PHP Warning: Use of undefined constant VBA_SCRIPT - assumed 'VBA_SCRIPT' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in ..../includes/functions_navigation.php(802) : eval()'d code on line 1 Bent or Straight??
Well after this last summer the mission this winter is to build myself a matching pair of heavy 24kg standup sticks. Replace a couple that i learnt on and uprade the heavy tackle locker. My question is regarding the butts, straight or curved? The relevent points as i see are
1. Fish 24kg standup to the limit (trailer boat blues)
2. I game fish primarily from 2 boats, one has poles the other doesn't, we just use rod riggers. Not sure what the rod holder implications are of bent butts.
I was kinda thinking curved would be cool but maybe impractical and not really needed for my situation and maybe render the outfits usefull in one of the boats, I've never owned or used a bent butt rod so looking for some guidance.
If you are in any doubt then you should think about using the ALPS unibutt. I have built a few of these and it gives you the option of useing either the curved or the straight on the same rod. They have a locking ferrell that matches either but I guess the only trouble is that it will cost you double the amount
.
Cheers
Pedro
The one question that trips many up, even rod builders. Most well seasoned rod builders, game fisherman can’t give a definitive answer to how detachable butt works. In the most part, they will give the standard answer, they offer more leverage. Now this is true but it’s a very small par of the bigger picture. Aftco, the original designers f the detachable butts, most every copy since is a shadow of the origanls.I have tried most and none have the strength or finish of the Aftco. My business is based around game fishing so it’s safe for me to say I have built thousands of rods with straight and bent butts. Most will opt for a bent butt because as you said, it would be cool. However, more often than not it’s a bad choice. 24kg can be used more effectively than 37kg simply because most people don’t fish there 37kg very hard. I fish my 24kg to the max meaning my max drag is north of 12kg. Most guys running 37kg run around 13kg but they have almost twice the weight to deal with. Now, any detachable butt will only be effective as the blank you use.
There is no point using a bent butt if your blank is a slow to moderate action. Bent butts and very fast and powerful actions blanks compliment each other. They essentially can’t work to full potential with out each other. If your blank is slow then you have lost all of the advantage of a bent butt. The other side of the equation that is not understood or even considered is “effort”. The effort required by the anger to load the rod can be tripled if a slow action rod is used. If fast action blank is used then that umber is almost cut in half. I designed and built jigs to work out the numbers, effort for all types and styles of blanks. It was a revelation I can tell you. The blanks I designed are at a level that they impart the least amount of effort on the angler. So, it will depend on the blank you will use, the boat i.e. outboards or not and your technique, and if you will use mono or Dacron. All of these things play a huge roll in the total package. I only use Dacron with very short mono top shots as mono on its own stretched too much making it impossible to use the harness system properly. If you can answer some of those questions, we can make an accurate decision.
In the photo is a customer of mine over seas on a 37kg bent butt, he is hooked up to a 1350lb blue marlin using 22.5kg of drag. He is doing it easy because the rod cant bend all the way through.
Thanks for the feedback to date all. Pedro, i did think of the 2 way option but it will be $$y like you say.
Stuart, thanks for the detailed reply. Below is where i'm at on the extra info.
1. Blanks are 6455 calstar xh's, so on the fast end of the spectrum. I knows there's heaps better options blank wise out there but i have these so thats what i'll use.
2. All outboard boats with pods of some description.
3. Today i'm running mono and given 've got 2000m of 24kg in store i'll be that way for a season or 2.
4. I run the standard old black magic harness/drop belt system
In terms of small boats, rod holders etc etc i was thinking that the bents may actually be a pain in the ass BUT i'm willing to go that way and make other necessary changes if they are clearly the better option for brining big fish to a small boat in my situation.
I’m going to speak the word I hate the most in this world, and that’s Compromise. Given the boat, the blank and mono line, it’s going to be a middle of the road build. For starters, you may want to nip a bit of the tip of that blank to bring the action back a flees dick. This will allow for thudded weight of the roller guides and roller tip, I’m assuming you’re using rollers here. Aftco heavy-duty rollers are great for 24kg. The roller tip should be what ever sized followed by the letter L meaning large. So for your rod you would go for a 112L or 114L. Let’s talk what butt. Given the blue’s we get in SEQ, you could go either way. If you’re experienced at catching blues along with the driver of the boat then a straight butt would be fine. If your not all that experienced and your driver is then a bent butt would be the go. Mono is going to put you at a big disadvantage from the get go, so keep that in mind. Mono stretches on average 12-16% so over 100 meters you can have up to and often-exceeding 15 meters of stretch. Therefore, if you can imagine the work involved or effort to take that stretch out before the fish begins to feel it. It really comes to your experience level, the less experience you have the more you should go bent. The very nature of the Aftco design is you can swap fro straight to bent I you like.
Stu, thanks for that. Yes, going rollers. I see that the dacron is the key to getting the rod working for you on the fish no matter what type of ass end it has so you have me thinking on that front. Given the diferent boast scenario is it feasible to troll bents out of a holder ok? i need to use these rods accross any boat setup, does that rule out bent butts?
No not at all. Igt would e wise to take along a gimble lifter so if the rod holders on one boat is to low you just drop the lifter in and your off and running. I would recomend suffix dacron in fluro yellow, its top shelf line. Its the onlydacron I use.If you go with dacron then you will want to use a short top shot leader of no more than 50 meters, I use 30 meters. This lessens the stretch to the lenght of the top shot so 30 meters will give you around 3-5 meters of stretch.
Reply With Quote
