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Posts: 115
Location: Birch Run | I tried searching this topic but the page couldn't be displayed. Any one use the bass pro balancer, and will it fit muskie rods besides the mania rods. I'm sure some of you have made your own any ideas. Thanks |
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| it fits most musky rods...I put them on all my rods...I wouldn't cast a rod without them... |
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Posts: 135
Location: Irvine, KY | I have the one that came with my 7'6" mania and I love it. I plan on getting them for all my rods. |
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Posts: 501
Location: Norway | I have them on St Croix, both older and newer models and Musky Innovations rods, and Ive used them on Fig Rig, so they fit on those at least 
Michael |
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Posts: 102
Location: Bowling Green, KY | If your talking about the XPS Balancers then they will only fit BPS rods designed
for the XPS system (i.e. the Maina rods). But if your talking the rubber original
butt cap designed by Larry Dahlberg, then it will fit rods up to 1 1/8" in diameter
at the butt. Hope this is helpful, I use them on all my rods. |
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Posts: 89
| Windburn - 3/25/2009 9:47 PM
I tried searching this topic but the page couldn't be displayed. Any one use the bass pro balancer, and will it fit muskie rods besides the mania rods. I'm sure some of you have made your own any ideas. Thanks
Bunch of split shots, bottom bouncers, and hockey tape.
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| this is the one I put on all my musky rods...for the "fat cork" customs I just shave down the butt end until these fit over it..
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_1... |
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Posts: 115
Location: Birch Run | Thanks, those are ones I was looking at, should be able to get them to fit on my fig rigs, and okumas. |
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Posts: 1764
Location: Ogden, Ut | Windburn - 3/26/2009 9:53 AM
Thanks, those are ones I was looking at, should be able to get them to fit on my fig rigs, and okumas.
They do fit on the Okuma 8'6" Telescoping rods.
S.
Edited by sorenson 3/26/2009 11:18 AM
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| Don't be afraid to use them on walleye rods as well. Awesome on my 9' jig and slip bobber rods. Absolutely takes the weight off of the tip.... |
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Posts: 115
Location: Birch Run | Cool that they fit 8'6 okuma's just bought two of them, and even with a 7000i I could use some more weight. I ordered 3 of them and it looks like for this season anyways I could swap them around to my jiggin rods, Detroit river getting ready to get good. |
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Posts: 102
Location: Bowling Green, KY | I make my own out of rubber chair leg feet that you can buy at any hardware
store or wally world. Just pound a few lead egg sinkers flat on a vise till they are
the same size as the butt cap you chose to use, drop them in the cap, slide them
up on the rod butt and tape it on with good electrical tape. You can make about
4 of these for what one ready made one costs. The only down turn is I don't know if you can get enough weight in them for a musky rod and still get it on the rod
butt. But these home made ones work great on bass rods. |
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Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I use them as well, and have used strap lead and tape, too. Either works! Beav convinced me to try them a few years ago, and I wouldn't use a rod without a balancer now. |
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Posts: 646
Location: In a shack in the woods | i had the screw in bass pro rod balancers and they would never stay tight. they fell of all the time. i eventually borke every single one i had off. the little thread insert fell out. after using them and liking them for years turns out i cant fish with them at all anymore. the rod feels so much lighter in my hands and alot less arm fatigue. |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | Bassinbob84,
The LIGHTEST WEIGHT rod is always the best rod to fish with as you have realized. I've never added weight to any rod and never will. The key is to use the lightest weight components/guides and create a Musky rod that feels like a light weight Bass rod. I know a lot of guys like adding butt weight to rods, but I'm NOT one of them. Fish with something that weights 11oz all day, then pick up something that weighs 4oz and finish the day with it. You'll never go back to that heavy rod ever again as you have seen first hand.
DR |
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Posts: 303
Location: WI | DR - So how does one accomplish this (very, very light) with a musky rod? |
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Posts: 4266
| I counterweight every rod that I own, even walleye and bass rods. Don't think that adding weight is a negative thing. A tip heavy rod is uncomfortable to fish with, and counter-weighting it makes the rod more balanced and therefore the tip feels lighter. I've been using counter-weights since they came out, and I won't use a rod without them. They add sensitivity, balance the rod, and make it more comfortable to fish with, meaning less fatigue in your hand, arm, wrist and elbow.
I don't care about ounces of weight. I care about comfort, balance and feel. Keep throwing lures that weigh 3-6 ounces all day, and the ounces you add to the back of the rod take away from the tip-heaviness on the tip of the rod and give you a balanced combo. Light rods mean that the tip of your rod is heavy all day, and that puts fatigue on all the muscles that you are using to hold it. It's basic physics. If your hand is at the fulcrum of your muskie fishing combo, it's working as little as possible. Take away the weight from the butt, and now all of the weight is out in front of you to hold onto all day.
I can vertical jig far walleys and hold the rod with 2 fingers. Try that with an unweighted rod. I can pitch a jig for bass, and when the jig hits the water, I can almost let go of the rod as the jig falls, giving me the best feel possible. Weights on a muskie rod are not about finnesse or feel, they are about comfort and balance.
Counter-weights, never fish without them. |
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Posts: 24
Location: Skellefteå , sweden | What is the best , as light as possible or balance ? That is the question !
Edited by Bobbler 3/28/2009 5:31 PM
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Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | Muskie rods weigh what they weigh. It's balancing the rod to bring the fulcrum to your hold point that's the key. An 8' rod is going to be cumbersome, and most are badly balanced out of the box because of where the reel seat has to be. I add weight to the butt until the rod balances exactly where I hold it all day long. Besides that, setting the hook from the fulcrum is way more productive, otherwise it's impossible to flex the blank properly. |
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | PE teacher, it's all about using LIGHTWEIGHT components and not having to weight the butt, it's that simple. I can think of VERY FEW Musky presentations that I use holding the tip up in the air all day. The rod tip is usually low to the water, meaning you're carrying all that rod balance-er weight with your arms and wrists for no reason. We're not talking walleye sticks here.
Think of how much weight could be eliminated from the rods tip by using WAY smaller guides, small wrappings, and less epoxy finish. Having LESS weight on the rods tip, where it matters MOST allows you to have less butt weight. Standard Musky rods of today carry huge guides for no dang reason at all. St Croix included! The largest guide on any of my musky rods is a 10mm and only ONE of them, I go to a 6mm FLY guides after that = LIGHT WEIGHT, more sensitive, better performing rod blank. StCroix and many others have 18mm + guides! TWICE the size, 10 times the weight because they use 7-8 guides from 18mm - 8mm stepping down each guide one size. All those heavy large guides are just not needed. How many times have you seen a fly fisherman land a 100lb Tarpon on a fly rod. Yep....those guides are WAY smaller, way lighter and still do a great job with the fish. Why not lighten?
You will never increase a rods sensitivity by adding weight to it. A rod blank is at it's MOST SENSITIVE POINT (FEEL) before we ever put a handle or guide or anything on it. Everything that's added to a rod deadens the sensitivity little by little and the heavier the components are the less sensitive the rod will be "FEEL WISE".
Now some call sensitivity as: the rod tip being lightweight and floating due to added butt weight, .....and others call sensitivity the actual "tick" you feel when a fish bites, you touch a rock, grass or whatever. So sensitivity is a relative term with 2 real meanings in the rod fishing game. You choose which. I choose the FEEL the rod blank has.
Like I said, fish with a rod weighing 4 oz all day and then go to one weighing 4 times that.....you'll never pick up the heavy rod again.
Steve,
What would happen if you took 3/4ths the weight off the rods tip.....think about that a bit.
DR
Edited by DR in VA 3/28/2009 5:44 PM
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Posts: 32885
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I don't build my own rods, so that's not an option for me. No matter the weight of the rod, I want to be holding the reel at the fulcrum. |
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Posts: 24
Location: Skellefteå , sweden | I like light weight rods but I will try and balance my rods maybe weight is the key but maybe balance is too ? |
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Posts: 401
| My two cents is balance and here is why.
In my case most of the sticks I build are long. 8-6 to 9 feet. Common rear grip is 15 inches which puts 7.25-7.75 feet in front of the rear cork..minus 4 inches and that is what is in front of the reel seat.. St Croix Sling Blade blank (which is one of the best rod blanks on the market today) weights 6.2 ounces without any components which makes it already over 4 ounces. No matter what you do to the blank minus adding butt weight there will always be more weight on the tip then the rear which puts the blank out of balance. To me a balanced stick offers more sensitivity because your hands are not fighting the stick and the only thing you feel is the bite.
I like fly guides and use them on most of my walleye and bass rods but with musky fishing there is more demand on the guides so I error with dependability. When I use fly guides on a casting stick I have to add the number of guides I use to keep the line off the blank. Fly guides sit closer to the blank.
I have been playing around with balancing all the custom sticks I build and now is the time to offer it as part of the custom package. Stop by the Minnesota Musky show and I will show you what I mean.
MAKE it a Great Day.
Keith
Edited by Professional Edge 3/29/2009 7:41 PM
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Posts: 210
Location: VA | PE,
Two words: spiral wrap.
Grab a size 16mm double foot casting guide and see if you can tear it up with your bare hands-you can! Try that same thing with sz 6mm ring fly guide.....you cant. The flys are surprisingly strong, way stronger than any musky blank you'll put them on.
DR |
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Posts: 401
| No matter how you build it or whatever guides you use, you are still adding weight to the tip of the stick because all the parts are going in front of the reel seat. The only thing that would change this is either add weight to the rear or make the stick shorter. I think short sticks are a thing of the past.
If balance is not important then I would do everything I could to keep as much weight off the tip to limit how much it is out of balance.
Keith |
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Posts: 375
| simple...inexpensive...
all of last season i used croix legends built by keith at proedge made out of the bass mega swimbait blanks out to 8' 10. they were incredible rods just as they were, super light, good flex a little deeper into the blank which is great for no-slack during the fight and they turned out to be fantastic for light to mid-weight baits. since i can't leave anything "alone" i experimented with balancing on an old rod first and since have balanced my two swimbait rods and new big dawg as follows...
buy rubber chair bottom caps at any home improvement store, the heavy duty thicker walled ones i found are better for musky sticks vs. the thin walled ones they also had. the ones i used are 1 1/4" inside diameter which fit snugly over the 1 1/2" thick syncork handle material. get some old sinker/lead and place inside of the cap and duct tape the whole shabang onto the butt of any rod you want to balance. add / subtract lead until that rod balances perfectly parallel to the floor on one finger directly under the center of the reel seat (no matter what reel you put on it it will always still be balanced). i took that amount of lead, which ended up being aprox 4 - 4 1/2 oz on my croixs, and melted it in an old pot outside on the gas grill. once liqufied quickly pour directly into the rubber chair cap which is nearby on a perfectly level surface and it will solidify very very quickly. take the cap with the lead in it and run under cold water for a minute or two and the lead "plug" will have shrunk just enough that you can tap it back out of the rubber cap. do the duct tape thing again to be sure the weight is right. cut the butt cap off the rod to be balanced so the blank itself / hole through the center of it is visible since you will want epoxy to ooze up into the blank itself once you push the cap onto the butt. using one hour two part mix epoxy, place some into the bottom of the cap and then push your lead plug back in the cap and the epoxy will ooze up around the sides of the slightly shrunken plug as you push it to the bottom. then coat the upside of the plug and inside walls of the rubber cap with more than enough epoxy. slowly work the rubber cap onto the rod butt...most of the excess epoxy inside the cap will ooze up into the rod blank which is what you want and the rest will work its' way out of the cap and onto the rod handle which you need to wipe off with a solvent before it sets up. make sure the cap is pushed on all the way and you are done. even though it says one hour epoxy i let mine set-up for a few days before touching it since i figured with the lack of air inside the blank it may take much longer for it to cure vs. "normal" air dry time. the rubber caps i started out with are aprox 1 3/8" deep inside and the lead plugs ended up being aprox 5/8" thick which gave me aprox 3/4" of rod butt into the cap itself. so now i've used them non-balanced and balanced and the difference is amazing as the rods with added weight "feel" lighter because they are balanced with the right amount of weight in the "right place"! just my 2 cents and a few bucks per rod...
note-not sure how this method would work on a standard cork handled rod since its' texture being what it is may not give a good bond as with the syncork material that allows for the epoxy to get into the nooks and crannies of the material itself and mine seem rock solid...
for what it's worth all rods are not created equal since i also balanced an MI Bulldog rod and it took almost 6 oz's to get that rod balanced and it also weighed a good 4-5 oz's more "stock" than the croix legends! in my opinion get the lightest physical weight rod that will do the job for what you want to throw with it and balance it...you'll be glad you did...
Edited by STUSHSKY 3/30/2009 12:03 PM
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Posts: 1453
Location: Kronenwetter, WI | There is no right or wrong on this one guys. Personal preference. I have a BPS Maina rod and tried the weights, but decided I'd rather not have them on there so I do not put any on. |
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Posts: 375
| STUSHSKY - 3/30/2009 12:53 PM
simple...inexpensive...
all of last season i used croix legends built by keith at proedge made out of the bass mega swimbait blanks out to 8' 10. they were incredible rods just as they were, super light, good flex a little deeper into the blank which is great for no-slack during the fight and they turned out to be fantastic for light to mid-weight baits. since i can't leave anything "alone" i experimented with balancing on an old rod first and since have balanced my two swimbait rods and new big dawg as follows...
buy rubber chair bottom caps at any home improvement store, the heavy duty thicker walled ones i found are better for musky sticks vs. the thin walled ones they also had. the ones i used are 1 1/4" inside diameter which fit snugly over the 1 1/2" thick syncork handle material. get some old sinker/lead and place inside of the cap and duct tape the whole shabang onto the butt of any rod you want to balance. add / subtract lead until that rod balances perfectly parallel to the floor on one finger directly under the center of the reel seat (no matter what reel you put on it it will always still be balanced). i took that amount of lead, which ended up being aprox 4 - 4 1/2 oz on my croixs, and melted it in an old pot outside on the gas grill. once liqufied quickly pour directly into the rubber chair cap which is nearby on a perfectly level surface and it will solidify very very quickly. take the cap with the lead in it and run under cold water for a minute or two and the lead "plug" will have shrunk just enough that you can tap it back out of the rubber cap. do the duct tape thing again to be sure the weight is right. cut the butt cap off the rod to be balanced so the blank itself / hole through the center of it is visible since you will want epoxy to ooze up into the blank itself once you push the cap onto the butt. using one hour two part mix epoxy, place some into the bottom of the cap and then push your lead plug back in the cap and the epoxy will ooze up around the sides of the slightly shrunken plug as you push it to the bottom. then coat the upside of the plug and inside walls of the rubber cap with more than enough epoxy. slowly work the rubber cap onto the rod butt...most of the excess epoxy inside the cap will ooze up into the rod blank which is what you want and the rest will work its' way out of the cap and onto the rod handle which you need to wipe off with a solvent before it sets up. make sure the cap is pushed on all the way and you are done. even though it says one hour epoxy i let mine set-up for a few days before touching it since i figured with the lack of air inside the blank it may take much longer for it to cure vs. "normal" air dry time. the rubber caps i started out with are aprox 1 3/8" deep inside and the lead plugs ended up being aprox 5/8" thick which gave me aprox 3/4" of rod butt into the cap itself. so now i've used them non-balanced and balanced and the difference is amazing as the rods with added weight "feel" lighter because they are balanced with the right amount of weight in the "right place"! just my 2 cents and a few bucks per rod...
note-not sure how this method would work on a standard cork handled rod since its' texture being what it is may not give a good bond as with the syncork material that allows for the epoxy to get into the nooks and crannies of the material itself and mine seem rock solid...
for what it's worth all rods are not created equal since i also balanced an MI Bulldog rod and it took almost 6 oz's to get that rod balanced and it also weighed a good 4-5 oz's more "stock" than the croix legends! in my opinion get the lightest physical weight rod that will do the job for what you want to throw with it and balance it...you'll be glad you did... |
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Posts: 375
| sorry...my bad...
Edited by STUSHSKY 9/18/2009 11:58 AM
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Rod balancer