Late Summer Project: Old School Cobia Rod

[dipydogg]

So Im thinking I want to build an old school Cobia Rod for a Mitchell 303 reel off the piers. I am interested in the Lamiglas MB108-3M-B in honey colored. Anyway I called Mudhole and asked what the action of the blank was and the guy helping me thought it was extra fast so he went and checked it was indeed extra fast. A lot of the pier fisherman in the panhandle swear by the Gator blank t90l and t80l blanks but those are moderate to slow action blanks. I guess my questions are these. If Im only throwing jigs with it should I leave it the stock length and action because I thought with artificials I would get more distance with a faster action blank because Im not worried about throwing off bait? Or should I take a few inches off the back of the blank slowing down the action a bit? If it helps going to be using about 25lb mono line and 2-3oz cobia jigs.

[CubanExpress]

Gator glass blanks are great! I say wrap that ho up and kill some cobia.....

I wouldn't worry to much about the slow or fast taper of the blank. It's one thing that seems to me as a personal preference for the person it is built for. Some like it fast, some like it slow. Make it your way....

[dipydogg]

Gator glass blanks are great I have a t90H I just built for tarpon. Thanks for the imput

[CubanExpress]

Did you ever find any Aetna non fouling guides?

[dipydogg]

No luck the large ones are getting very difficult to find.

[CubanExpress]

Yes they are hard to find in the larger sizes. The sets I have are chrome plated and If it wasn't for the one person that I got them from, I don't think I would ever see them any where else for sale.

The non plated/bare stainless steel version is common in the smaller sizes. JR rods in Jupiter FL had quite a few in the ~50mm and smaller sizes. Unfortunately he is not in business anymore (at least not that I know of).

In my eyes the Aetna is the best guide. My second choice is the perfection style. Which is very easy to find and available in 70mm all the way down.

[dipydogg]

Ya thats what I was looking for I have four sets of every size 30 down to about a 6 non chromed. Imgoing to use the perfection style on the cobia rod (70, 50, 30, 20, 14, 10) because I couldn't find the aetnas. I bought some other type of foul proofs from another place for the t90h I just build for tarpon the largest ring is a 55mm.



Wasnt what i wanted but i think the rod came out nice.

[CubanExpress]

Ya thats what I was looking for I have four sets of every size 30 down to about a 6 non chromed. Imgoing to use the perfection style on the cobia rod (70, 50, 30, 20, 14, 10) because I couldn't find the aetnas. I bought some other type of foul proofs from another place for the t90h I just build for tarpon the largest ring is a 55mm.

Wasnt what i wanted but i think the rod came out nice.

Before I found new sets of aetnas, I would hunt for vintage rods at garage sales and swap meets. Then strip them off the old rods. I had to settle for used, and since the majority were non plated and bare stainless steel. They were able to be cleaned up with very find sandpaper. Ten years or more down the road these guides such as the aetna and the style you have on the GATOR GLASS T90H are going to be really impossible to find. Buy as many as you can or think you will need, as one day they are going to be obsolete. The same can be said for the GATOR GLASS blanks....

[dipydogg]

Im looking into making my own. My dad flies RC airplanes those guys bend stainless all the time to make landing gear and such. There is a guy that makes Aetna style guides in any size you want in the panhandle. I figure if he can do it why cant I. Check this out his guides are pretty nice looking but pricy he sells a 6 guide set for $45 and then $5 shipping I think. I thought about getting a set but $15 for a set of Pac Bay wires seemed a bit better than $45. Im on my girlfriends computer and cant find the site, but tomorrow I will post the link that has pics of the guides and all his contact info when I can get to my computer.

[dipydogg]

Anyone else have any advise on the Lamiglas blank. Really would like some more experienced opinions to go by. Any help would be great, thanks.

[dipydogg]

here is a link with pics and the contact info for the guy that builds the custom foul proofs.

http://emeraldcoastpierfishing.myfastfo ... oof+guides

[Boca Jetty Rat]

So I'm wondering what is the point of the big guides. I've seen them on customs around the area in my travels, but why does one want large guides on a spinning rod?

[crashmister]

Rat; Less resistance in casting.

[Boca Jetty Rat]

Yeah I figured that was the reasoning. Thanks for the reply. They look cool too.

[CubanExpress]

Im looking into making my own. My dad flies RC airplanes those guys bend stainless all the time to make landing gear and such. There is a guy that makes Aetna style guides in any size you want in the panhandle. I figure if he can do it why cant I. Check this out his guides are pretty nice looking but pricy he sells a 6 guide set for $45 and then $5 shipping I think. I thought about getting a set but $15 for a set of Pac Bay wires seemed a bit better than $45. Im on my girlfriends computer and cant find the site, but tomorrow I will post the link that has pics of the guides and all his contact info when I can get to my computer.

Pretty slick that he made his own. Thanks for sharing the link!

dipydogg on the 8 foot blank are you going to use 5 or 6 guides?

[dipydogg]

Its a 9ft blank Im going to use 6 guides(70, 50, 30, 20, 14, 10) then a 10 tip top

[CubanExpress]

Which blank did you decide on?

[dipydogg]

I decided on the Lamiglas MB108-3M-B. I talked to the guys at mudhole and they said that blank should be ideal for what I want to build. I know it sounds girly but I like the honey color and it comes in the length I was looking for and rated to throw the jig size I will be using. I use to live in the panhandle(ft. walton beach) the first half of my childhood and the guy who lived across the street was quite a cobia fisherman. I remember seeing many fish over 80lbs brought back to his house after outings sightfishing cobes. He had 4 rods rigged year round on the garage wall specific for sight fishing cobes and they were all honey colored blanks, oversized wire guides and old mitchell reels. Since Ive been old enough to fish for cobes I lived in Mississippi where we fish for cobia on structure such as channel markers or oil and gas rigs where we used much shorter rods and ususally threw live bait not jigs at them. Now I live in an area where people sight fish for cobes off piers with jigs so Ive gotten my chance to have one of those rods i use to love on my neighbors wall that I remember when I was little. I am going to build a much better setup than my neighbor had obviously customizing to rod to my specs and building on a better blank as well. Im also going to custoize the reel by adding a manual pickup, penn drag system, crosswind gearing, drilling out some of the spool and frame to lighten it up, as well as painting or powdercoating the reel to match the wraps on the rod. Im looking to have modern flair on an old favorite.

[dan]

pic?

[dipydogg]

I havent started the project yet. I will probably buy the blank at the end of this month and start building in august, but I will post pics when I start the project. I started this thread to get some feedback on the idea.

[dipydogg]

Well haven't bought my blank yet , but I did get my reel . I got a very nice looking mitchell 402 on ebay for 30 dollars.



Was very gunked up with old hard grease when it showed up, but i cleaned it out relubed it spins like it was brand new. This reel is getting a complete overhaul. Im going to strip off the paint and repaint it in a light blue with white accents. Im also going get the spool drilled out to lighten it up and give it that cool van staal cheese grater look. Adding a manual pickup, crosswind cam, and a penn drag system(also removing the clicker that is in the stock drag). Should look very similar to this reel minus the pink .



Cant wait to get started on it .

[NCPierRat]

Whats the drag strength of that 402

[NCPierRat]

Well haven't bought my blank yet , but I did get my reel . I got a very nice looking mitchell 402 on ebay for 30 dollars.



Was very gunked up with old hard grease when it showed up, but i cleaned it out relubed it spins like it was brand new. This reel is getting a complete overhaul. Im going to strip off the paint and repaint it in a light blue with white accents. Im also going get the spool drilled out to lighten it up and give it that cool van staal cheese grater look. Adding a manual pickup, crosswind cam, and a penn drag system(also removing the clicker that is in the stock drag). Should look very similar to this reel minus the pink .



Cant wait to get started on it .

Whats the drag strength of that 402

[NCPierRat]

On the right rod with the right line it really doesnt matter