# Christmas 2016 - Batson Immortal IMMP70M with Pecan Grips



## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

And one more... 

This one I built as a gift to a dear friend and fellow rodbuilder. I hope he actually fishes it and doesn't leave it in his rod room, lol! 

This one is built on the Batson Immortal IMMP70M, left at 7'. Again, all Batson guides were used in this build along with a Matagi SKTS16 seat painted in gloss black along with Matagi gold winding checks. I turned the grips from pecan wood from a tree in my backyard. A branch had fallen last year that I let dry out in my garage for a year before I finally turned them to help minimize and potential splitting in the wood as it aged.


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## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

dang, lookin great. very nice. 

do you bore out the mesquite or pecan wider than the blank and arbor it to cut down on weight? is that a worry? 

personally, i don't obsess over weight, and i think the difference in weight between 2 builds, one "heavy", one "light", becomes a very small % overall when you add the weight of a reel and line. 
so, imagine 2 builds, 2.5 oz and 3.5. seems like a huge ~50% difference. 
a curado weighs 7oz. plus a half oz of line. so you are looking at a total of 10 and 11 oz on the two builds. like ~10%. seems like getting a haircut and thinking you will now jump higher...


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

jimj100 said:


> dang, lookin great. very nice.
> 
> do you bore out the mesquite or pecan wider than the blank and arbor it to cut down on weight? is that a worry?


Thanks for the compliments Jim!

No, I don't bore out wider than the blank. I've thought about it but haven't messed with it because then I would have to measure to make sure that my winding checks will hide the bigger hole (i'm sure they will, just haven't measured it). Naturally the wood is heavier than cork, but the "feel in the hand" weight is almost nothing because the wood helps shift the weight towards the rear of the rod once finished. With the shift in weight, it becomes a non-issue for the people who the rod's have been built for. I may in the future look into boring out wider, but only time will tell.


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## jimj100 (Dec 1, 2012)

right, I think balance is more important than over all wt. I agree with that for sure. and beauty above all! lol!


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## teamfirstcast (Aug 23, 2006)

Wow, very nice work Sir and the colors are perfect with the seat and wood. Just beautiful!


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

jimj100 said:


> right, I think balance is more important than over all wt. I agree with that for sure. and beauty above all! lol!


Lol! Thanks!


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

teamfirstcast said:


> Wow, very nice work Sir and the colors are perfect with the seat and wood. Just beautiful!


Thanks for the compliments!


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## katjim00 (Jan 8, 2009)

Excellent craftsmanship sir


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

katjim00 said:


> Excellent craftsmanship sir


Thank you sir!


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## Fishsurfer (Dec 14, 2014)

Great job and fitting for our area where pecan is king. It is not as dense as say oak so I would not think weight is that big of a deal and I agree about the balance. Beautiful work as always.


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

Fishsurfer said:


> Great job and fitting for our area where pecan is king. It is not as dense as say oak so I would not think weight is that big of a deal and I agree about the balance. Beautiful work as always.


Appreciate the compliment, and I love that Pecan! I'm getting ready to trim up the tree come Spring and will have some more branches to use to make some more grips from. I have a lot of overhang at the fence line that needs to be cleaned up.


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## alldaylong (Mar 6, 2011)

I may have to wait for one of those ice cream days with no wind, just smooth rolling waves and definitely will have to stay in the boat to fish with my Christmas present. I was test casting in the front yard and felt guilty about putting a reel on it just to do that! :cheers::smile::smile::smile: Thanks again Armando. I can now say I'm the proud owner of a Traditions Custom Rod!!! :dance::dance:


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## Fishsurfer (Dec 14, 2014)

Man I like that pecan after seeing it again, it looks so awesome.


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

Good stuff, Armando! Congrats, Arthur!


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

alldaylong said:


> I may have to wait for one of those ice cream days with no wind, just smooth rolling waves and definitely will have to stay in the boat to fish with my Christmas present. I was test casting in the front yard and felt guilty about putting a reel on it just to do that! :cheers::smile::smile::smile: Thanks again Armando. I can now say I'm the proud owner of a Traditions Custom Rod!!! :dance::dance:


You know that you are most welcome! As soon as I put fishing back into my schedule, we'll go out and see what that rod will do! :cheers:


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

Fishsurfer said:


> Man I like that pecan after seeing it again, it looks so awesome.


Thanks!



Goags said:


> Good stuff, Armando! Congrats, Arthur!


Thanks Jerry!


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## ATX 4x4 (Jun 25, 2011)

Very classy!


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## Goags (May 28, 2004)

ATX 4x4 said:


> Very classy!


Well said!


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## Sisco Kid (Mar 19, 2008)

That is Beyond Words
Awesome Job


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TXFishSlayer (Apr 28, 2014)

ATX 4x4 said:


> Very classy!





Goags said:


> Well said!





Sisco Kid said:


> That is Beyond Words
> Awesome Job


Thanks guys!


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