Custom specs for casting Alvey

[bordeaaj]

Hey there, I am hoping there may be a distance casting expert on these forums who can recommend some custom specs for building a surf/rock rod that will maximize the casting potential of an Alvey 650. As far as the rod blank is concerned I am thinking of these Breakaway brand rods:


Model #

Length

Piece

Line Wt (#)

Lure Wt (oz)

Butt

Action

Graphite



SU1507

12' 6"

2

20-40

3 to 6

1

Mod Fast

RX7

SU1569F

13'

2

20-40

4 to 12

1.03

Mod Fast

RX7

I have heard the traditional Alvey specs are outdated for the new distance casting rods and techniques so I am hoping to hear from someone who has experience in this area. Thanks!!!
Andy

[Grunter71]

It has been a few years since I built my distance casting rod, but I built it using the same formula I would for a surf rod. I don't claim to be an expert, but of the newer rods I have seen built for this purpose seemed to built the same way. I think you will be safe as you do intend to use it for fishing, not purely for distance casting.

Calculating the runner placements, i use the following method. you will probably need two other people to help you make the calculations.

The first runner is marked midway between butt and tip.
The rod is placed on the floor and a working curve put in the rod. You must imagine two parallel lines, one at the butt and the other at the tip, once you have put the curve in the rod. To help, I do this on a tiled floor as this gives you the parallel lines to use as reference.
With the rod still in the working curve, measure the height from the first runner marked, to the line parallel with the tip.
This measurement is used for calculating the spacing of the remaining runners.
If, say, this distance was 100 cm and you were going to use 5 runners(plus the tip), divide the 100 cm by the 5 runners, giving you 20 cm to use as the factor to calculate the other runners placement.
The first runner(from the tip), will be placed at a height of 20cm, the second at 40cm, the third at 60cm and so on.Hope this helps to give you a starting point.

[bordeaaj]

It has been a few years since I built my distance casting rod, but I built it using the same formula I would for a surf rod. I don't claim to be an expert, but of the newer rods I have seen built for this purpose seemed to built the same way. I think you will be safe as you do intend to use it for fishing, not purely for distance casting.

Calculating the runner placements, i use the following method. you will probably need two other people to help you make the calculations.

The first runner is marked midway between butt and tip.
The rod is placed on the floor and a working curve put in the rod. You must imagine two parallel lines, one at the butt and the other at the tip, once you have put the curve in the rod. To help, I do this on a tiled floor as this gives you the parallel lines to use as reference.
With the rod still in the working curve, measure the height from the first runner marked, to the line parallel with the tip.
This measurement is used for calculating the spacing of the remaining runners.
If, say, this distance was 100 cm and you were going to use 5 runners(plus the tip), divide the 100 cm by the 5 runners, giving you 20 cm to use as the factor to calculate the other runners placement.
The first runner(from the tip), will be placed at a height of 20cm, the second at 40cm, the third at 60cm and so on.Hope this helps to give you a starting point.

Yes, you are correct in that the rod will be used for fishing and not distance casting. I just don't want to unneccessarily make a mistake that will limit the casting from the cliffs. Thanks for the input!!!

[HST]

there two line you can go down ,if you are using above 20 lbs mono anything under 20 lbs you can use a setup that will give more distance by using smaller guides starting with a 20 striper and either 16 or 12 chocker ,the the chocker guide is the second up from the reel ,this is where all distance is either gained or lost thru bad placement ,that is why its called a chocker guide smoth line flow thru this guide is where all distance is gained from in building technology ,all other guides are set from this point ,(IE high or low mount guides come in to play more so with an alvey ,getting those big coils of line under control as soon as you can will give increased distance ) there was a cast done in comp a few years back that went 204 mts with a 4ozs lead and alvey,the largest guide was a 16 ,big guide to deal with large line loops is old school ,with all my alvey setup i dont use swivels for line twist as i dont suffer from it ,

on the other line of thought if you were to run heavy mono you would look at a stripper in the 50 size down to a 20 tip ,this is what guide size i use on a 12 foot rod set up to cast unweighted gars on 24 kg mono 70 plus meters on a grass casting court to get the guide placment working right,

striper 50 / 40/ 30/ 25/20/ tip 20

Ive spent many years building rods for distance casting so before others start making comment on my setup rember rods built by me or my guide placements hold most Australian distance records .

i hope this can help in some way ,

HST

[bordeaaj]

there two line you can go down ,if you are using above 20 lbs mono anything under 20 lbs you can use a setup that will give more distance by using smaller guides starting with a 20 striper and either 16 or 12 chocker ,the the chocker guide is the second up from the reel ,this is where all distance is either gained or lost thru bad placement ,that is why its called a chocker guide smoth line flow thru this guide is where all distance is gained from in building technology ,all other guides are set from this point ,(IE high or low mount guides come in to play more so with an alvey ,getting those big coils of line under control as soon as you can will give increased distance ) there was a cast done in comp a few years back that went 204 mts with a 4ozs lead and alvey,the largest guide was a 16 ,big guide to deal with large line loops is old school ,with all my alvey setup i dont use swivels for line twist as i dont suffer from it ,

on the other line of thought if you were to run heavy mono you would look at a stripper in the 50 size down to a 20 tip ,this is what guide size i use on a 12 foot rod set up to cast unweighted gars on 24 kg mono 70 plus meters on a grass casting court to get the guide placment working right,

striper 50 / 40/ 30/ 25/20/ tip 20

Ive spent many years building rods for distance casting so before others start making comment on my setup rember rods built by me or my guide placements hold most Australian distance records .

i hope this can help in some way ,

HST

Thanks HST, I appreciate your experience. I'm having my rod built by an Alvey-experienced rod builder and distance caster. It's basically a souped-up 13ft Breakaway HDX rod with a tournament butt, large (70mm on down...too old-school large?) stainless Perfection guides, adjustable reel mount with side-mount casting cannon trigger release. I'm leaving the placement of the guides up to the experience of the builder...it sounds like he has to do some bending, casting, etc to determine optimal placement just as you suggested. Since there is the possibility of very big fish I use 25lb+ line so it was figured the 70mm guide should be about right. Other than that, it doesn't sound too far off from your recommendations! :)

[bordeaaj]

What are youse mob talking about?

Didn't understand one word of all that.


TOL

:D Yeah, I don't understand it myself! All I wanted to do was go fishin'! :D

[bordeaaj]

there two line you can go down ,if you are using above 20 lbs mono anything under 20 lbs you can use a setup that will give more distance by using smaller guides starting with a 20 striper and either 16 or 12 chocker ,the the chocker guide is the second up from the reel ,this is where all distance is either gained or lost thru bad placement ,that is why its called a chocker guide smoth line flow thru this guide is where all distance is gained from in building technology ,all other guides are set from this point ,(IE high or low mount guides come in to play more so with an alvey ,getting those big coils of line under control as soon as you can will give increased distance ) there was a cast done in comp a few years back that went 204 mts with a 4ozs lead and alvey,the largest guide was a 16 ,big guide to deal with large line loops is old school ,with all my alvey setup i dont use swivels for line twist as i dont suffer from it ,

on the other line of thought if you were to run heavy mono you would look at a stripper in the 50 size down to a 20 tip ,this is what guide size i use on a 12 foot rod set up to cast unweighted gars on 24 kg mono 70 plus meters on a grass casting court to get the guide placment working right,

striper 50 / 40/ 30/ 25/20/ tip 20

Ive spent many years building rods for distance casting so before others start making comment on my setup rember rods built by me or my guide placements hold most Australian distance records .

i hope this can help in some way ,

HST

Hello HST, just returned from 2 weeks of using the 13ft Breakaway HDX customized for the Alvey. As you know, on the recommendation of some distance casters familiar with Alveys here in the states I went with the 70mm guides which worked fine and cast a mile but jeebus those guides are huge. I had to build a very oversized rod case just to get that guide inside. If I build another rod I think I will go with the 50s as you recommend. There is something to be said for portability...esp if it makes little difference in real world fishing as I am not a tournament caster. Thanks again for the help!