Great Jig Fishing article, Rob! I will definitely consider your recommendations. The Castaway FR76 was mentioned in the article as being a great jig rod. What Calstar blanks would you recommend to build up a custom (Bass) jig rod (I know you like Calstar blanks!)? I am considering either a GF700XL or GF800XL (fast action rated to 25lb line) but think this might be a bit heavy (based on the GF800L which I got for throwing the really big and heavy stuff like Ospreys and Slammers), or the GX7 or GX8 (slightly slower action rated to 20lb line). What do you think? Any comments from anyone would be much appreciated.

Has anyone had any experience fishing a rod using the "Roberts" or "Spiral" Wrap? The first couple of guides from the tip (including the tip) are placed under the rod as in guide placement for a spinning reel, then the last four guides including the stripping guide bringing the line to the (casting) reel are placed around the blank in a spiral to cause the line to travel from under the rod spiraling to the reel (see www.floattuber.com/CRB101/CRB101a.htm for a more detailed description). This is said to eliminate torque and provide a very stable fish fighting platform and has been used on both saltwater and bass rods by certain custom builders.

Greetings from South Africa and Tight Lines to all you Stateside Bassers!

Hi Jacques,
You know for flipping and general bass fishing most guys, myself included, tend to buy stock rods like Castaway, Loomis, All Star, St. Croix, Cameron, etc etc. Calstar is almost entirely a saltwater blank company. I don't think they even make a flipping rod. A decent flipping rod will cost you between 130 and 200 or so. Good fishin.

The spiral, or "acid" wrap is something I've yet to try... I personally think it looks weird, and I don't have any plans to build a rod like that anytime soon. Everything I've heard about them from guys that have built them was good. They seem to love em, but I don't think I could take the ridicule from the deckhands... j/k, LMAO ;-) If you're into it, go for it. Everybody I've talked to loves em, I just think they're weird. As for Calstar rods- like Rob said, Calstar only makes saltwater rods, and it's almost unheard of to use Calstar rods for freshwater bass. The only couple of applications for Calstars on the lake would be trout plugs and swimbaits. Other than that, there are other companies who make more specialized rods for bass fishing, such as the flippin stick you're looking for.
-Brian

Thanks Rob and Brian for your comments - I'll look into Castaway. Do you perhaps know from where I can order Castaway rods at reasonable prices on the Internet? I've looked at Cabela's but they don't seem to carry the Castaway flipping models.

I am going to try the "Spiral" Wrap on my GF800L - throwing a big Osprey or Slammer for Bass in South Africa is already weird enough, I doubt if anyone would really notice the position of the rod guides! While on the subject of the Spiral Wrap, I have heard of deckhands trying to "straighten out" what they thought was a misaligned two piece rod!

Go well and good fishing!

http://www.castawayrods.com

Straightening out... LMAO.
-Brian

If ya need any help locating your Castaway or have any questions let me know

John Lake
Castaway Pro Staff

you don't want a gx-7 bro, i have one i use for 12# and 15# livebait for albacores and halibut and what not, no way i'd want that for throwing jigs. actually i wouldn't bother with a calstar blank for freshwater, too thick and heavy, their strait salwater rods (with the obvious exceptions). look at loomis's, camerons, castaways, kistler and so on. you said you wanted to wrap it, so in that case look at loomis, st croix, lamiglass, and so on.