Father's Day Gator Rod

Newell Nut · June 22, 2015, 05:23:41 PM

Decided to build a spinning rod for myself on a Seeker Hercules GTS80 15-30 for offshore mangos. This is my first gator color build and put the final coat on early this morning. I used my standard handle design with Fuji rubber gimbal, tapered EVA for a nice transition and shrink wrap and X wrap rope on the fore grip. Going to break it in tomorrow if they feed near the surface but it will get some action soon with the next full moon for sure. Mangos beware.

coastal_dan · June 22, 2015, 06:04:03 PM

Beautiful rod (not suprising ;

)! Thanks for sharing!

Newell Nut · June 22, 2015, 10:59:52 PM

Thanks, I bought the thread for another rod that is due a customer in August so I thought I would play around with it and since I live in Fl just put a gator blue on it too. It will be a good advertising rod on the party boat, especially when it drags in a bunch of mangos.

Reel 224 · June 22, 2015, 11:11:12 PM

Excellent job on that rod, I should tell my wife I need another rod for fathers day

handi2 · June 23, 2015, 12:13:52 AM

I had a FL Gator conventional rod made for my son's birthday 2 years ago. I NEED one of these now..!

8'6" for Cobia fishing please. Will it be ready tomorrow..

Alto Mare · June 23, 2015, 02:07:20 AM

Great Job as usual Dwight. I see I'm not the only one that likes additional guides. That's a nice blank

.

Newell Nut · June 23, 2015, 11:15:13 PM

What a sweet blank it is too. Broke it in on two mangos today before the cudas showed up and the mangos left the area. It has a nice moderate flex to it that I like. I have two more of those blanks and one is going to be built conventional for a Newell 322 for casting a king mac jig this fall. Thinking about Fl Seminoles colors for that one.

steelfish · June 23, 2015, 11:36:07 PM

thats a beauty, I need to save somehow and get me something like that for my van staal 275.

I have none off shore spinning rod to pair it.

Newell Nut · June 24, 2015, 12:56:05 AM

Quote from: steelfish on June 23, 2015, 11:36:07 PM
thats a beauty, I need to save somehow and get me something like that for my van staal 275.

I have none off shore spinning rod to pair it.

If fishing 30 lb line this one is great. If you plan heavier line then try the GTS80H which is a 30-60. I believe Keta told me he caught a 60 lb rooster fish on his GTS80 but drag is more important than line size. I fish 12 to 15 lb on my offshore spinners and 30 lb momoi diamond which is about 40 lb anyway.

steelfish · June 24, 2015, 01:40:56 AM

thanks Dwight but a custom rod with seeker, phoenix, etc blanks are on the expensive side for me at this moment.. but I have some nice factory rods that I will sell when the time sets and get me 2 nice custom rods, one for inshore and one for offshore, now I can just drool and take notes.

I like the action of some rainshadows blanks and have some models already choosen but I like this one too.

Newell Nut · June 24, 2015, 09:43:34 AM

Quote from: steelfish on June 24, 2015, 01:40:56 AM
thanks Dwight but a custom rod with seeker, phoenix, etc blanks are on the expensive side for me at this moment.. but I have some nice factory rods that I will sell when the time sets and get me 2 nice custom rods, one for inshore and one for offshore, now I can just drool and take notes.

I like the action of some rainshadows blanks and have some models already choosen but I like this one too.

I have built a bunch of Rainshadows a I like the RCLBs for price and functionality. They are a blend of graphite and E glass. I built some spinners on the RCLB79ML and they work great for King Mac fishing and mango fishing. It is a 20-40 and has some nice kick in the top. My buddy here that Tarpon fishes uses the RCLBXL with a very soft tip to catch little crabs with no weight and it still has the backbone to fight those big guys. They don't blow your budget like the Hercules blanks.