am4mu

Recoil titanium micro's in a spiral wrap. Good point! An excellent choice!!

Me personally titanium ringlock. I'm kinda partial to Alps, Fuji and American tackle. But that is just my preference. Lots of good stuff out there.

Don't forget E J Gaines went down to. That was a sweet win though. Hope Maty Mauk starts getting reps on the plane ride back.

Congrats!!!

He should be able to find that. Very nice!

Congratulations Leonard!!!

Good looking build! I'm a sucker for green and red.

I would have loved to see the Big 12 thing continue. Wish we would continue to play Kansas and Illinois. Also looking forward to playing Arkansas more often. To much fun for all to be had for it not to continue. The ones I feel for are Ku, K-State and Iowa State if the Big 12 does implode. What will happen to them. Geez, just bring back the old Big 8 days and I would be perfectly happy!!

You might look at the MHX blanks from Mudhole. I just built a 7wt and it is awesome. Didn't break the bank either.

PM sent

I'm able to log in again. Thanks!!

Interesting question. I am a hobbyist builder that builds mainly fly rods and ultra light spinning rods for family and friends. I am by no means a professional. In my day job I am the shop supervisor of a toolroom that builds molds for the plastics industry so I am a hands on person. Also the people I work for are kind of enough to allow me to use any open machinery for doing rod work after hours and on weekends so it is very convenient. For me personally it is a lot like tying flies. I enjoy doing it and yes it is a rush to catch fish on something I built. There are also some very nice blanks out there that I can build rods from that don't add up to near the cost of a high end production rod. That does not imply anything negative about these high end production rods either. I myself own a Sage and several other production rods and do not have a problem with any of them. I have a TFO Professional that is still one of my "go to" rods. As to why a person would want to buy a custom rod I will throw out several things and hopefully some of the pro builders that I know are on here will chime in as well. On a custom rod you have many different types of guides that can be used. You can have custom grips made to fit your preferences. Also there are many different options for colors of wraps. Building a fly rod for my wife right now, purple wraps with fuscia trim bands on a green Batson blank. Yuck!! But that is what she wants. Static testing insures good guide placements. In the hands of the right craftsmen (not me, LOL) if an individual wants a lot of bling they can get it. Are custom rods for everyone? NO!! There are many very fine production rods out there and they don't all break the bank. Last time I checked the fish don't care if you are using a $100 dollar rod or a $700 dollar Sage or Winston. I'm sure I am leaving a lot out but I have rambled long enough and I'm sure you are by now getting my drift. Basically different strokes for different folks. In my opinion custom rods AND production rods both have there place. Tight lines and tight wraps. Doug Kiefer PS: No I have no intention of quitting my day job, I just like my hobby.

Ditto what Hoglaw said. You might also try rodbuildingforum.com. My repair skills are limited but it sounds like you might be into a rewrap. Structurally though this condition should not hurt anything. Might want to leave it alone. Ron Schneider of Schneiders rod shop in Mountain Home could also give you some valuable input as well as Mark at RDP Flyrods. Good luck!

Sweet! I'm jealous!!

Outstanding Steve! Good for you!

I have one of Mark's rods that he built for me and love it. He asks all of the right questions up front and builds it the way you want it. I would highly recommend one of his rods.

I have been looking into new rods for the same application. Right now I am using a discontinued Cabelas 7wt. Nothing wrong with the Cabelas rod I'm just wanting to step up in weight. TFO and St Croix both build a fine rod. Have been looking at the TFO Axiom and St Croix "bank robber". Well since I don't want to spend that much and would like my own personal touches I have decided to build an 8wt on a Batson rx8 "x" series blank and trick it out with really nice components. I will still have less in it than a "bank robber" or something else in that class. Having said that though you can not go wrong with a TFO or St Croix production rod. Both have great warranties and customer service. Anymore, I just prefer to build my own. Good luck!

Awesome!!! Makes you wonder what else is swimming around in that pond!

I have one of Mark's 4/5 wt's. It fishes very well. He asks all of the right questions before the build begins so you are assured to get what you want. Price is right and the lead time is excellent. Good luck! You will be very pleased with the whole process of getting your rod. Doug Kiefer

Thanks Dave, Doug

Was just wondering who all is building rods in the KC area. I know I have seen some of you on rodbuildingforum.com. I'm just a hobbyist building rods for myself and a few friends and was looking for some local builders to network with. I'm building mostly flyrods and spinning rods with a few bass rods thrown in for some of my friends. Doug Kiefer

You are absolutely right Chief! That game should never have gone to overtime. Even with the officiating(which players can not control) you can not miss three free throws(which players can control) in the last two minutes, especially when the other team is not missing anything under 30 feet. That game will be a great learning tool for that team and will make them that much better later on in the season. Doug Kiefer

Way to early for me to get revved up. But I do agree this team is frustrating. Yes the press has been geting beat and if it gets beat deep that usually results in an easy score. This defense is very time consuming to get worked out to where it needs to be. Some of these kids are very young and will need time to learn the system and be effective. Shot selection puzzles me at times to. That should not take a long time to learn. The ranking was probably based on reputation. Not that these kids could not be that good by March. The real fun will start when the regualar season starts and they have to deal with very good Kansas and Kansas State teams. In my opinion it could be a very interseting year. Doug Kiefer

Went to fountain bluff this morning to test a spinning-jig rod I recently finished. Not near as many people there as you normally see at james a reed. Most people were bait fishing, I was one of the few jig fishing. Jig fishing was slow but the bait people were doing decent. The average size I saw being caught however was very small. Still better than driving 200 miles just to test a rod on trout. Doug Kiefer

Mark has built a 4wt rod for me. The craftfsmanship is excellent and the rod fishes just as well. Can't wait to see the new blanks. They sound very interesting. Doug Kiefer