05-15-2003, 11:39 AM
[cool]Hey guys, this post is to cover for both Aaron and JapanRon...on jigs and long sticks.
That black jig, with the chartreuse eye, was developed from my favorite flavor of ice fly, in the days when I lived in the north country. The combo of black, gold and a chartreuse eye was absolutely the best for bluegill. Since then, the little jigs I make up in the same colors are almost as much a part of my everyday tackle selection as the #1 all-around killer, the white with a red eye.
I have made rods since I lived in Southern Cal. I learned to wrap the rental rods for the passengers when I worked on the boats. Kept me busy when the weather didn't let us go fishing. I gradually evolved to making smaller and fancier rods...doing a lot of exotic diamond wrapping and all that stuff. Didn't help me catch more fish, but something to look at when I wasn't getting bit.
I started making long rods when I lived in Sacramento. I used them both for shad and for the steelhead and salmon. When I took them to the creeks and lakes in the high country, I found they were ideal for reaching out and dropping a light lure or bait to spooky fish in skinny water. I also found them to be ideal for fishing jigs under bobbers, with long leaders...and especially for "bubble-chucking"...fishing flies behind water filled bubbles. I could fling them a mile.
Most of my first long spinning rods were made from Fenwick glass flyrods. A six weight, with a fast tip, was good for light sunfish and stream trout. However, if I fished steelhead, or wanted to fling a water filled bubble, I got better performance from a 9 foot for an 8 weight line.
I have since made some heavier "dip sticks", for dredging big cats and bass out of cover from my float tube. I build them on heavy action rods of ten or eleven feet in length...either downrigger rods or fast tip European match rods...or "Zander" (walleye) rods. These big sticks also work great for probing pockets along breakwaters and other structure in salt water. When you hang something in protective cover, you need some beef to bring them out. You don't do much casting with the big sticks, so baitcasting reels are better than spinning.
If you are going to be casting light jigs for sunfish and trout, an eight or eight and a half foot rod is about right from a float tube. It provides extra length and action...like fishing with a fly rod...but is not too heavy and cumbersome. For bank fishing, the 9' length gives you more reach.
Fly rod blanks are pricey these days. If you want a long spinning rod, you can find a serviceable fly rod at Wally World (WalMart) for under $50. If you are not checked out on making handles, you can tape a spinning reel to the fly rod handle and you are good to go. It will cast without adding spinning guides, but it will cast farther and better if you at least replace the bottom two fly rod guides with spinning guides. I have seen a lot of similar rigs on the water. Crappie guys use them a lot.
If you are really into building rods, then remove the fly rod handle and replace it with a spinning handle. It is your choice how long you leave the butt section. On 9' rods for bubble chucking I leave a longer butt section, to allow two handed casting. With shorter handles, you get more of the feel of a fly rod when playing the fish.
Similarly, carefully remove the snake guides from the fly rod and rewrap with light singlefoot Fuji spinning guides. Either replace the guides in their exact places...or, if you know what you are doing, respace them to spinning rod configuration. This will usually cut the number of guides by two or three, and keep the rod a little lighter. Too many guides...heavier than the fly rod guides...and you won't like the feel of the rod.
If anyone wants to try putting one together, PM me with questions and I will try to help walk you through it.
[signature]
That black jig, with the chartreuse eye, was developed from my favorite flavor of ice fly, in the days when I lived in the north country. The combo of black, gold and a chartreuse eye was absolutely the best for bluegill. Since then, the little jigs I make up in the same colors are almost as much a part of my everyday tackle selection as the #1 all-around killer, the white with a red eye.
I have made rods since I lived in Southern Cal. I learned to wrap the rental rods for the passengers when I worked on the boats. Kept me busy when the weather didn't let us go fishing. I gradually evolved to making smaller and fancier rods...doing a lot of exotic diamond wrapping and all that stuff. Didn't help me catch more fish, but something to look at when I wasn't getting bit.
I started making long rods when I lived in Sacramento. I used them both for shad and for the steelhead and salmon. When I took them to the creeks and lakes in the high country, I found they were ideal for reaching out and dropping a light lure or bait to spooky fish in skinny water. I also found them to be ideal for fishing jigs under bobbers, with long leaders...and especially for "bubble-chucking"...fishing flies behind water filled bubbles. I could fling them a mile.
Most of my first long spinning rods were made from Fenwick glass flyrods. A six weight, with a fast tip, was good for light sunfish and stream trout. However, if I fished steelhead, or wanted to fling a water filled bubble, I got better performance from a 9 foot for an 8 weight line.
I have since made some heavier "dip sticks", for dredging big cats and bass out of cover from my float tube. I build them on heavy action rods of ten or eleven feet in length...either downrigger rods or fast tip European match rods...or "Zander" (walleye) rods. These big sticks also work great for probing pockets along breakwaters and other structure in salt water. When you hang something in protective cover, you need some beef to bring them out. You don't do much casting with the big sticks, so baitcasting reels are better than spinning.
If you are going to be casting light jigs for sunfish and trout, an eight or eight and a half foot rod is about right from a float tube. It provides extra length and action...like fishing with a fly rod...but is not too heavy and cumbersome. For bank fishing, the 9' length gives you more reach.
Fly rod blanks are pricey these days. If you want a long spinning rod, you can find a serviceable fly rod at Wally World (WalMart) for under $50. If you are not checked out on making handles, you can tape a spinning reel to the fly rod handle and you are good to go. It will cast without adding spinning guides, but it will cast farther and better if you at least replace the bottom two fly rod guides with spinning guides. I have seen a lot of similar rigs on the water. Crappie guys use them a lot.
If you are really into building rods, then remove the fly rod handle and replace it with a spinning handle. It is your choice how long you leave the butt section. On 9' rods for bubble chucking I leave a longer butt section, to allow two handed casting. With shorter handles, you get more of the feel of a fly rod when playing the fish.
Similarly, carefully remove the snake guides from the fly rod and rewrap with light singlefoot Fuji spinning guides. Either replace the guides in their exact places...or, if you know what you are doing, respace them to spinning rod configuration. This will usually cut the number of guides by two or three, and keep the rod a little lighter. Too many guides...heavier than the fly rod guides...and you won't like the feel of the rod.
If anyone wants to try putting one together, PM me with questions and I will try to help walk you through it.
[signature]