to use GPS as the numbers from one dont directly transfer to the numbers from another. better still learn how to read them the good old fashioned way with a compass

hmmm....

I assume your doing this as a sensitivity thing. Given that your reel hand will prolly never extend past the fixed hood ( if indeed fixed hood up is best setup to start with ) I cant see any great advantage. Even when retrieving your index finger will most likely be lateral to the rod ( to impart an action to the lure)and thus a "split" will prolly be uncomfortable. You would prolly be better off turning it around having fixed hood down and a notch for your little finger at the back of the seat if sensitivity is the aim. Also even small eva hosels will add weight over cork as will the extra glue needed to securely hold the seat. appearance wise it will look odd and not immediately relevant also Id be interested in hearing your differing opinions but on the face of it thats the way I see it.