[MrBill]

Just received a pair of custom made spinning rods I ordered from Txseadog. Very nice. The blanks are Super Seeker CJBF70H 40 (50) 60 pound rating. 7' in length, Aftco gold reel seats, gold anodized aluminum gimbal, hypalon grips, gold anodized reel color removable fighting rings, and MNSG fugi guides. Wraped in a black/gold combination.

It seems as everybody on this board is looking for best popping rod. These are going to be perfect for me. I don't mind the fact that they aren't super light weight made with plastic seats and gimbals. I'm no lightweight and love the long lasting durability of aluminum. A 50 pound class rod with a stiff tip should send those poppers to China. I mounted a pair of Shimano Stella 20000 spinning reels on these rods loaded with 65 lb spectra and a 25 foot top shot of 80 lb fluorocarbon.

I choose the super seeker blank because it is suposed to have great recovery and is billed as unbreakable. I don't believe any rod of good character is unbreakable. I have a bad habit of high sticking which tends to snap rods. These rods blanks have just hit the market. I plan on testing them next weekend with a group of five people. I heard the bite today at Colt 45 was incredible. Lots of big Hoo's in the 50 pound class combined with YF's and a couple blue marlin tearing up the spread. Our plan is to fish Colt 45 and then hit the new floater off Port Mansfield at night.

Thanks Kevin for doing a beautiful job on the rods. I am very pleased.

 

[Pope]

I hope you guys have a blast out there. Where the YFT caught on the troll or other methods? I also have one of these rods, but its conventional. They are great! Good luck

 

[Minnow]

Beautiful rods MrBill.

Have you pull on it? How do you like the action of this blank?

 

[Deep_Sea_Gull]

I'm jealous. Them are purtty. Nice work Kevin.

 

[Uncle Russ]

As a novice, and one who does not worry about weight either (except my own), I really really like the word "unbreakable." I had not read this post when I updated the previous one, but this sounds like it might be the answer for me as well--this could be the primary rod for the TS30 and I could use the 700H as the backup in case I managed to be the fool to prove the Seeker isn't foolproof.

 

[Guest]

sure are purty sticks!!!! kevin does excellent work. be sure and have gunsmoke set your drags and you will know for sure if the rods are unbreakable......rick

 

[Bret]

I had an opportunity to drool over those rods and pull on them. very nice.. super fast action. Kevin does very nice work.
I am sure they will do the trick..

 

[MrBill]

Beautiful rods MrBill.

Have you pull on it? How do you like the action of this blank?

Minnow,
I did a very strange test tonight. It's halloween. I ton of kids were ringing the doorbell. There was one kid dressed up as a yellowfin tuna. I tied a large bimini twist around his tail and told him to run. He made it about half way to his parents standing in the street before he hit the deck. He was flopping around in my yard like a live bait that had just been tossed in ice water.

I slowly winched him back to my front door with short pumps. He stood up and wanted extra candy. I told him I was testing a new rod and he could have all my candy if he could reach his parents in the street. He took off with the speed of a wahoo as I hung on to the super seeker. I sat down to dig in my heels and plant the gimbal into the dirt. The rod was bent in half. I stopped him cold in his tracks about three feet from his parents. I felt bad and gave him one more piece of candy.

Back to reality. No, I haven't had time to play with the rod's actions as my wife told me to put up my new toy's and do halloween duty. I'll play with them tomorrow.

 

[txseadog]

Thanks for the compliments. I thought they turned out rather well so I'm glad you're happy with them.

 

[MrBill]

sure are purty sticks!!!! kevin does excellent work. be sure and have gunsmoke set your drags and you will know for sure if the rods are unbreakable......rick

Since Rodbuster went fishing today, and I had to work I guess I can tell a story on him. He is more brutal on testing equipment on the water than land.
I guess it was around 10 years ago when we drifting over Southern AJ fishing. We were using a sea anchor to slow down the drift as the currents were strong. If you don't know what a sea anchor is, it looks like a parachute and you tie it off a cleat on the boat to slow you down. It works very well.

The bite was slow and Rodbuster put his rod in a rodholder and kept staring at the sea anchor. He came up this idea that using the sea anchor to test knots, rods and swivels would be a great idea. He retrieved the sea anchor, tied a couple of fender buoys to it and the testing began.

He and another guy on the boat were at each other all day about this old Fin Nor brand rod. The guy brought it on board and was telling us about how it was the best rod ever made, etc. Rodbuster was a little sick of hearing about the rod and tied a mooring rope to the tip of the guys rod. He then attached the rope to the sea anchor. It was a few seconds later when that Fin Nor snapped in half. If I remember correctly, that rod was the first busted piece of equipment that hit the barbecue pit.

I've seen him use the sea anchor test many times. Usually on somebody else's equipment that he thinks is a piece of crap. Every time I fish with him and somebody brings on something on board that he doesn't approve of, I know the test is coming later during the day. That sea anchor can break anything. It's kind of funny because the person receiving the test never says anything until their equipment shatters. The look on their face is priceless.

The broken piece of equipment is always replaced by rodbuster. He just gets a kick out of doing it.

 

[MrBill]

I hope you guys have a blast out there. Where the YFT caught on the troll or other methods?

All trolling. They said the weather was perfect. 6 hoo's in the 50 pound range. About 4 more around 25 pounds. No dolphins, but one Yf hit the deck around 130 pounds with two more lost with swivel failure. Apparently, someone forgot to lock the swivels when they put out the spread of lures. Two blue marlin showed up in the spread but weren't interested. Hope that helps. They were fishing the Colt 45 area.

 

[Snagged]

Mr Bill,
Should I ever be lucky enough to fish with you and "Rodbuster" remind me to leave my gear home.

 

[SkeeterRonnie]

sweeeeet rods Mr Bill!!!!! Minnows came by work here yesterday, and dropped off a bait/bass rod to me. I also saw some prototype rods... I cant WAIT for OTI to open for business!! The popper rod TJ had blew my mind on how light it was!! Luckily by then I will have alternate income coming in so I can afford to walk in the doors...lol.

 

[Ragman]

Beautiful rigs, Kevin does do excellent work!

But the best thing I learned from your post is what to do with those blue bands that come with the Stella reels! LOL Now I can throw away the rubber bands!

 

[MrBill]

Mr Bill,
Should I ever be lucky enough to fish with you and "Rodbuster" remind me to leave my gear home.

Snagged, even though I only met for a brief time, I sensed a wild hair in you. I don't think you are as conservative in real life as on the Internet. You might have a good time with Rodbuster. It's only a little crazy on slow fishing days. If the fish are cooperating, it's all business.

The sea anchor only came out one time this year. I wasn't on the boat but got wind of it. Usually the anchor stays put until sometime in the afternoon. I heard the sea anchor was pulled out in the harbor. The guys new rod and reel was shattered right in the harbor.

From what I understand, the guy has money than any of us even dream about. He flew down in his new airplane and presented Rodbuster with rod and reel combo from academy as a token. The combo still had the price tag on it. It was under 30 bucks. That combo didn't stand a chance against the almighty sea anchor test. After the trip, all was well as Rodbuster got a nice gift card in the mail from Meltons as a thank you for the trip.

 

[Snagged]

Mr Bill,
I'm suprised the anchor was only tied to the rod. LOL
Wild Hair? Who me? Naw, never did anything stupid like jumping out of planes or helicopters, getting so drunk I found out I got married three days earlier, no, not me.

 

[Dr Jeff]

I bever jumped out of an airplane,but I crahed 3 of em bush flying in Ak-made the front page of Fairbanks newspaper once. Bill: I'd love to fish on your boat-you guys can stay at my place at Surfside the night b4, so we can get an early start.

 

[MrBill]

Beautiful rods MrBill.

Have you pull on it? How do you like the action of this blank?

Well, I finally had some time this afternoon after processing two does that I shot this morning. I would call the action of these rods "fast" to "Very fast". Lot's of meat on the lower end for lifting power. It seems to load easy for increased casting distance. Should be a good rod to throw the big poppers with plenty of power to muscle in the fish. They will be tested shortly.

 

[Rode Warrior]

Mr. Bill,

Those are very fine rods. I have two questions. How long are the fore grips and butts? And it looks like you had the reel seats reversed so that the rings are a little in front of the reel. I think there are differing opinions on this set up. Do you like it?

[email protected]

 

[MrBill]

I've had people ask me for pics under a load. I finally did it tonight. Pics aren't the best but for now better than nothing. The first pic is the rod under a 15 pound load. I tied off 15 pounds of sash weights. The second pic is the rod under a 21 pound load. I might go outside and shoot for better clicks and more weight. Reel in Pic is a Stella FA 20000. Once again, this is a Super Seeker blank, model CJBF70H
40 (50) 60 Line rating.