I've been wanting a Palmarius spinner to match my baitcasting #3 power slow pitch fluke jigger for some time. I just wasn't wild about the "regular" pricing. But patience is a virtue, even though it can be somewhat frustrating. Anyway, me and a bunch of my closest fishing buddies made our annual trek to the Jersey Saltwater Fishing Show in early March, looking for a deal.
Sure enough Dan Harley (the owner of Palmarius) had a "Show Special" running, his $399 spinners were marked down to $229. Took me about 4 seconds to make the purchase decision. In a flash I became the proud owner of a spankin' new #3 spinner. In fact, most of my buddies also bought a rod (or two) from Dan at the Show. No commission, of course. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
When I finally got home (after our customary scrumptious meal at Gino's in Howard Beach) and mounted up my also-new Daiwa Procyon 3000 reel, I found that the grip was awkward. Very awkward, in fact. The issue was that I have "normal"-sized hands, and the reel seat on the rod was a size 22. Just super-fat for a 3000-sized reel. I understand why Dan spec's that size seat, he has to account for the "true" slow pitch jigging dudes, who use reels in the 5000-8000 size, which will never fit into a 16 or 17 seat. But the 22 was way too fat for my hands. This kind of thing leads to hand cramps - which is already an issue, when switching between a baitcaster and a spinner, a regular occurrence on the fluke grounds. Here's what the factory handle looks like:
Way oversized for my needs. So, what to do? I'm sure I could sell the rod here for what I paid, it was a GREAT deal. But I loved the clean guide wrap job, and know that if I start with a bare #3 blank and built from there, it would be a long drawn out process, doubly so because I'd have to farm out the guide wrapping, as I don't own a wrapping setup.
Having had the experience of replacing the handle assemblies on several rods over the past 3 seasons, all documented on this board, I figured that was the best plan of action. So I sourced the various components from Mudhole in Florida and also a few pieces from AliExpress, and got to work.
I won't be doing the 20-pix documentation thing, rather a couple of quick movies. Stripped off the handle assembly - which was by far the toughest one I've done yet - Dan's Chinese supplier really does a great job on the construction of these rods - and here's where I ended up, after an afternoon of work with the Ginsu, Dremel, and sanding block:
Nice and clean. Then I had to get going on the new handle assembly, working from the butt of the blank forward, of course. Took it down to a size 17 reel seat, and custom-sized and formed the EVA grips to best fit my hands. Take a look-see:
Sooo much better! I was even able to save and re-install the fancy anodized Palmarius-signed trim ring, which I custom-fitted into the butt grip. Overall, it came out super!
Here's something I find interesting - my Palmarius baitcaster also has a factory-installed size 22 trigger seat, and yet it doesn't seem to bother my hand/wrist much at all. It's probably the way I grip my reel, I suppose.
Anyway, this rounds out my tackle upgrades for the coming season. There is trouble brewing however, and it's not just for me, but for everyone that loves the fluke deep jigging thing off Jones Inlet. I'll get into this in a separate post. Never a clear head. Never.
Sure enough Dan Harley (the owner of Palmarius) had a "Show Special" running, his $399 spinners were marked down to $229. Took me about 4 seconds to make the purchase decision. In a flash I became the proud owner of a spankin' new #3 spinner. In fact, most of my buddies also bought a rod (or two) from Dan at the Show. No commission, of course. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride.
When I finally got home (after our customary scrumptious meal at Gino's in Howard Beach) and mounted up my also-new Daiwa Procyon 3000 reel, I found that the grip was awkward. Very awkward, in fact. The issue was that I have "normal"-sized hands, and the reel seat on the rod was a size 22. Just super-fat for a 3000-sized reel. I understand why Dan spec's that size seat, he has to account for the "true" slow pitch jigging dudes, who use reels in the 5000-8000 size, which will never fit into a 16 or 17 seat. But the 22 was way too fat for my hands. This kind of thing leads to hand cramps - which is already an issue, when switching between a baitcaster and a spinner, a regular occurrence on the fluke grounds. Here's what the factory handle looks like:
Way oversized for my needs. So, what to do? I'm sure I could sell the rod here for what I paid, it was a GREAT deal. But I loved the clean guide wrap job, and know that if I start with a bare #3 blank and built from there, it would be a long drawn out process, doubly so because I'd have to farm out the guide wrapping, as I don't own a wrapping setup.
Having had the experience of replacing the handle assemblies on several rods over the past 3 seasons, all documented on this board, I figured that was the best plan of action. So I sourced the various components from Mudhole in Florida and also a few pieces from AliExpress, and got to work.
I won't be doing the 20-pix documentation thing, rather a couple of quick movies. Stripped off the handle assembly - which was by far the toughest one I've done yet - Dan's Chinese supplier really does a great job on the construction of these rods - and here's where I ended up, after an afternoon of work with the Ginsu, Dremel, and sanding block:
Nice and clean. Then I had to get going on the new handle assembly, working from the butt of the blank forward, of course. Took it down to a size 17 reel seat, and custom-sized and formed the EVA grips to best fit my hands. Take a look-see:
Sooo much better! I was even able to save and re-install the fancy anodized Palmarius-signed trim ring, which I custom-fitted into the butt grip. Overall, it came out super!
Here's something I find interesting - my Palmarius baitcaster also has a factory-installed size 22 trigger seat, and yet it doesn't seem to bother my hand/wrist much at all. It's probably the way I grip my reel, I suppose.
Anyway, this rounds out my tackle upgrades for the coming season. There is trouble brewing however, and it's not just for me, but for everyone that loves the fluke deep jigging thing off Jones Inlet. I'll get into this in a separate post. Never a clear head. Never.
