new lure rod

[Tim Kelly]

Pretty much any rod by St Croix will be about as good as you can get for whatever it is designed for. They've got a massive range and hardly a turkey amongst them.

[Dick Dastardly]

Just a point of interest.NO blank is specifically made for any shop.FACT.The most expensive component of any tubular rod blank is the mandral that it is built on.To recoup the cost of a specially made mandral takes many sales.the nearest you will get is a variation in the material and number of wraps.Unless you class cutting a few inches off a blank and spraying it a different colour as a custom blank!

[Peter Waller]

Its sometimes quite clear that many 'manufacturers' share the same mandril, or they buy in from the same factory. So, when is a manufacturer not a manufacturer !!??

[argyll]

Sorry, a mandrel is not a wildy expensive piece of kit, its just a tapered steel rod. They are treated with some reverence in the factory merely because the slightest damage will carry over into the blank. Even small manufacturers buy them in bulk, ask Peter Harrison. When I spoke to Hardys sales manager two years ago he confirmed that this particular blank is supplied to only one dealer. Whether they add a longer butt or a shorter tip and call it something else is neither here nor there. What it will not be is a 7'6" RT5 blank.

 

[ 21. February 2004, 12:53 AM: Message edited by: argyll ]

[Newt]

Flipping is best done with a baitcaster reel that has a special flipping switch on it. When the switch is in the 'on' position, removing your thumb from the release bar instantly locks the reel up - at least to the set clutch tension - without any need to wind or anything else.

 

The reason for this is that you can easily get a savage take at any point from just off the water to as deep in the cover as you are willing to let the lure settle. Considering that it is a technique for use in tree tops, brush, or other really snaggy areas, you can't afford to have any delay before you set the hook and try to get the fish out.

 

Winding the handle or if using an eggbeater, putting the bail over, would take way too long.

 

Rod length - I favor a 6.5 foot rod for general lure work. I do like to move up to 7.5 for lipped diving crank baits because it absorbs some of the strain of the retrieve but otherwise, I agree that a day's casting with the shorter rod is much less tiring.

 

St. Croix - excellent rods but you pay in full for what you get.

 

G Loomis - same comment.

 

jeepster - if you are willing to trust my judgement in picking the rod, I'll be happy to get you a good 6½ ft rod from BassPro and ship it over to you. The prices on the ones I like are low just now (see the link above) and the shipping shouldn't be excessive. I'll put the lowest legit amount possible on the customs form so if it does get noticed, your cost will be as low as possible. $50 USD is £27 (roughly) right now to give you an idea of what the total cost is likely to be. Probably well under £50 even with any duty, VAT, etc.

 

If you find what you want over there, excellent. But if not, send me an email.

[Dick Dastardly]

Yes a mandral is a tapered piece of steel but ask Pete Harison how many he has had made up for one off runs for a specific shop!I should imagine it is the same as the other three blank manufacturers I have been involved with...NONE! Why are anglers such mug punters? every thing a shop keeper (and that is what most tackle dealers are in esscence) tell them being accepted as gospel?

 

Any way,Argyle.are you telling us that Hardy build a purpose designed blank for Brundle Angling Centre?

[Peter Waller]

I should think that the actual cost of a mandril is pretty low, but the tooling to produce it is pretty high. I would also imagin that if a company such as Hardy are assigning a specific mandril to just one shop, and why not, then it will be one thats development costs have already been absorbed as a previous Hardy production model that has since been superceeded. I would also like to think that Messrs Argyll, Hardy and Brundall Angling Centre are all people who can be trusted , and knowing two out of the three I'm sure they can.

[argyll]

No I wasn't. Rather than think of another way of putting it Ill copy precisely what I said and you can read exactly what I said

 

'When I spoke to Hardys sales manager two years ago he confirmed that this particular blank is supplied to only one dealer. Whether they add a longer butt or a shorter tip and call it something else is neither here nor there. What it will not be is a 7'6" RT5 blank'

 

Note the difference between the words 'mandrel' and 'blank'

[Steve Burke]

BUDGIE:

Just a point of interest.NO blank is specifically made for any shop.FACT.The most expensive component of any tubular rod blank is the mandral that it is built on.To recoup the cost of a specially made mandral takes many sales.the nearest you will get is a variation in the material and number of wraps.Unless you class cutting a few inches off a blank and spraying it a different colour as a custom blank!

Not quite right as you'll see, but I understand and agree with the point that Budgie is making. I'd add that the biggest cost of making a blank, at least in the UK, is labour.

 

It might be a good idea to explain in broad terms how a carbon blank is made.

 

Pieces of carbon "cloth" are wrapped around a tapered steel mandrel, and the whole lot is baked in an oven. The mandrel is then removed leaving a section of blank, which will then have various finishing touches made to it.

 

Mandrels themselves aren't that expensive individually, although they do wear out. However, blanks are made in batches of say a dozen at once, and thus a blank manufacturer will then buy a dozen of a particular mandrel. They'll need a large number of different mandrels to make a wide range of blanks.

 

Additionally, many of the better blank manufacturers will use a different mandrel for each section of rod.

 

However, the mandrels are longer than rod sections, and so the same mandrel will be used to make a great many different rods of widely differing types. It just depends what part of the mandrel is used.

 

There are 2 other main variables in changing the action of a blank. The first variable is the shape of the carbon cloth wrapped around the mandrel. This is roughly triangular, but can be quite complex. Additionally, there may be several different pieces used, and not all of them will run the whole length of the rod section. Thus it's a bit more complicated than just "adding an extra wrap".

 

The second variable is that there are umpteen different types of carbon cloth with different properties. Many UK manufacturers in particular use more than 1 type of carbon cloth in a given blank. At Caliber we used up to 4 in some blanks to get the action that I wanted.

 

At Caliber we did make one-off specials for a number of customers, but they needed to order these in batches, usually a dozen or more depending on the type of rod. Some of these were very different indeed to standard blanks. However, most were variations on a theme, although technically unique. The latter point is the one that Budgie is emphasising.

 

In fact, as Budgie said, some "special" blanks used by retailers are just a standard blank with a very minor variation, perhaps in just the colour or finish.

 

And some are even bog standard blanks!

[malevans]

My favourite is my Greys missionary lure rod, matches my fly rod.

 

I also have a Shimano Extage which is great for the money and comes with the sections to make two lengths of rod.

 

Both multipiece and like to go on hols