The Jigmaster Project

Started by Rothmar2, April 30, 2015, 10:51:52 AM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Rothmar2

There will be other projects soon John that I will get threads going on. I actually have started on Tom H's Squidder kit that he generously sent me a couple of years ago. Mike has been decent enough to send me all the parts to assemble the reel, but I have some plans to add my own touches to it. I also have started a 349 build, I actually have some photos already in the gallery for it, but will get a thread going for that one when I'm next back from work. The old Daiwa project thread will also re-surface, have had a bit of a change in direction with how that was going to be done, since seeing some of Marq's carbon fibre work, and Mike sending me a heap of woven carbon fibre that he never used on his Penn cut-down project threads.
So one project ends, and 3 begin! I also have a few other reels boxed up that will be getting mods down the track, but they are a long way off yet.

gstours

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and pictures of your work on reels and your fishing pictures. 
    We are all inspired with your work,.   Every time I see you post something I,m motivated further to do something with my hobbies and tools in my shop.  Truly thanks.   Keep up the great work.   And posting.🚣‍♂️

Darin Crofton

I'm blown away at this thread, just read every word and comment. Chris, your work here is nothing short of amazing! Thank you for sharing!!!
God, Family and Fishing, what else is there?

mhc

#258
That's a very impressive set of unique 501s - the frames speak for themselves, but all the other custom parts really finish them off - the wide eccentric levers, handles with tailor-made grips, rod clamps, drag stars etc.
They are a fitting finale to what has been an epic thread - running for over three years with fascinating twists and turns the whole time as you developed and improved on the concept as you went. I feel privileged to be custodian of a few spin-offs (pardon the pun) from this project. Thanks for the sharing the project with us, and thanks a million for the frames, rings and other parts along the way, and, not least of all - the inspiration to experiment with reels.

Mike
It can't be too difficult - a lot of people do it.

Alto Mare

Chris, it is easy to figure out why you have over 100.000 views on this amazing thread, don't ever give up!

I always enjoy your postings...thank you!


Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

Decker


Rothmar2

Just a quick post to show that I am getting some fishing done with these reels now that they are (almost) finished.
Had a day trip up the east coast of Tasmania, after hearing a few reports that the Striped Trumpeter were biting well after their closed season. I have previously mentioned these fish in the Tank's World Tour thread.
Managed to get onto a few, with one decent one testing the Cortez a bit. We were fishing a deep reef at about 270', first mark produced nothing, but the second marked turned it on the moment the baits reached the bottom. A 5kg model was first up, and while it put a good bend in the rod, it didn't gain any line.



The next drop, I hooked a good-one, which while playing up a lot, was only able to pull about 15' off the reel, against approx. 7kg drag. The fish went on to be about a 7kg model, and normally these will bulldog a fair bit of line off most tackle.



We then pulled a couple of undersized ones, which were returned to the water, and the school we marking shut-down straight after. We moved off to some other marks a couple of miles away, and managed some smaller eating species, before going back to the mark with the hot running stripeys at the change of tide.
Once again, bites as soon as hitting the bottom, but one marginal keeper, and two undersized were raised, and just like first time, when they were returned, the school shut down again. No matter, we had a decent feed anyway.
The Cortez performed well, I placed a minute amount of lapping paste on the 5:1 gears prior to the trip and this smoothed things out dramatically over the day of winding. The only other thing to note was I was not entirely happy with the shape and feel of the black/white swirl handle during the reel fishing situation. This will be modified ASAP, and will show the results when done.


Darin Crofton

Great catches, dinner is now served!
God, Family and Fishing, what else is there?

mhc

#263
Nice catch Chris, it's good to see the custom jigmasters in action - bringing those stripey things up from 270' would have been a good workout for the PC 5:1 gears. Thanks for posting the follow up report on how your reels are performing.

Mike
It can't be too difficult - a lot of people do it.

Alto Mare

Nice Chris, I bet that's a good tasting fish. With so much going on our site, I have forgotten all about that custom handle you made and now I feel somewhat embarrassed for even attempting to send you one of mine :)... My work don't even come close to yours.
By the way, what didn't you like about the feel while fishing? I did notice that tilting the longer knobs do feel much better and I'm now setting many that way, mine are at a 10 degrees tilt.
Thanks for the report on custom parts, I'm glad everything worked out,

Best,

Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

gstours

  Thanks for sharing your photos,  the proof of all your labor is in that pudding.  Nice fish too!   Thanks. :)

Rothmar2

#266
Quote from: Alto Mare on November 14, 2018, 10:50:15 AM
Nice Chris, I bet that's a good tasting fish. With so much going on our site, I have forgotten all about that custom handle you made and now I feel somewhat embarrassed for even attempting to send you one of mine :)... My work don't even come close to yours.
By the way, what didn't you like about the feel while fishing? I did notice that tilting the longer knobs do feel much better and I'm now setting many that way, mine are at a 10 degrees tilt.
Thanks for the report on custom parts, I'm glad everything worked out,

Best,

Sal


Hi Sal,

The thing I didn't like was the rest for the thumb, I just didn't judge the angle very well while trying it out in the shed. It seems as though when you are on the water, things change a bit from flat stable land. I hope the following will explain....

You can see from this shot that the thumb rest flat is about 90 degs to the handle shaft axis



While the T-Bar was faired smooth, there was a ridge under my thumb that when on the boat, was putting a line of pressure under my thumb pad. Not uncomfortable, just annoying, and I figured I can fix this.

So laying some 40 grit paper on a bench, I sanded a bit more off the handle at about 45degs. You can see it in the next few shots...



Stating to fair back with finer grain wet/dry sandpaper



The arrows should clear up the direction of the extra taper for the thumb to rest on



And all polished back up after about an hours work.



Will see how it goes on the next trip.

Sal, I'll have to disagree on your knobs, casting the blanks for shaping is next level. I have wondered how you guys casting your own get the amazing patterns in them, without the resins becoming to homogenus in colour. Some of the colours you have come up with have been amazing. The red and black ones you showed recently are stunningly beautiful. You and Lou are really setting the pace with the custom knobs you are creating.

Here is the limit of my resin casting skills. With tuna season just around the corner, I have been back making resin heads for trolling lures again, for myself and my fishing mates. Haven't done this for a few years, but needed some smaller ones to go after some light tackle records, after some heavy losses the last couple of seasons.





Should be swimming a few off the end of the Jigmasters and light tackle gear soon!

Dominick

Chris, nice job on those stripers.  I really like the lures.  For a while I could not resist buying ones that appealed to me.  That did not mean the fish liked them.  At least I have a bunch to change out when the fishing is slow in the hopes of finding the right color that the fish cannot resist.  You are a very talented guy.  Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.

Alto Mare

I see what you mean Chris, I'm sure it will get fine tuned to perfection.
Nice job on the trolling lures as well...master of all trades :).
I see you have different shapes on the head, a good way to experiment what gets it done...good work as usual.

Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

Rothmar2

I have been somewhat quiet of late on here, just not getting much time for custom reel work, just so much on, and still get a regular stream of services to do. But did get a trip away recently, and broke the Franken-jiggy in. Well my mate Simon did.

This was a couple of weeks ago, we got a break in the weather and were able to make it Pedra Branca (which I have  posted about on the Tank's World tour thread). We found a few Bluefin straight away and Frank was able to get into the action, although it was Simon's strike at the time, he says "You better take it", and I'm like "It's OK, you took the first fish honours with the 500 Jiggy, might as well keep a good thing going, it's yours". We had a 40+ lber in the boat in less than 10mins! Simon commented how lightweight the entire rig was, and how it was "Fun" to use.





Unfortunately I noticed the Handle Ball shaft had worked itself loose a bit, so it was retired Frank for the rest of the day.

We went off in search of our favourite eating fish, the striped trumpeter, and managed to find a few, even if they weren't biting well. Good table sized 8-12lbers. The Cortez Jiggy wasn't really stressed by any of the fish we landed with the drag buttoned down.I think we may have also got a Bluefin on it too during the day. No problems with it, and the recent handle Mod, felt good in the hand.







While fishing for Stripeys, we were visited by a rather large Great White Shark, around 5.5m in length, and with a huge girth. The nearby islets had a lot of young seals about, and I suspect this shark had its fill of them. I got about 5mins of footage of the encounter on my Phone, but no idea how to transfer it to the 'net. Certainly was an awesome experience, it was so close to the boat, you could touch it. Amazing creatures. Needless to say, the sea dogs didn't trouble us at all with any of our fish! I managed to put 1 min of footage up on my Instagram page however. (User chris_rothe if you are interested).

There was a fair swell running on the day, but the sea-state was otherwise calm. Got some video footage of amazing waves breaking around the islands, but will have to just put a still shot up instead.



A great day out in the Southern Ocean. One I will never forget. The Jiggy reels have certainly been worth the effort. Pack more than enough punch for the fishing I do with them.