Making Conquests Lighter

A specialized forum to discuss anything and everything about your favorite or not so favorite fishing rods.
Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Mon Jul 01, 2019 6:37 am

Nice work guys =D> Looks great! It’s easy enough, just need the confidence to get started.

rollyourboat
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by rollyourboat » Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:41 pm

JBcrankaddict wrote:
Sun Jun 30, 2019 3:54 pm
rollyourboat wrote:
Fri Jun 28, 2019 5:39 am
Plan on doing the split grip treatment to my daiwas. Any reminders or "no no's" I should know before I start cutting? Also after I cut how do it get the left over epoxy off?
Looks like my post was a little late =D>
A little late but any it reminded me about the warranty which I completely forgot about. Contacted daiwa and they said it does void the warranty but I've never broken a rod and neither is it a life time warranty anyways.

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Mon Jul 01, 2019 4:41 pm

rollyourboat wrote:
Mon Jul 01, 2019 1:41 pm


A little late but any it reminded me about the warranty which I completely forgot about. Contacted daiwa and they said it does void the warranty but I've never broken a rod and neither is it a life time warranty anyways.
Not sure why it deleted the rest of the post when I edited, but yeah warranty is definitely something to check into before modifying any rod. I’m surprised they would void warranty for work on the grips though, especially if the rod doesn’t break there :-k Loomis policy is as long as it doesn’t break where a modification has been done it’s still valid for lifetime warranty, and always have Xpeditor just in case.

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:18 am

Update:
So I’ve had these rods on the water with all the changes for over a year now, and all I can say is WOW. Every time I use them, they put a smile on my face :big grin: They have held up great, no issues with the cork edges chipping and of course the guides are still perfect. Landed several fish over 30lbs on both, so no issues there. Cork is wearing out though, might try adding a carbon grip next :-k

If you were wondering why this would be needed(probably covered this already), I fish extremely fast reaction style retrieves with jerkbaits spring through fall, and heavy rods are uncomfortable after a short time. Nothing to do with balance, just to much weight in the tip. In factory form, the Conquest 842 was a light rod, but still had a lot of weight in guides that was balanced out with the full cork handle. Reducing the weight in the tip by swapping for smaller guides makes the tip so much easier to rip all day, and the reduction of weight overall with the cork removal made these rods feel amazing. Balance really didn’t change much, which is why overall weight really does matter. It’s easy for me to see after comparing both, and wish manufacturers would start taking components into account to match the type of use of each individual rod.

Here’s a couple short videos showing how I rip those jerkbaits. More weight wears you out quickly when doing this several days a week. This was an NRX 842 with the same guide swap.

https://youtu.be/9i0K2gdimzk

https://youtu.be/RHKSDllgYdg

PBP
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by PBP » Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:40 am

that is awesome.
When you swapped the guides on nrx 843, did you install the exact same number of guides and exact same placement as it was with the original recoils? Or did you reduce the number?

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:04 am

PBP wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:40 am
that is awesome.
When you swapped the guides on nrx 843, did you install the exact same number of guides and exact same placement as it was with the original recoils? Or did you reduce the number?
Same number, same placement. Not much difference in ring height, which is the main concern.

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Wed Jul 29, 2020 10:17 am

And to be clear again, if anyone is thinking about this, but has never done it before, you may want a builder to take care of it. It’s easy, but a $500-$650 mistake is hard to come back from(although Xpeditor covers everything). I’m really posting this because there’s a lot of talk about balance and weight on this forum, but not how it actually applies to the intended use of the rod. This type of direct swap and customization really shows how it can change a rods characteristics for the better with a few small changes to components.

PBP
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by PBP » Wed Jul 29, 2020 11:34 am

Thank you.
would you mine to tell the exact guides you use and speciffically how many belly guides?
Sorry if questions seem simple, but I am not experienced in rod building and planing to try on a guinea pig rod first to get some feel for it before touching my nrx 843.

I am guessing you left the original tip-top guide "as is"?

I am considering:
Fuji K-Series Single-Foot Running Guide Model KT size 5
Fuji K-Series Single-Foot Belly KB size 5.5
and for stripper Fuji K-Series Reverse Double-Foot Casting Guides LRV or Fuji K-Series Reverse Double-Foot Micro Casting Stripper Guide Model RV size 6?

trevor60
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by trevor60 » Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:40 pm

i have been looking to re-purpose a factory rod and found this guide train discussion to be useful.

the one notable exception is the first guide KW10 is much larger the normal.
Norm is a respected rod builder on the rodbulding forum.


For a 7’ casting rod I use KW10 (or RV6) followed by a KW5.5 (or KB5.5) for the transition. I use KB/KT guides all the same size as runners. I mostly use a size 4.5 or 5, and on occasion I will use a size 4. I normally use 3 KB guides in the belly of the rod with the rest of the runners being KT guides in the tip section. I place the stripper about 19 to 20” in front of the reel, and the first runner about 9 to10 cm from the tip top. I progressively fill in the remaining distance to get a good starting point. I do a static test and then test cast to fine tune. For a 7’ rod I will normally use 9 to 10 total guides. Other people do it differently, but do it the way that works best for you. There are several very recent posts concerning this topic as well as many many older posts.
Norm


Trevor

P.S Thanks JBcrankaddict for this thread

domthewon
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by domthewon » Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:39 pm

JBcrankaddict wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:18 am
Update:
So I’ve had these rods on the water with all the changes for over a year now, and all I can say is WOW. Every time I use them, they put a smile on my face :big grin: They have held up great, no issues with the cork edges chipping and of course the guides are still perfect. Landed several fish over 30lbs on both, so no issues there. Cork is wearing out though, might try adding a carbon grip next :-k

If you were wondering why this would be needed(probably covered this already), I fish extremely fast reaction style retrieves with jerkbaits spring through fall, and heavy rods are uncomfortable after a short time. Nothing to do with balance, just to much weight in the tip. In factory form, the Conquest 842 was a light rod, but still had a lot of weight in guides that was balanced out with the full cork handle. Reducing the weight in the tip by swapping for smaller guides makes the tip so much easier to rip all day, and the reduction of weight overall with the cork removal made these rods feel amazing. Balance really didn’t change much, which is why overall weight really does matter. It’s easy for me to see after comparing both, and wish manufacturers would start taking components into account to match the type of use of each individual rod.

Here’s a couple short videos showing how I rip those jerkbaits. More weight wears you out quickly when doing this several days a week. This was an NRX 842 with the same guide swap.

https://youtu.be/9i0K2gdimzk

https://youtu.be/RHKSDllgYdg
Dude! That is the most frantically paced jerk bait retrieve I’ve ever seen. It looks like if you aren’t paying attention a good red could rip the rod right away from you. Looks like a lot of fun, but draining. I can see why you changed your guides and lightened your rod. Good stuff! Still love my custom handled 842 conquest as well.

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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Chode » Thu Jul 30, 2020 8:30 pm

domthewon wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:39 pm
JBcrankaddict wrote:
Wed Jul 29, 2020 9:18 am
Update:
So I’ve had these rods on the water with all the changes for over a year now, and all I can say is WOW. Every time I use them, they put a smile on my face :big grin: They have held up great, no issues with the cork edges chipping and of course the guides are still perfect. Landed several fish over 30lbs on both, so no issues there. Cork is wearing out though, might try adding a carbon grip next :-k

If you were wondering why this would be needed(probably covered this already), I fish extremely fast reaction style retrieves with jerkbaits spring through fall, and heavy rods are uncomfortable after a short time. Nothing to do with balance, just to much weight in the tip. In factory form, the Conquest 842 was a light rod, but still had a lot of weight in guides that was balanced out with the full cork handle. Reducing the weight in the tip by swapping for smaller guides makes the tip so much easier to rip all day, and the reduction of weight overall with the cork removal made these rods feel amazing. Balance really didn’t change much, which is why overall weight really does matter. It’s easy for me to see after comparing both, and wish manufacturers would start taking components into account to match the type of use of each individual rod.

Here’s a couple short videos showing how I rip those jerkbaits. More weight wears you out quickly when doing this several days a week. This was an NRX 842 with the same guide swap.

https://youtu.be/9i0K2gdimzk

https://youtu.be/RHKSDllgYdg
Dude! That is the most frantically paced jerk bait retrieve I’ve ever seen. It looks like if you aren’t paying attention a good red could rip the rod right away from you. Looks like a lot of fun, but draining. I can see why you changed your guides and lightened your rod. Good stuff! Still love my custom handled 842 conquest as well.
That jerking action is what happens when u OD on Viagra

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Mon Aug 03, 2020 7:49 am

trevor60 wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 6:40 pm
i have been looking to re-purpose a factory rod and found this guide train discussion to be useful.

the one notable exception is the first guide KW10 is much larger the normal.
Norm is a respected rod builder on the rodbulding forum.


For a 7’ casting rod I use KW10 (or RV6) followed by a KW5.5 (or KB5.5) for the transition. I use KB/KT guides all the same size as runners. I mostly use a size 4.5 or 5, and on occasion I will use a size 4. I normally use 3 KB guides in the belly of the rod with the rest of the runners being KT guides in the tip section. I place the stripper about 19 to 20” in front of the reel, and the first runner about 9 to10 cm from the tip top. I progressively fill in the remaining distance to get a good starting point. I do a static test and then test cast to fine tune. For a 7’ rod I will normally use 9 to 10 total guides. Other people do it differently, but do it the way that works best for you. There are several very recent posts concerning this topic as well as many many older posts.
Norm


Trevor

P.S Thanks JBcrankaddict for this thread
You are welcome. That’s the exact guide train I am using. Main thing to keep in mind if replacing guides on a factory rod is the height of the ring off the blank. The new guides don’t change very much from the old guides on these rods, but have seen some that probably wouldn’t work, to much line slap on the blank.

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Mon Aug 03, 2020 8:09 am

domthewon wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:39 pm

Dude! That is the most frantically paced jerk bait retrieve I’ve ever seen. It looks like if you aren’t paying attention a good red could rip the rod right away from you. Looks like a lot of fun, but draining. I can see why you changed your guides and lightened your rod. Good stuff! Still love my custom handled 842 conquest as well.
:lol: Yeah it is work, but worth it. Just wanted to show why, since so many make the gym comment when discussing combo weight. That retrieve gets the school fired up and they will hang around longer and keep biting. That day we were on a huge school, doubled up 13 times in an hour and I think it’s because that lure darting around like that keeps their attention and they just want to kill it. They definitely don’t have a problem catching it, and it’s not actually moving as fast as it looks. You have to pay attention or they may do exactly as you said and steal your rod :doh:

Glad to hear you are still enjoying your custom and hopefully it is holding up well! Definitely something not many people have at this point.

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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by domthewon » Wed Aug 05, 2020 4:16 pm

JBcrankaddict wrote:
Mon Aug 03, 2020 8:09 am
domthewon wrote:
Thu Jul 30, 2020 7:39 pm

Dude! That is the most frantically paced jerk bait retrieve I’ve ever seen. It looks like if you aren’t paying attention a good red could rip the rod right away from you. Looks like a lot of fun, but draining. I can see why you changed your guides and lightened your rod. Good stuff! Still love my custom handled 842 conquest as well.
:lol: Yeah it is work, but worth it. Just wanted to show why, since so many make the gym comment when discussing combo weight. That retrieve gets the school fired up and they will hang around longer and keep biting. That day we were on a huge school, doubled up 13 times in an hour and I think it’s because that lure darting around like that keeps their attention and they just want to kill it. They definitely don’t have a problem catching it, and it’s not actually moving as fast as it looks. You have to pay attention or they may do exactly as you said and steal your rod :doh:

Glad to hear you are still enjoying your custom and hopefully it is holding up well! Definitely something not many people have at this point.
Sounds like a good time! Yup I like, and enjoy the split grip on it. Even though I didn’t change guides you can feel the difference. Thanks for the original advice I’m glad I modified mine.

Jeffbro999
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Re: Making Conquests Lighter

Post by Jeffbro999 » Mon Mar 01, 2021 10:08 am

Now that I have several months of fishing and a bunch of big fish on my rebuilt Conquest 842 to really test it, I figured I would post some of the results of my craziness :lol: Went minimalist on the components on this rod with a Alps/Forecast carbon fiber foregrip for my rear grip, no foregrip with threaded tube cut down as far as possible, Minima seat custom cut for comfort, an EVA butt grip, and black thread wraps. Weight and comfort were my top priorities, and the 842 now weighs 81 grams and is the most amazing jerkbait rod I’ve ever had in my hands. The power to weight ratio is off the charts, and it obviously has that great all around action that makes so many techniques fun to fish. One of my favorites is throwing a 3/8oz Break Blade with a Skinny Dipper trailer for redfish and bass, and it’s crazy to feel that light, like you aren’t holding anything at all, and then bow up into a 10lb red and the rod shows it’s power and puts the fish in the boat.

As for the carbon fiber grips, they are super comfortable after extended use. This was something I was worried about before ordering since I have issues with my hands. I’ve found that some grips can create blisters in a hurry, and I spend a lot of time with this rod in hand. These grips haven’t given me a single problem and have held up perfectly. They are not slippery, and have not noticed any issues with sweat making them slippery, but I didn’t finish them with epoxy either. Extremely light, dense, and very sensitive. The sensitivity boost was immediately noticeable the first time I had a bite. These grips are the real deal.

Again, I wish Loomis would make blanks available! These Conquests and NRX are great in factory form, but no comparison once customized. It’s going to be hard to overlook how these changes affect a rod with future purchases after feeling the differences every step of the way.

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A few fish caught on the 842
Jerkbait
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Chatterbait
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Twitchbait
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Crankbait(love cranking wood with the 842)
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