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taz575

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  1. The Seeker Hercules are jigging rods, but are a bit faster action than the one pictured. The 60H and 60XH are nice rods, but 6' long. I haven't played with the 7' versions yet. As far as most jigging rods, the pictures show a parabolic bend pretty much, which means a Japanese style jigging blank. American Tackle/Mudhole Vertical Jigging series, Batson Knife Jigging series, Am Tackle Bushido, Phenix Titan, Black Hole, Synit, OTI's, JAWS, etc will have a similar bend, but with some difference. The problem is that most of these blanks are 5'6"-5'8" long only. There is a 6'6" version rated 30-50# from a few of these manufacturers, but it's a 20# drag blank, max of 25# and it will flex down into the reel seat area. CTS makes a very thin diameter jigging blank in 5'6" and 7' long. Very thin and light, I have the 2 heaviest models rated 80-100 and the 5'6" one is under 6oz IIRC. Haven't wrapped or fished them yet, but they are very small diameters, but very expensive. I prefer a faster action blank. The Am Tack/Mudole jigging rods are very soft feeling. The Batsons seem a bit stiffer overall. The 2009 OTI's that I have played with are faster actions, as are the JAWS blanks. Haven't tried the Titan, Bushiod, Black Hole, Synit (I think they have a faster series and a slower series IIRC). The Black Holes are supposed to be parabolic IIRC. Jigging Master is another brand, but very pricey. But wanting a 6'3-6'6" rod will limit your choices unless that 6'6" from AmTack/Mudole or Batson would work for what you are doing. Between those two, I would go with the Batson one; it has a bit more backbone to it and feels a little better. JAWS also have some 7' and 7'6" that can be trimmed back and still be a fairly small diameter.
  2. I have been using a few blanks lately that I really like. First is a Calstar Boomer Jr trimmed to fit into a #2 Unibutt. Nice, fast action, plenty of power to it. I use it when fishing 60-100# topshots and 20-25# of drag, although it can handle more drag. These make nice trolling rods for YFT and will work for sharks as well. Isn't too much overkill when you get smaller fish hooked up, but it's got a good bit of power! If I want to go heavier drag for shark or big fish rods, I go to one of two Seeker blanks. Both are the E glass: 6455XXH and TSF55XXH, both 5' 6" blanks, rated 50-130#. I have had both up to 45# of drag when testing and they handle the higher drags really well. The bend is fairly soft, so it feels easier on the angler and the foregrip doesn't flex much since these are fast blanks. Their butt section is also small enough to use a Slick Butt if you don't want to trim them for Unibutts. The Boomer Jr works well for size 50 reels and up to 70's if you fish them with 100# and around 25# of drag. The Seeker blanks I listed are great for fishing 50's heavy, 70's or 80's and have a nice, soft tip to prevent hook pull and into the mid 30#'s for drag. The composite versions are also nice and have a faster recoil, but cost a lot more! There are also lighter versions of each; the Calstar Baby Boomer and the 6455XH or TSF55XH blanks that are rated around 30-80# if you are looking for lighter blanks. I have used the CTSF55XH for a couple rods, but the foregrip was flexing at around 22-25# of drag; I just don't like the flexing mushy foregrip feeling! Reels, I have a few Okuma Makaira's and really like them. I have a 50 (not wide) with 700yds of JB 100# Hollowcore and a 100yd 100# Momoi Diamond top shot on the reel and I have around 3/8" from the line to the top of the spool. It can do heavy drags (60# strike), but I usually have it set for 18-25# at strike, depending how and what I am fishing for. Very smooth dual drag reels, they Makaira's have been getting really good reviews from what I have seen. The smaller Makaira's (8, 10, 15) can also put out some nice drags if you are looking for smaller jigging type reels. The 20 and 30 have been used for cow YFT on the West Coast with good results. The reels are usually less expensive than the normal Penn Int series or the Shimano Tiagra series that most people have.
  3. The 800XH will work, but it's a bit overkill for the Stella 10K and the line you plan to use. The VS 300 can handle 80-100# hollowcore and a topshot when going after BIG Bluefin tuna if that is what you are chasing after. I'm not sure of the capacity of the Stella 10K, but with 40# braid, I don't think that blank/reel/line are well matched. 800XH and VS300 with heavier line, yes! What size/species tuna are you going after?? This will really affect the recommendations! I am going to assume larger BFT as the worse case since the BFT can often mix the school sizes a bit. That GF770XXH is WAY overkill for the Avet MXJ; West Coast use that for railing on a party boat and it's a 7' long blank. Most tuna jigging blanks are much shorter, 5' 2" to 5' 8". Unless you have a Raptor, the MXJ doesn't put out that much drag to make good use of that blank. Do you really want a 7' rod for jigging rod?? It will be really working against you!! For the MXJ, a JAWS blank or one of the Batson Knife Jigging blanks would work well and cost a LOT less, like half of what the 770XXH costs! I've played with the Batson blanks a bit as well as the JAWS blanks and they are nice. The MXJ is a fairly small reel with not much drag capability; what species tuna are you going for?? Look at the Batson stuff. A friend of mine used a RCJB84XH for a popping rod and caught a 73+" BFT a few years ago. He had his reel locked down at 30# drag and palmed it to get the tuna's head up to break the circles and to the boat. It's similar to a GF700H or XH in terms of power, length and weight, but has a slightly stiffer tip (not floppy feeling) and a slightly different bend. Batson also has a few 7'9" blanks that would work for a 1 piece popping rod that are less expensive than the Calstar 800XH if you are looking to save some money and want a longer rod. If I was doing popping rods, I would go with the 7'9" Batson RCLB79MH or 7' Batson RCJB84XH or RCJB84H for the Stella 10K. Jigging rod for going after big bluefin, I would bump up the reel (I like to have at least 350 yds of 80 or 100# braid (JB hollowcore preferably) if not more, plus a topshot and able to do 25# of drag for jigging bigger tuna) and look for a rod rated for around a 500gram jig. For smaller tuna, like schoolie yellowfin, you may be able to get away with the MXJ and 65# line, but I would get a rod blank that will flex a bit more, like a 250-400 gram type blank. A long stiff blank with a reel that can't put out enough drag to really utilize the power in the rod blank will work against you. The blank needs to flex to fight the tuna and take the strain off of you, but if it's made to be fished 30# of drag on the rail, a reel with 15# of drag won't get the rod to flex fully usually. Batson, JAWS and other companies make good jigging blanks at reasonable prices. The Hercules series make nice jigging rods and the longer ones may be good for popping, too! You want to kinda match up the rod, reel, line to the size fish you will be targeting. Schoolie or football BFT or smaller YFT can be caught easily on lighter rods, but big BFT need a different rod/reel/line setup to handle them efficiently and let them get to the boat for a safe release if you will release them. Also, have a stiff rod and too light of a rod/reel setup will really work against you as the rod won't be able to flex fully and it will be much harder to fight the tuna.
  4. For me, each style of rod has a different labor price, based on how much time each style would take up. UL rods under 6' are my least expensive since they are fairly quick and easy to do, FW/Light Inshore rods or over 6' UL rods, or Fly rods up to 7', is my middle category. Fly Rod/Surf Rod or heavier inshore/Cod, and Tuna type rods (trolling, jigging or popping) are my two more expensive categories due to the labor involved either due to more guides, extra length, thicker blanks, double wraps, etc. Each category has its base labor charge, but sometimes I bump it up or down, depending on the specifics of the build. Say a 6'6" or 6' FW bass rod, with preformed cork grips, I may bump down to the UL labor charge if it's a simple build w/o a lot of reaming and shaping cork and not a ton of guides to do. A tuna trolling rod with a Unibutt I will often drop down a bit because a Unibutt is a heck of a lot easier to install than the gimbal, slick butt, reel seat setup and used much less epoxy and shim material. A 11' 1 piece surf rod is a PITA for me the way my shop is set up; I gotta move the whole wrapping setup to a different room, level the lathe, get everything re set up, do the rod and then move everything back to my normal shop. But as Billy said, Builder Reputation is a big factor, as well as location!! Some builders work is flat out incredible, even with their "basic" items and will go for a much higher premium. On some cooking shows, they say to charge 3 times what the food costs to get. Other people say figure out how long it takes to build the rod and what you want to make an hour and that is your labor charge. Still other people do a much lower cost and do a much higher volume.
  5. I have gotten some of the Mudhole blanks with Lami part # stickers on them. As having one of the Batson Fiberglass and one of the Mudhole Fiberglass, they are not identical, but they are kinda close. Different tapers and feel to them. I have the 7' M power E glass blanks. The Batson has thinner walls and thicker overall diameters, where the Mudhole has a thicker wall and thinner overall diameter. The Batson is slightly stiffer throughout, but the Mudhole feels noticeably heavier weight wise.
  6. I got one of the Mudhole ones and one of the Batson ones in the same, maybe the M or H a while back. Very close, but slightly different action/feel. I gotta dig up the blanks to compare them. The Batson heaviest one is supposed to work with 16oz jigs IIRC from when I was searching for info for a Cod Rod. The JAWS JL7604 works well, too, but is only 7'6" long. The Mudhole Popping Rods 2 piece for tuna should also work well for Cod Jigging.
  7. The Typhoon series is pretty dang close to the MN series from Fuji in terms of height, style, weight, etc. I have used the Typhoons on a few rods (just finished up a Herc Inshore Light as a Tog Rod with them), but I haven't use the Titanium framed ones yet. Only Ti framed guides I have used are the Pac Bay Titanium Turbos, and the Fuji Titanium SiC Fly guides. Not sure how the Am Tack Ti compares/holds up. I have used the K frames from Fuji (steel, not Titanium) and I really like them for larger reels for Tuna Popping rods. They cast great and lined up very well with the bigger reels (Shimano 18K, Daiwa 6500 size).They are taller and heavier because they are taller. When they first came out, guys used the Titanium Framed K guides and with the guides just wrapped on for testing, found the frames distorted a lot under higher drags, which are normal for tuna popping (18-25# drag, sometimes more!!). With a Surf Rod, you probably won't have that flex problem since you probably won't be using that much drag!
  8. Let me know how it does! I have one of the 20-50# 6'6" (RCJB78M I think?) jigging blanks here that has a nice feel to it. Also, their 325gr and up knife jigging blanks should handle those tuna nicely, maybe even some of the lighter models too. The live bait blanks have a bit faster action than the RCJB line does, so you will be fighting a bit more leverage, but it should handlde it power wise. The 20-50 blank I found in my stash here has some serious power to it! With 500yds of line, you should be good! You could let it run longer if need be instead of cranking up the drag a ton, I know the Raptor has sick drag!
  9. The guys out west use those blanks and the 8' version for tuna fishing with light line, like 30# or so as a short topshot. It's a different style of fishing over here. I have built the RCJB84XH for BFT popping in Cape Cod, customer landed a ~75" BFT a couple summers ago with that blank. The RCLB70M is rated 20-50# line, so you may be able to get a tuna to the boat with that. How much line and what weight is on the Raptor? Are you looking at jigging or trolling? The RCBT56H is a sweet blank for a 30 size reel for trolling for tuna. The RCBT56XXH is a BEAST of a rod, fast action and will handle 25-30# of drag. I haven't tried their RCLB79MH yet, but that would probably work out well, too. It all comes down to how you plan to use the rod and reel! I wouldn't use that rod for trolling, but maybe if you see some smaller tuna, I would use it to jig them up maybe. Good luck!
  10. I try to give my customers a ball park date of when it will be done, providing no parts are out of stock or on backorder. That way they have an idea and time to get money together. Sometimes I have a due date I strive to make and let the person know if anything is out of stock/backordered and if that may cause me to miss the delivery date. I've had guides on backorder for 3 months before for 5 rods!!! I work 3rd shift at my "normal" job at a local University. The way this semester has been going, it's slowed me way down on rod orders between the OT I have been working as well as the craziness at night. When I get home, I am just flat worn out. One time I tried to wrap a guide on a rod when I got home. I tried 4 or 5 times and couldn't even get the wrap from where I started the wrap to the guide foot, which was around 1/8" away! Also, turning stuff on a lathe when sleepy is pretty dangerous. Another time I dozed off in my rolling computer chair while applying epoxy to a rod as it was rotating .
  11. The Hardloys are visibly grey and usually thicker than the Alconite. Under very bright lights, the Alconites have a slightly greenish tinge to them IIRC. Some of the styles are only in Alconite or Hardloy, so a pic of the guide may help identify the ring material.
  12. 70XH!!!! Finally!!!! I have both the 60H and the 60XH and I actually like the bend of the 60XH very much for a jigging rod. The 60H seemed a bit too fast/soft tip for me and the 60XH is dead on. Plenty of back end power, but a tad more flex a bit farther down the rod than the 60H, but then again I was also playing at 30# of drag instead of 20-25# with the 60H.
  13. Yeah, most of my 7'ers are faster actions that don't flex a lot down into the butt. The Inshore Heavy has a bit more flex down there than from what I remember than most of the blanks I use.
  14. I've done a few 7' rods with the K guides and used a 30, 16, 10 and then 8s for the running guides IIRC. If it's a tuna popping rod, I go 40, 25, 16, and then 12's.
  15. I bought a set of each the Virtus Lite, Heavy and Typhoon in the sizes I use the most and compared to the Fuji's. If I can afford it, so can you. If you don't like them, then sell them to someone and recoup the vast majority of your money. Why should I go through all of the work and time to do that for you to post specifics??? The Typhoon are very close to the MN series from Fuji in terms of ring height, foot length, etc, but maybe slightly different weight wise just going by feel in the hand. The Virtus Lite and Heavy are pretty much the same sizes, heights, etc, but with a much beefier frame, think more like the HN frame of the Fuji. I've been using them a lot and no problems; I am using the chrome and black frames and Nanolite rings mostly. ALPS are a different style completely with how the legs meet the frame (at the top instead of the middle) and the rings aren't in the middle as much as the American Tackle guides are, they are more 70/30 or so and the frames seem thinner. ALPS is coming out with a heavier duty XN frame, possibly late this year, early next year, to replace the ST/Turbo style of guide. I often combine the Am Tack guides with Fuji tip tops because I want a size 12 ring for my BFT popping rods and most of the styles don't come in size 12 ring until you get to a 12 or 14 tube size. Pick up the phone or send them an email and they will help you out. Or man up, open the wallet and buy a set or two. If the weight/dimensions are that crucial to you, then it's worth the money. I've seen factory listed specs WAY off on many rodbuilding items. Trashing a company and then suggesting they give someone a free set of guides is complete BS.
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