Sylvathorn

Here are the pics of the Sabiki

I finally finished the Sabiki stick and have pics and the wrap on the 15-24kg Popping stick is also done, will post pics soon. Next I'm working on a Short Stroker and another two Popping rods - a PE2-5 and a PE8 ( 1 T24 Carbon and the other T30 Carbon .... glutton for punishment I guess

100% @Andrew_P, SnyderGlas has always been a top quality blank / rod and should fetch decent money!

I should also add @Andrew_P that I don't use just 5 guides on a 7 foot stick that is being built to fight hard fighting fish like GT's and other bigger reef fish, I use 7 guides which reduces the load on each guide and spreads the load on the rod.

I haven't had any issues with Titanium guides to date @Andrew_P, but have had issues with SS, where they have had some corrosion and have also broke (SS can also get stress fractures, which is why it is not the best choice for anchor chain), causing the rings to pop (see pics). I'm using the SeaGuide Titaniums. Note : the SS Guides I posted earlier were all Fuji's - zoom in, you should be able to see the logo.

we have a Pie Magic that makes traditional sized pies and so we make our own @Bretto77 and so very rarely get a dud

@Angry51 Yah! got three quotes out atm, all for PE 8's, happy to do them, but biggest love in my life atm (aside from Margie), is a Wilson LIVE FIBRE RLF SAS 15, a 8 to 30 kg stick. They'd been using Chinese sticks of questionable quality, made in ROC ( why do Aussie Firms do this??? YAH gettem cheap, sellem big) , with a high explosion rate! This bloke, Gavin, super nice guy, chanced on one that managed to tussle a few good 20 to 30 fish and not explode, so worth saving( if they don't explode on the first good fish ... not a dud). So I'm replacing all the cheap SS guides (three already popped the shock rings!) with good Titanium guides, cheap job, he's getting it for not much over cost of parts, maybe $10'ish a guide by the time it's done, and all the rest to MAKE IT, (pics if you want - can't help myself, Bad Habits ) but like I said he's a nice bloke, and maybe he'll buy a Custom down the track, but that's not why I'm doing it. Plus, the stick will end up what it should have been in the first place! and the Charlie Rap they do in their builds beggers belief, the more repairs I do, the more it blows me away ............ if you know someone wanting to buy a good stick, don't let them buy an off the rack, build it for them, charge them bugger all for labour ............ the amount of underdone garbage I'm seeing in modern ready mades beggers belief. @Ed. you're right, don't repair them, naaaah can't help it don't wanna see em lie broken on the floor ... but these modern mid range sticks are manufactured to such a low standard .... @Angry51, get on top of your Chook House and shout at them! I know they do it for the money, but why can't the make their bucks and supply Fishos with decent sticks? Sorry, End of my rant, I get so frustrated with the amount of Charlie Rap out there at stupidly big prices, but why can't a bloke go to his local tackle shop, pay a bit too much, but still get a decent stick? Again, Sorry all, but I had to unload

That's great @Junky, wish all MR's were like that nowadays. Maybe I was lucky with Geelong and unlucky with Hervey Bay? Saw the QF2 reciprocal rights statement too @ellicat, looks like it's getting a bit like RACQ with repeat offenders, possibly QF2 has had a few of those? We used to get a few at QF1, lots of boats get caught on sandbars in the Broadwater and we never did that, but I ceased being an active crew member nearly 20 years ago. Maybe things have changed by now, hopefully not though!

Correct, people know they will have to pay more for a Custom than an off the shelf rod. Most don't want to pay a lot more, but understand that they get a better quality build and components. Nowadays most of the top end stuff is made on blanks made in China, even most of the top brand guide frames are made in the same factories and they just put their own shoch rings in. Even recognized good, Australian brands like nomad design are made overseas (Malaysia I think), and although most of the top end brands are using Fuji guides, they are using stainless frames, which don't cut it up here. See the pics, all different guides off a couple of different rods. On my Custom rods, I use guides with titanium frames, cost a bit more, but much better.

Unfortunately they always ran a bit like 'Private Clubs' @dmck in the past, I was hoping that all the new emphasis on Marine Rescue may have made some changes. In the past AVCG always recognized all other AVCG Flotilla members, but like the other Organizations (and there actually are quite a few) didn't recognize the others ... I have always believed that situation was absolutely crazy. Yes they do get Government subsidies and tax free status including fuel, which sounds great, but even after all that, back in the 90's, it still cost AVCG $90 per hour per boat to have a boat on the water in the 90's, it would be more now, VMR's costs would be similar, So I don't actually resent them charging non marine rescue members .... but I firmly believe that any member of ANY MR or SES organization should be covered by their support as all of them get some govt subsidization. Unfortunately they are a lot like insurance companies ..... money, money money! Secondly and more importantly, in the past, they failed to recognize other organizations qualifications ... very clubby ... read my quals, including workplace and qld ambulance .... they exceed AVCG and VMR quals by quite a bit and yet they have the audacity to claim they don't need to recognize them ... seriously boy's club

I've been so snowed under with repairs that I've hardly done anything with my Project Rods lately, although the Sabiki rod is nearly finished - will post more pics when it's complete. A few of the repairs are getting rust stains on the guides up here @Ed., more so than down south ??? - good guides, they are Fuji, looks like 304 stainless, so I'm planning to be using Titanium guides on my Custom builds. I'm also thinking of making a 1 1/2 piece (650 to 700 butt and 1600 to 1650 rod) PE2-6 or 3-8 custom Popping rod to sell locally - be nice to work with a new blank for a change.

@Ed. I use EVA nowadays, try to get the 70%, as the 90% will hardly expand at all, which makes it very difficult to put on if there is a significant taper on the blank

Hi @dmck, when speaking to VMR Jacobs Well they said they support VMR Southport members as a courtesy. When speaking to VMR Hervey Bay, they said that they didn't, that I'd have to be a member of their flotilla, or that fees would be charged if I needed assistance on the water. for more details, see my full comments above.

Hopefully that happens here too, all the marine rescue organizations under one umbrella would definitely be a plus, especially all groups being skilled to similar levels. That wasn't exactly what I was referring to though. Back in the late 90's I was a Quartermaster in the AVCG, QF1 flotilla, Gold Coast, when I had to transfer to Melbourne for work, so I contacted VF8 Geelong, as I was planning to do a bit of fishing down that way. They said all good, I'd be covered by my QF1 membership if I needed any help. Spin the clock, when I returned to Qld a few years later, I sold the boat and so let my QF1 membership expire. In 2015 I bought another boat and had decided to move to Hervey Bay, no AVCG there, so I contacted VMR466 Hervey Bay, told them I was planning to move there in a year or so and could join VMR450 Jacobs Well, then transfer to Hervey Bay when I moved up. They said no I couldn't transfer from one VMR Flotilla to another, not possible, I'd have to apply to join them when I moved up. OK, I thought I'd give them a little value add ... I explained that I'd been a Quartermaster in AVCG, had Senior First Aid (including Workplace), Heart Foundation Qualifications, Advanced Resuscitation, and had been a member of Queensland Ambulance (all would need updating), I had Radio Grade 1,2 & 3 plus I was an assistant instructor in Coastal Navigation. They said no, they wouldn't recognize any of those, I would have to train with them. Personally, that turned me off them. Hopefully they have changed and become more flexible by now. Regardless, I would still strongly encourage any and all boaties to join a Marine Rescue organization, regardless of who it is.

AVCG Southport (QF1) is 24/7 as well. If you are an AVCG member you are also covered by all AVCG Flotillas Australia wide, regardless of if you are a local member, unlike some other MR organizations

absolutely Edmund!

who cares about the snapper and the crab ................. where's the pic of the Flathead ! hahaha nice to get a feed!

yes, always having a decent length of chain of an appropriate size anchor is the best way to go!

Welcome to the forum @Always Yummy Margie makes brilliant curried sausages @Angry51

Silly thing is I only popped on tonight to let you know that the Sabiki Project rod is now done aside from the pretty bits - was seriously a pain building up around the lide feed - resorted to C grade thread, now going to finish with A grade ........ had so many repair jobs that I haven't touched our stuff for a while!

Must be farmed I guess

Oh, and @Angry51, you're just over the back fence, I'm pretty certain I can hear your chooks cackling most mornings! When we get the Foxette (Vixen) running again, we'll have to get you out on her!

Yep, they do taste good .... didn't know you could still get them?

Oh, and I've been in spots in this boat that I couldn't get into in my old 16 footer. I'll take some pics and measurements tomorrow

number one: depth isn't an issue, if I've got hull depth for 25 feet width, I can do a 360 (you have to basically do that as part of your Quartermaster's in Coast Guard) number two, I can still reverse out number three, don't need to go up little backwaters here, more crabs than you can shake a stick at Number four (or is that one and a half), if you have a 14foot tinny with a 20hp outboard, you'll need 2 to 3 feet of water because of the depth the outboard needs .... I don't need that