Saw a video on youtube, with Joe Robinson performing some really cool spin casting. Digged deeper down the worm hole and came across a book from "Modern science of spin-fishing (1961)" by Erne St. Claire. Erne's ideal spin rod for lures 1/16 - 1/4 oz
is 6 - 6'6" long, made of fiberglass, got slow action and flexes over the whole span (full bow action).
If such rod does not exist, he suggest the reader to make one himself, of a two piece 8'6" dry fly blank.
In the book he teaches the technique of some casts wich uses the power of the flexing fiberglass rod.
Any good suggestions for spin rod or blanks?
1) Joe Robinson has his own book... specifically, about XUL spinning (lures 1/64 - 1/16 oz.): http://piscatorialabsurdities.com/1.html (http://piscatorialabsurdities.com/1.html)
2) plenty old UL Fenwick's were Mod-Slow... don't remember the lightest XUL (1-3# & 1-4# line rating) being over 6', but plain UL (2-6# line rating) went up to 12' Noodle (definitely, SLOW)
...many other brands, too, but Fenwick's are most abundant & most descriptively labeled
There's tons of old glass rods at the auction. You will see tubular and solid glass. Tubular is lighter, but solid glass can have a slower action. Some, like the Phillipson, Kennedy Fisher and Silaflex are a little pricy, but the vast majority are dirt cheap. The spinning rods seldom have a lure weight rating but the fly rods are almost always marked with line weight to give you some idea of how they will perform. The action is invariably slow and they flex down into the butt because that was the nature of the beast. Fiberglass is very elastic so a fast action fiberglass rod would have had to be very heavy and cumbersome. Trim from the butt to get the length you want.
-steve
Before his career as a rod builder/designer got launched Gary Loomis was making his spinning rods from flyrod blanks.
Quote from: philaroman on December 30, 2018, 11:54:09 AM
1) Joe Robinson has his own book... specifically, about XUL spinning (lures 1/64 - 1/16 oz.): http://piscatorialabsurdities.com/1.html (http://piscatorialabsurdities.com/1.html)
2) plenty old UL Fenwick's were Mod-Slow... don't remember the lightest XUL (1-3# & 1-4# line rating) being over 6', but plain UL (2-6# line rating) went up to 12' Noodle (definitely, SLOW)
...many other brands, too, but Fenwick's are most abundant & most descriptively labeled
I sure like to get a hold of that book! But it's seems rare, and especially har to get in sweden.
There was a god made like a hybrid fly/spin rod, by TFO aimed for XUL, think Mr. Loomis had something to do with that, once again hard to get in sweden.
Glass seems to be neglected in sweden, there could be some older rods but the opportunity to find them on the market rarely arises, and then they are not vary cheap.
There are some old fiberglass on ebay, but what would be really nice, is some experience of some tested gears.
if you're in Sweden, you can prob. find good Garcia glass (tobacco Conolon, etc.)
Finally got my rod.
Made it from a 3wt fly blank.
I've yet to grasp any fine technique to cast proper.
But i landed a 1,7 kg pike in the weekend, to be fair she was not putting much of a fight against the weak rod. Fittedwith an Alcedo micron.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/27/19263_18_03_19_12_03_57.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/27/19263_18_03_19_12_06_10.jpeg)
Nice rig. Nice fish.
-steve
Fun creating little niche rods. Nice job.
Dwight
Yeah, it is really a rewarding thing to do.
Success achieved ;D
Now that looks fun!
Nice work Marc. Good to see you out. Has spring arrived in the northern hemisphere? Dominick
Quote from: Guldhamstern on March 18, 2019, 07:26:52 PM
Finally got my rod.
Made it from a 3wt fly blank.
I've yet to grasp any fine technique to cast proper.
But i landed a 1,7 kg pike in the weekend, to be fair she was not putting much of a fight against the weak rod. Fittedwith an Alcedo micron.
(https://alantani.com/gallery/27/19263_18_03_19_12_03_57.jpeg)
(https://alantani.com/gallery/27/19263_18_03_19_12_06_10.jpeg)
how long is that fly rod blank?
and what is the weight of the lures you use with that rod?
This is funny
Just got 2 old, cheap 9' 4-6 wt, fly rod blanks off eBay from a Seller that I seem to do a lot of business with.. got'em because i couldn't pass up the price. Didn't really know what I was going to do with them.
Anyway - they came Monday.. Thinking about them, measured one up and took a chance and cut 2' off the tip..
Boy that sure changed the action.. Still plenty slow but in the range of a light Spinning Rod. Going to put Guides and a Handle on it soon and wish for good weather..
Steve
I have a el cheapo Eagle claw fly rod 5wt that I will never use for fly fishing, I never sold it cuz I have the plan to convert it to a UL spinning rod, I havent had the time to check for the necessary steps to make it usable as spinning rod.
I will make it some day ::) ;D
I found some reviews of that fly rod eagle claw black eagle 8.6ft 5wt and it was a great bang for the buck, so, pretty sure can handle some 1/8oz - 1/4 lures with 10lb braid line
Alex, a 5 wt would be for about 1/4 oz and up. Somewhere here on AT is a formula that gives you the conversion from fly rod line weight to lure weight for casting, but I can't find it right now. I think it may be 1/16 ounce equals one line weight. For example, an 8 wt rod would be good for throwing (8 x 1/16 =) 1/2 ounce.
-steve
thanks Steve for the estimation on the lure rating
Im good if the rod can cast 1/4oz and up lures, I dont think I have anything ligther than 1/4oz anyway, heck, I will have hard time to fill a 3600 plano box with lures in the range 1/4 to 1/2oz lures.
now, as always the problem will find the time to do a proper modification to the fly rod, I have read that some guys just put a small spinning reel with 4 or 6lb line on the fly rod and use it like that, kind of akward at first but doable for a short time of testing or fishing.
Quote from: Guldhamstern on December 31, 2018, 12:08:48 AM
I sure like to get a hold of that book! But it's seems rare, and especially har to get in sweden.
There was a god made like a hybrid fly/spin rod, by TFO aimed for XUL, think Mr. Loomis had something to do with that, once again hard to get in sweden.
you may be able to get the book from
Sportsman's Finest in Austin,TX:
https://sportsmansfinest.com/pages/contact (https://sportsmansfinest.com/pages/contact)
call or e-mail about the book, specifically -- there is no link!
the Joe Robinson TFO model is
TFG FWSF 601-2
Quote from: Dominick on March 19, 2019, 05:51:31 PM
Nice work Marc. Good to see you out. Has spring arrived in the northern hemisphere? Dominick
Yes, or it is on it's way. It's still rather cold and gray, but all our small lakes are open and ice free now.
Sorry to say, i did not use that St. Claire devon yet. I did fish with 0,25 fc leader and would be afraid to lose it. But i must eventually use it.
The whole rig is a 6'6" (and that was the lenght of the blank. It is tip over butt. I did wrap it without any extra ornaments, just the simplest wrapping. Used some old spar varnish my dad found in our barn (most certainly from the same period Bush Jr. sat in the office). The guides are Airwaves from american tackle, in total there are 6+ tip top.
About lures, that day i only used a 3 g (1/9 oz), and i think i could be able to use a little heavier, but if anything, i would prefer to go lower weightwize. The whole concept i'm trying to rip of are from Erne St. Claire's book, and he writes: "only those lures...1/16 to 1/4 ounce in weight, should be considered as spinning lures."
I will do another rod soon, using a 2pc 8' 4wt glass. Don't know how short it will end up...Markus
[/quote]
you may be able to get the book from Sportsman's Finest in Austin,TX:
https://sportsmansfinest.com/pages/contact (https://sportsmansfinest.com/pages/contact)
call or e-mail about the book, specifically -- there is no link!
the Joe Robinson TFO model is TFG FWSF 601-2
[/quote]
Some month ago i asked about both that rod and the book.
They'd have the rod, but was willing to ship it to sweden. I asked about the book and it was out of stock, and if they had one they would not ship. But i would not be surprised if they did print some more copies of the book in the future, 'cause there seems to be a market.