First attempt at a surf conventional rod

[JasonGotaProblem]

I decided not to decorate this one. It's my first attempt, and i didn't wanna risk making a cool looking rod that doesn't function well. In fact I decided to go all black. Black fuji guides tip and seat, and I went over the stripped down graphite blank with epoxy with a dab of black tint mixed in.

I used an LC-20 LC-16 HN-12, and 4 MN-10 guides (all guides reversed for coolness factor) and a MN 10-10 tip. The first guide is 30" from the reel seat, and the line never touches no matter how I bend it. The rod started life as a penn squadron 3 10' spinning rod. Its listed as graphite composite but it seems to be on the graphite side of that mix, very light weight after the original hardware removed.

I built it for the abu ultra mag XLV, first cast I threw 4oz of lead well over 100 yds, 2nd cast closer to 130 yds. 3rd cast I got such a ratnest I cut off 60yds of line and swore off mono forever. I respooled with 65# braid today and wanna test cast more but there's a ton of lightning. I also wanna try it with the 622.

And I have officially run out of spots for it in my rod holder. All those are my own builds. I may have a problem.

[jurelometer]

Good job!  I think that you might want to consider going to lower profile bottom guides on future conventional builds.  Unlike spinners, conventional reels are close to the blank, so you do not need to make a tradeoff between tall guides for better casting and short guides for being able to load the bottom half of the rod (especially important for fighting big fish, but might also help a bit on the cast).

If you are a birds nest hater, you are probably going to be less happy with braid than with mono. Braid backlashes more easily, and is harder to clear.

I keep threatening to do a thread on how I learned to remove backlashes, but as a preview:

1.  Never pull on the end of the line harder and harder, hoping for the best- this is a high risk, low reward play that can result in a cinched down mess that cannot be cleared.

2.  There is usually only one or two spots where most of the coils are tangled. Find these and gently pull bunches of the coils away from the spool to loosen them.  this is usually enough to start pulling line off the reel without resistance.

3.  You may run into a spot where you cannot unwind, because one leg of a coil is blocking the line.  Just turn the spool backwards until to you find the tangle blob that the leg goes into.  You will usually see the other leg of the coil at this point too. lift the coils in the blob as in (2) above, and you will be able to free the blocking coil.

You might need to repeat 2 & 3 a couple times, but I have always been able to clear a backlash that has not been cinched down (almost gave up a time or two, but always managed in the end).

-J

[JasonGotaProblem]

Plural of anecdote is not data, but I've had the opposite experience. Mono seems to wanna jump off the spool in a ratnest-y kinda way, where braid doesn't do that. Its like mono is re-tangling as you clear it unless you keep pressure on. Prior to last weekend It'd been 6+ months since I've had to cut a ratnest. Right around the time I switched from mono.

In between the first post and now I've thrown some test casts. Even into the wind the braid is casting great. Cant throw hard with the wind, houses are too close to the lake. I'm looking forward to seeing what it can do in open water.

And I realize what I did wrong the other day, I released early and the lead went skyward. I realized when did it again with braid, but instead got a 10' nest that was easily cleared. Again just personal experience. I may still be coasting on beginners luck.

[jurelometer]

If the mono has too much memory, that can happen.  I have undone literally thousands of backlashes (mine and otheres)  on scores of different reels, and the worst were all braid.  But you never know... If you are more successful, or even just more comfortable with braid, it is probably better to start there, because that is where you are going to want to end up.  Those of us that spent many years with mono before the advent of braid seem to have more trouble trusting braid when you are going to really wind up and huck one.

-J

[steelfish]

you said this was an spinning rod and then you rebuilt it as conventional.

did you searched for the spine of the rod to wrap the guides on the other side and or just wrapped the guides where the original guides where before?

for the way you wrapped the rod looks like if might be used for Dual purpose, main use will be with a conventional reel but in a rush you can use it with a 4000-5000 size spinning reel or bit bigger.

[Shellbelly]

A bird nest tutorial has to include achieving success while wading in chest-deep surf, with a fish on and little black tips eating your catch off the stringer.  Adds real-time urgency to the subject.

Seriously though, you have a point.  There are some basics to undoing what seemingly can't be undone.

With mono, my experience has been the heavier the weight, the more damage is done to the line as it gets compressed in the over spooling and final hard stop.  It wrinkles the line making casts more susceptible to errors until it relaxes.  From a surf-casting perspective, that is.

Braid doesn't seem to have bird nest memory.  It just makes a tougher mess to clear than mono.

[dlrider]

Looks like a well done job. 

So two three questions:

Is this intended for Gulf or Atlantic surf fishing? 

How far from the butt end is the reel seat?  It appears to me no more than 2 feet.

I saw the reel here and am fairly familiar with the Ambassadeurs of that shape/style but not this one.  It is wider and with larger line capabilities than my narrow spool version (a Mag I Plus), but likely can't handle the 30 lbs. line rating that your reel can.  But casting 4 oz, does it run out of magnetic braking support?

[oldmanjoe]

How many yards of cable is on that reel ?

[JasonGotaProblem]

Looks like a well done job. 

So two three questions:

Is this intended for Gulf or Atlantic surf fishing? 

How far from the butt end is the reel seat?  It appears to me no more than 2 feet.

I saw the reel here and am fairly familiar with the Ambassadeurs of that shape/style but not this one.  It is wider and with larger line capabilities than my narrow spool version (a Mag I Plus), but likely can't handle the 30 lbs. line rating that your reel can.  But casting 4 oz, does it run out of magnetic braking support?

1. Gulf AND Atlantic, though I dont think I can do so simultaneously. I have family on east coast and I live on the west coast.
2. It's about 2 feet, I will measure directly. I did the armpit technique for spacing,
3. This is my first baitcaster this size, and I'm not terribly experienced with casting a reel with a mag brake in general, this is all still learning territory for me. I want to be helpful but I can't make any meaningful comparisons.
But I could definitely feel the difference when I turned it on. Also, and this shouldn't be a surprise, this reel has a lot more magnets in it than my XLI or my modern blackmax has. So they appear to try to compensate for the larger spool with more magnets.

Joe, they claim it'll hold 500yds of 20# mono but I only got 350yds of 65# momoi diamond braid to fit. Probably coulda gotten another 30yds but i didn't wanna overload the spool.

[Woodpuppy]

My solution to this sort of issue is I only use spinners. Fishing can be frustrating enough without suffering with spools mounted the wrong way! 

[JasonGotaProblem]

My solution to this sort of issue is I only use spinners. Fishing can be frustrating enough with our suffering with spools mounted the wrong way! 

That was me a year ago. Then I went sideways and joined the dark side.

Truth of the matter is I just got bored. And I like a challenge.

[Woodpuppy]

I can understand that. Sometimes you just need a new challenge. For the moment, mine is taking kids fishing! I'm not even worried about eating yet, just getting them hooked!

[thorhammer]

A 500 Jiggy with metal spool won't hold 500 yds of 20 mono. That claim is way off.

[Gfish]

Any techniques to reduce mono memory on spooled line? I too use braid 'cause of that issue.
One thing about conventional/baitcaster use for me is to remember to do a couple a practice casts when first starting-out, before  a normal or heave-it cast. I even set-up a spinner to start-out with in case I see/hear something and wanna quick cast toward it.

[jurelometer]

Any techniques to reduce mono memory on spooled line? I too use braid 'cause of that issue.
One thing about conventional/baitcaster use for me is to remember to do a couple a practice casts when first starting-out, before  a normal or heave-it cast. I even set-up a spinner to start-out with in case I see/hear something and wanna quick cast toward it.

All you can do is get it wet.  That will make it temporarily limper. Nylon readily absorbs water, but will adjust back to whatever the humidity is in storage.  Stretching can help a little, but it is not good for the line, doesn't last long, and is impractical for  much length.

You can also buy limper mono.  We discussed this in a recent thread.  Suffix Elite is the super limp mono that I am familiar with.  I used it for running line with shooting heads for fly fishing.  This meant up to 70 feet of loose mono heaped on the deck that had to shoot the guides without tangling (most of the time). So very little coiling.