| Archive for EmeraldCoastPierFishing.com Fishing reports, pictures, and discussion dedicated to the fishing piers along the gulf coast of Alabama and Northwest Florida |
| ghettowrapped |
American Tackle "Viper" series blanksi was talking with Calvin the other day and he told me that Half Hitch in Destin had the Viper rods in stock. does anyone know if the Panama City store has them as well? |
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| blaminack |
I have seen them there before, but you could also check with Ernie. | ||||||
| ghettowrapped |
thanks bill...how 'bout it ernie? really looking for the 968 or 1088 model to check out up close and personal. | ||||||
| Calvin |
What I forgot to tell you about that 1089 blank was that I got it from the Destin store but they didn't actually have it in stock. The Panama City store did. So I paid for it at the Destin store and had em ship it to Navarre at no charge. I should have just sent Ernie the money and had him pick it up from the PC store because I ended up bringing it to him as he has it right now for a wrap job. Would have saved me and them alot of trouble. Oh well. Anyways...if PC had the 1089 I'm sure they had others as well. And any Half Hitch store will ship to the other at no charge.
The past 2 days I've been fishing with my 1087 that Obie built me. It's a real chip slinger. The more I use it the more I like it. It is the perfect 9 ft small bait King rod. I can throw hand size hardtails with it but it's more like a pendulum launch cast instead of a whip cast. I'm afraid to whip cast anything big with that 1087. But it will whip the hell out of LY's and Cigs. I'm loving it! So...having 3 different 9 ft models this is how I rate them. 1087 - Chip slinger, small bait king rod. 1088 - Normal to big bait size King rod, light weight ling jigs (2 oz and under). 1089 - Not sure yet but I think this will be the ultimate Cobe rod. And Ferd, just so you know... Viper only makes two 8 ft rods, an 80L and an 80H. "L" is rated 12 - 25 and "H" is rated 30 - 60. Wow.  I bet you could take one of the lighter 9 ft models and cut it down to something more you would like.
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| Ernie & Linda |
I dont carry amtac yet hard to get away from rainshadow. All the same blank in performance imo. Amtacs look cool as crap though. I have Calvins blue 1089 i started working on. You can come over and check it out if you want im finally up and running . Mind you, if the allstar 1088 is what your trying to duplicate in feel , the amtac 1089 does it quit well. its a hair stiffer than rainshadows 1088 and less than there 1089. | ||||||
| ghettowrapped |
are the sequential blanks made from the same mandrel and just slid down to obtain the desired action? could i take a 1088 and strategically cut it to get the 8 footer action i am looking for? right now the 8 footer is a 965 allstar and i would love one with a little stiffer tip, but not like the pool cue 968 i used to have. i've never been one to cut down a blank and therefore have virtually no experience doing it. thanks in advance. | ||||||
| Calvin |
Well thats great news to hear. I was getting worried about you thinking you were giving up. I want you to thrive over there in all that untapped territory so to speak. All it's gonna take is for all those PC folks to see your work then you should be a busy wrapper once again. Your rod wrapping skills are top quality! 
Probably. Either that or the 1087.
Ernie has all kinds of experience on cutting blanks down to get the desired action. I'm sure he will weigh in on the subject. |
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| Ernie & Linda |
I've been preety busy catching up . Calvin ill supprise you soon with some pics.
Ferd i like to cut down the 1087 to desired action. Usually 1-2" off the tip and at least twice that off the butt. Or none at all if you dont mind an odd-ball length. What you want to do to get it perfect is tape the guides and tip on and feel the weight imposed on the blank and go from there with how it can be adjusted for action . I know the 1087 is plenty strong to handle a cobia , but you have to take the weakest link out of the picture and thats by removal of some tip. This brings your higher strain areas down into the mid to butt sections . and for a 1087/1207, these blanks will flex deeper into those areas. Safe areas is what i call them. Rarely do we see breakage here. I stay away from trimming on the 1089's and an inch max on 1088. |
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| BrownMarlin |
Anyone know of any good 10 ft. blanks? 
Or anyone selling a 10ft 
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| ghettowrapped |
thanks ernie...that's some good stuff there. i think i'll look at a 1087 and if you don't mind, can i get you to help me find the sweet spot for an 8 foot section?
sorry brown marlin, i gave that 1208 to shadow.
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| blaminack |
I knew I had seen a AmTak Viper at Ernie's. It must have been Calvin's. | ||||||
| Rick |
I took a 1088 AMTAC saltwater version and put a butt extension that slipped perfectly over the butt and has about a 6" interior overlap. The butt extension ends up being around 18" and the connection is hidden under the reel seat. The Butt was thin walled so there is no real noticable difference from the butt to the blank. The action feels great and it will serve its purpose of sligging the jigs long distance for Cobes and fishing Sebastian Inlet for Snook. i have only taped the guides on for now to test but I did it a little different with the Titaniam SIC guides starting with a 30 choker. I only plan on using Power Pro so it should work fine. I did go to the Mudhole Open House and saw some new Guides from Fuji called the K series. They only come titianium and start at a size 50. they are completely wind knot proof. EXPENSIVE! I might have to do the switch-a-roo... |
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| Ernie & Linda |
No problem the 7 power blanks are easy cause of ther moderate action. You can take up to 2' fm tip and not drastically change the rod . Only stiffen it up some. You must start with your guides on the blank because guide weight and # of guides will drasticly affect power and load up of the rod in the back cast. Go a 1/2' at a time fm the tip and see how it feels till your satisfied keeping in mind what your primarily going to be throwing and what your going to be throwing at. Call me ill give you guide spacing if you need. Keep in mind too that for a 7 power blank at 9', i highly recomend at least 6 guides to distribute stress. Cause with the stripper guide out roughly 28-30'' from spool lip, five guides is going to be a disaster waiting when you either sling that hardtail too hard or you hook big momma. |
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| ghettowrapped |
ernie, PM me your number...i think Lisa and i will be at your pier this friday. it looks like it's gonna cool off some this weekend.
nite legend and kid cobia, see if brown marlin can come out and play
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| BrownMarlin |
I might be able to come out and play SAT.  Call me  But, have to work Friday... Nitelegend and Daddy O are heading over to Gulf Shores to do some scouting for them there spot tails  KidCobia what are you up to this weekend?
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| T.MASS |
Calvin, I was also thinking about getting a 1089. I love my 2 1088's and the do great for both kings and cobia but like you said the 1089 would be the ultimate cobia rod! I want to check it out after you get it from ernie! | ||||||
| Hunts375 |
Have a an an American tackle 1088 blue viper as well as a American tackle 1089 silver viper. They are awesome blanks. I haven't had them wrapped yet, but I know they are going to be awesome. If anyone wants to take a look at them I live in Gulf Breeze, so just let me know. | ||||||
| Calvin |
Mike, I was at Ernie's yesterday and saw several 120 inch blanks with different ratings that might be of interest to you. You might want to make arrangements to check them out.
Yes. No problem. 
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| BrownMarlin |
Thanks Calvin! Yep Yep... I'll call you Ernie to check them out...not exactly in the market at the moment but, will be before spring 
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| ghettowrapped |
alright calvin...after checking out your 1087 and 1088, i came to like the 1088. my question now is, side by side, how does that 1088 compare to the action of a G.loomis SW108-25? that is the blank that has the action i am really searching for. the reason i ask is i believe you told me before that you had that particular loomis. | ||||||
| Calvin |
Is SW108-25 the model number of my blank? I'm not sure. I bought it off the rod rack, already wrapped, several years ago from GBB&T for 330 dollars. I carelessly lost the price tag identifying the blank and components to make up the build. For years I thought it was a Lamiglas. Until this year at Okaloosa some of the guys were telling me that this guy Buddha has the same blank as me but 1 size bigger. Sure enough I met Buddha and our rods are identical except for the obvious fact that his blank is the next higher power rating. Plus Buddha knows for fact what brand his blank is. But I could have swore he told me that his blank was a 1088, which would make mine a 1087. Whats that -25 stand for in the model number SW108-25? Add 2+5 to get 7? SW1087?
Whatever the model number, the G-Loomis rod that I have I think is the closest thing in feel to an original All Star 1087 blank. The American Tackle Viper 1088 I have is very close in feel to my G-Loomis. Which coincides with what I've been saying about any of the American Tackle blanks, Viper series or not, in that if it says it's an 8 power rating then by that standard it feels like a 7 from All Star. I hope that makes sense. If not just let me know next time you will be at Okaloosa and I'll bring the Loomis and the AV1088 with me for your comparison. If I had to pick between the Loomis and the AV1088 it would be the Loomis all the way. Unfortunately I don't think Loomis make this blank anymore. 
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| inshorefisherman |
Calvin the 25 in the model number would be the line class just like the new G looomis steel | ||||||
| ghettowrapped |
yeah, the 25 is the line rating...the sw108-30 was once THE blank for cobes until allstar came out with the 1088 which is now the standard by which all cobe blanks are judged by. i dont think the allstar is that much better, but it was damn sure much cheaper! i got a chance to throw pat neal's sw108-25 many years back and i haven't forgotten how SWEET that thing dealt with a lighter cobe jig. with first shot at the majority of our piers, i am feeling the need to change things a bit and streamline my collection to just a few versatile combos. i've got WAAAY too much stuff! | ||||||
| blaminack |
I was at Ernie's tonight and saw Calvin's rod... Sick sick sick. That Ernie Cavitt is a beast on a rod lathe. It is not finished but the thing is wicked so far! | ||||||
| Jake |
that 1089 would be sick. | ||||||
| Kingfshr |
Geeze all this talk makes me want one. I can't decide the Blue one or the Silver. I'll be gettin in touch with ya Ernie around the first of the year. | ||||||
| Ernie & Linda |
Perfect. Please dont wait till end of Febuary. you'll get more for your dough when im bored and not slammed.
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| Calvin |
2 quotes from this thread - http://emeraldcoastpierfishing.myfastforum.org/about2936.html and the subsequent replies I moved into this thread as to not derail the other thread.  Thats funny. And true too! Besides that 1089 that Ernie is wrapping me, I also have an 87 and an 88. Every place I take those rods with me somebody is ALWAYS inquiring about them. I haven't fished the 88 a whole lot but that 87 is one bad ass small bait King rod and I think everybody should have one whether its a trendy piece of eye candy or not.
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| kingling |
calvin can we have some  pretty please
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| Calvin |
Click on the pics for bigger version. Here is the blue 1088:  
That shiny 303 is one of them painted ones from South Florida from the guy who tried to rip me off on a 306 that I bought for Jonathan. The reel is customized with the following: Penn drag washers Crosswind cam Orignal ball bearing Mitchell manual pickup kit High speed coffee grinder handle And a size 5000 shim behind the drive gear 
Here is the silver 1087: This is an older picture with the reel above mounted on it.  
Check this 303. Its the best one I have in my Mitchell arsenal, currently mounted on the 1087, and customized with the following: Penn drag washers High speed coffee grinder handle Manual pickup kit with Ferd roller Crosswind cam Double main gear, one is an idler. Size 3000 shim behind the main drive gear.  
What I have learned about the double main gear combined with shims is that if you have a double main gear a size 3000 shim is all you need or it gets too tight to reel. A reel with just one drive gear in it is best suited for a size 5000 shim. Two 3000's make it a tad bit tight...IMO. |
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| jaceboat |
nice rods and reels calvin.
i know this should probably go in the mitchell section but what the hell is a shim? nobody ever answers that. calvin do u think the 1088 would be a good eel rod? |
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| Calvin |
Thanks! I probably shouldn't have posted my Mitchell details in this thread because now people are questioning it and derailing this thread. I moved Rick's post quoting me (from this thread) to the Double main gear thread here - http://emeraldcoastpierfishing.myfastforum.org/about1611.html So ask all shim and double gear questions there. Back to the Vipers. Yes. I do believe the 1088 would make an excellent eel/pitch bait rod.
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