MEAT HOOK

**Marlinmate** · 01-21-2009 11:13 PM

Finished this up for a friend. A Mud-whole kit, 6ft with 2" hook. Pretty impressed with the kit. Everything fit perfect.

I used 2 part Rod Bond Epoxy, put into a cake icing "bag" with a decorating tip to inject the epoxy up into the blank. I put a cork plug from the butt end down into the blank to make an epoxy cavity. I scored the end of the hook up inside the blank with a Dremel to get a "little" more bite.

Made an epoxy ramp to smooth the transition from blank to hook.

All in all, I'm pretty happy and as someone on sportfisherman.com would say, "CAN'T WAIT FOR SOME MEAT IN DA' BOX"

**clt_capt** · 01-22-2009 12:13 AM

Looking good.

**Finesse** · 01-22-2009 12:24 AM

Very Nice !!

**paul708** · 01-22-2009 07:47 AM

nice job..looks good

**captkev1** · 01-24-2009 08:56 PM

Nice job! I'm new to the rod building world and also just made a gaff. The problem I'm having with the Mud hole kit is that i cant get the first grip to go all the way to the end of the blank. Did you also have trouble. If you notice in my pics i still wanted to have a 6ft gaff so i did the corded handles.

**Marlinmate** · 01-24-2009 11:51 PM

Captkev

Your gaffs look great. I've yet to figure out a Turks Head knot, but it looks like you've got it figured out. Awesome job.

A few things you can/need to do to get the but grip to fit -

1. Get a grip reamer of some sort. I use the Dream Reamer by Batson. Comes with 4 interchangeable reamers and a screwdriver type handle. You ream out the inside of the EVA grip to a larger diameter and then slide it down with epoxy into it's proper location. I don't think the Mudhole kits were made for an exact fit without a little massaging to get things into place. The reamers can be chucked into a drill bt for faster work if need be.

2. You can boil water and put the EVA grip in to get it more pliable. Allows it to expand a little more and is easier to slide down the blank into place.

For my build, I didn't like the tapered grip they sent for the rear/butt grip. I ended up purchasing a straight piece of EVA and used it in place. It came 3/4" inside diameter, but I still had to ream it out a little bit. This to me, "looked" better than having tapered EVa on front and back grips. Just my opinion.

Nice job and keep up the good work on your next builds.

**clt_capt** · 01-25-2009 12:12 AM

Those look great!!!

I've been putting my EVA grips in the microwave - 3 or 4 blast of 30 seconds each seems to work well. They will slide down easily while warm and lubricated with epoxy. Once they cool off, they tighten up. Seems to be the trick for me.

**Taz575** · 01-25-2009 12:45 PM

I spoke with Todd from Mudhole about this. Their kits pretty much are the same for each size except for the shaft and hook. I asked if they could put a 1" ID EVA foregrip in the kits for the 6' gaffs with the OD over 1", but he didn't say if he would or not. They know the shafts are much larger than the 3/4" EVA they include! The 3/4" works fine for the front of the two grips, but has difficulty stretching enough for the rear grip. I will have to try the microwave trick one of these days. I just look at the measurements of the OD of the shafts where I want the grips to go, figure the length, and order the correct ID EVA so that it will still stretch, but not be impossible to install the grip and not need shimming up at the front of the grip. I did one of the 6', 5" hook kits and even leaning my body weight (285#) onto the lubricated EVA/shaft, still barely got it down the blank! Next ones I did I ordered up either 7/8" or 1" ID EVA to use as the rear grip. Much easier than reaming the EVA!