ncr

Firstly, I assume you're talking about the size of the ceramic, not the tube size? If so, it all depends on the size of the guides on the rod. Generally you want a tip that is the same size, or one size smaller than the last guide on the rod.

Makos are fast, but they would seriously be left in the wake of a thresher!

Good luck Squidin, I've been building for over 15 years now but am still learning a lot. But feel free to shoot me some questions if you have any.

Hey mate, One book that has been around for a long time is 'Advanced Custom Rod Building' by Dale P. Clemens, which still has a lot of relevance today. You'll probably have to find an online supplier for this one. However, nowadays there is a plethora of great information for getting started. My advice would be to start by typing in 'rodbuilding' into the Youtube search engine as there are plenty of good online tutorials there. Another thing would be to jump onto rodbuilding.org and start searching for answers or start asking questions.

I've fished off Bermagui, Portland, Bass Strait, Tassie, in all sorts of conditions and in a number of different trailerboats - Barcrusher, Haines, CruiseCraft, Stejcraft, custom aluminiums, Polycraft, but believe me when I say that the best of the lot is the Savage Mako 5.5m. For the size of the boat, the ride is better than any other and the amount of deck space is huge. It's a bit heavier than your equivalent aluminium, but it's an easy tradeoff when you come back after a days fishing with your knee joints still intact.

Silver sweep mate.

Hey Kim, I just finished building a rod that, in the heavier model, may be ideal for what you're after. The rod I built was a Phenix UMBX-S700L, but the model I would suggest for you would be the UMBX-700XH. It's 7ft long with an extra-fast action, 12-30lb rating and casts lures from 10-42 grams. And believe me, these rods are ridicously small for the punch they deliver, which means you can happily cast all day - the blank on this one only weighs 82 grams. You should be able to order a pre-built in from the US.

Simple answer is no, it probably won't hold on a big fish. And unless loosing big fish on faulty gear doesn't bother you, I wouldn't risk it. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

Have to totally with using Erskine epoxy - there is much, much better products out there than that. I currently use Flexcoat. And I rarely use colour preserver, there are plenty of good NCP threads out there now. Gudebrod is great if you can get it - their factory closed down for a while and they've only just started operation again and product is entering the market slowly. At the moment, I'm using prowrap, but Fishhawk is another good one that you can get locally. Avoid speed thread - way too many problems. I mix my epoxy on a doubled-over sheet of (clean) aluminium foil that I drape over a little plastic cup, forming a little shallow cup on the foil. Never use medical syringes from the chemist to measure your epoxy, they are lined with a silicone-based lubricant that will play havoc with the epoxy. Only use syringes made specifically for rodbuilding. For brushes, I bought a bulk pack of disposable brushes from mudhole. You can buy brush cleaner, but for a rough cost of 25c a brush, it made a lot more sense to me to just throw it away and use a new one. My rotisserie for epoxy drying is driven by a windscreen wiper motor from a 2nd hand auto parts store, while my rod lathe is made from an old sewing machine motor that is hooked up to a foot pedal. I do recommend getting a drying rotisserie, but a rod lathe is certainly not required to produce a professional product, it just makes the job faster and easier. Rodbuilding is very much a case of trial and error, and there are thousands of little tricks that people have developed over the years for overcoming these problems. You will be fine as long as you can maintain your sanity after having to pull-apart and redo a job that you have spent the last 10 hours on. This will probably happen to you at some point.

Hey Leo, Check out rodbuilding.org for pretty much all the info you need. On top of that, there is plenty of info on youtube if you do a search. I've been rodbuilding for over 15 years and it is very satisfying, but you need bucketloads of patience, particularly during the learning phase.

Hey mate, Jump on mudhole.com. Even though posting thread from the US sounds ludicrous, the cost of postage won't be much at all. Gudebrod or ProWrap will do the job nicely.

Wascaly Wabbitfish! I mean Rabbitfish. What's up Doc?!