Calstar Rods for Kayak Fishing

Have you guys seen these aftco lightweight roller guides?

plastic and titanium, so no rust. you can cast with them too according to the aftco site.

can't spiral wrap obviously.

Yep... good for light tackle sw applications for sure... would be good for an ultralight SW rod for going after IGFA line class records.

Have you guys seen these aftco lightweight roller guides?

plastic and titanium, so no rust. you can cast with them too according to the aftco site.

can't spiral wrap obviously.

John, I built 3 Calstar blanks with the Aftco lightweights for the 15-30# range years ago when they came out. They work fine and I still use the rods. But when I switched over to spectra on almost everything I had some issues.
 
 The tips have small holes so if you want to run a longer mono topshot on your spectra like for Sturgeon, knot clearance is a problem. Straight mono or short mono leaders are no problem.

 For sturgeon fishing I resorted to doing a hollow spectra splice to a mono topshot (no knot at all) and all is well.(not for fast rigging otw though.)

I know people who like them. I personally like Fuji guides because they are dependable. scott

 All the rods I've built after the above have been with Fuji sic's and nanolite guides. Except some Tuna sticks with Aftco rollers and a couple with some American tackle titanium ring guides (jury's still out on those).
 
 The ring guides are more versatile spin,cast,or spiral....no moving parts (maintenance), and more line clearance.
 

Sometimes I see the rods, roller tip and stripper, regular in between.

now this might be the worst of both worlds, but I am assuming that line wear is expected to occur mainly at the tip and stripper guide?

I wonder about that because I grooved some cheap stainless steel guides (which compa replaced for me) on some cheap IM8 graphite shakespeare rods, and the grooved guides were mostly the middle ones and it was from pulling on snags and a few heavy fish.

the middle guides were the highest thing when I was pulling like that and I assume took most of the weight.

But on the other hand, if you are trolling the the biggest bend in the line is at the tip, so to reduce line abrasion and wear while trolling I could see a roller tip being a good idea.

If you are trolling a bunch, with spectra, and not replacing it very often, then it seems like some wear to the line from the tiptop might be an issue?

 The roller stripper/tip-top was popular in the Socal tuna crowd. I think it was just an effort at saving money on expensive guides. With the introduction of the newer H-D framed ceramics most people only use rollers on the heaviest gear pulling lots of drag.

I agree with the toughts from Fishim. I personally have never had any Fuji ring fail or get grooved including the hardaloy, silicon nitride, alconite or silicon carbide guides and I fish my rods pretty hard. For that reason, I use Silicon carbide on the tip only and either silicon nitride or alconite for the other guides to keep the total cost of the rod down. Silicon carbide dissipates heat better in theory which is why I use it on the tip. I prefer to spend the money on cork grips and the blank itself. Every rod builder prioritizes where they want to save costs. If I ever have an alconite guide fail, I will spend another $30 and use all SIC. Like Fishim for 60-80# standup/trolling rods I use AFTCO heavy duty rollers. I used to build rods with metal ring guides made by Perfection and still really like the way they look, however, the new technology rings by Fuji have made the obsolete, IMO. Not wanting to sound like advertising for Fuji, however when you spend a bit of time on long range boats you get to see what you can rely on and what fails under extreme pressure.

Scott

Ceramics have one weakness, the ceramic is brittle and can break by heavy handling. I have a couple old ugly sticks, one has a cracked ceramic liner. It is a fuji guide. aluminum oxide I think.

one other reason for the roller tip/stripper might have been weight? some of those roller guides are heavy.

alan tani's albie trolling rods are calstar 40-80's with roller tips and strippers added to them. I think the other guides were stainless steel, not sure.

A lot of rods sold by calstar etc seem to have all stainless steel guides. How long do those usually last? Do they get grooved quickly?

Shim, did you use 60lb hollowcore when you used hollowcore for sturgeon? what size mono did you use for a leader? how did you make the splice? (I read the jerry brown info on charkbait).  What size reel did that go on?

I read that you can simply slide the mono leader into the spectra, and tie an overhand knot at the exit of the mono from the spectra. this from the jerry brown info on charkbait. That is my kind of shortcut, 

Thanks for all the great info from you experienced guys Shim and Scott, thanks!

John

John

The Fuji line has Aluminum Oxide, Hardloy, Silicon Nitride II, Silicon Carbide in order of cost and quality. The older, low end Aluminum Oxide guides which are used on many production rods can break on hard impact. I have subjected Fuji Hardloy, Silicon Nitride and Silicon Carbide guides through some heavy abuse including droping them on concrete and have never broken one. Alconite is one of their newer ceramics. I like the Alconite guides on light rods 20# and less because they are very light and flexible but only time will tell how much abuse they can take. As far as the stainless steel guides on the Caltar E-Glass series production rods, they are good quality guides which should last many years. The first Calstar rod I bulit was a 270-7 in tan with stainless steel Perfection rings in 1992. I use it for light tuna and rock fishing and the rings are still in good shape. Of course since joining NCKA, I fish a lot more than I used to so maybe my guides will wear out faster. 

Scott

Ceramics have one weakness, the ceramic is brittle and can break by heavy handling. I have a couple old ugly sticks, one has a cracked ceramic liner. It is a fuji guide. aluminum oxide I think.

one other reason for the roller tip/stripper might have been weight? some of those roller guides are heavy.

alan tani's albie trolling rods are calstar 40-80's with roller tips and strippers added to them. I think the other guides were stainless steel, not sure.

A lot of rods sold by calstar etc seem to have all stainless steel guides. How long do those usually last? Do they get grooved quickly?

Shim, did you use 60lb hollowcore when you used hollowcore for sturgeon? what size mono did you use for a leader? how did you make the splice? (I read the jerry brown info on charkbait).  What size reel did that go on?

I read that you can simply slide the mono leader into the spectra, and tie an overhand knot at the exit of the mono from the spectra. this from the jerry brown info on charkbait. That is my kind of shortcut, 

Thanks for all the great info from you experienced guys Shim and Scott, thanks!

John

 John I've yet to break an sic guide, not for lack of trying.

 

I used 80# hollow because thats what I have on hand, and I heard the 60# hollow is sooo small its a mutha to feed the mono into.
 
 30-40# mono topshots with a 60# mono leader for sturgeon.
 
 Splice is the 1/2 hitch style with glue. The other end is a hollow spectra loop. Then I can do a loop to loop connection to the running line on the reel.

 I have a few reels mostly loaded with 40# regular spectra and a Bimini loop on the end for multi tasking, current favorite is a ebay special Daiwa 253 luna with carbontex drag and cals grease. Good torque 5:1 for bottom fish and sturgeon, light weight, plenty of line capacity. (Still use hot rodded abu's too!)

 The down and dirty overhand knot splice works good...its very popular. For ring guides it works but it defeats the size issue for me.(squeezing through the lite weight roller tip with out hanging up)

 For most fishing I just tie a Bimini double in my spectra and a Braid leader knot(96% rated) to the mono leader.

 My take on knots/splices is to tie and then test them. Use what ever works best for you ...

Thanks!

scott, how do you rig your heavier rods these days?

Thanks!

scott, how do you rig your heavier rods these days?

John -

I use hollow spectra backing with mono top shot. I use a bimini - albright connection or loop to loop connection. Personally I have more confidence in the bimini albright but hollow spectra opens up many more good connection options. Spectra and hollow spectra has really changed rigging, reels and to some degree rods when hunting big pelagics. The trickle down to kayak anglers has been smaller more powerful reels and rods. Not that we really need more power but you have got to love the sensitivity that spectra brings to deep water fishing.

scott

Thanks!

scott, how do you rig your heavier rods these days?

John -

I use hollow spectra backing with mono top shot. I use a bimini - albright connection or loop to loop connection. Personally I have more confidence in the bimini albright but hollow spectra opens up many more good connection options. Spectra and hollow spectra has really changed rigging, reels and to some degree rods when hunting big pelagics. The trickle down to kayak anglers has been smaller more powerful reels and rods. Not that we really need more power but you have got to love the sensitivity that spectra brings to deep water fishing.

scott

scott, so you are using hollow core because of the options it gives you but generally using it like solid core right now with the bimini and albright?

What lb test did you go with? the smallest hollowcore is 60 right? and it has the diameter of 20lb mono according to charkbait.

I assume this is just for your heavier rigs?

John -

I am using 80# hollow spectra with 50-60# mono top shot on my trolling/big tuna rig. I have the Sato crimp system but don't have enough confidence to use it against big tuna yet. The bimini albright has never failed me and I don't mind tying it.

Scott

Scott, thanks and below that rig is basically the #2 and #3 rigs at the top of this thread, the ones with 50lb spectra backing?

Do you have a 100 or 130 lb rig too, or is the 80# outfit your heaviest one?