S Hovanec

Being as old as it is, the first thing I'd do before adding a motor is replace the fuel lines. There's no way they're ethanol safe.

Here's what I did in my Mr Pike. I can put it in any of the seat bases.

I have a buddy that guides on Ontario and Erie. I have an Erie trip booked with him on Memorial day to look for a 7# smallie. He gets a couple every year around that time.

I have one of these I keep threatening to build for tubes. Picked up a C2 in that action/power at the ICRBE for stupid cheap too. So many blanks, so little time!

The St Croix 5S610MLXF is my #1 DS blank. I'm going to be ordering a Rainshadow ETES610MXF soon too. I wiggled one at the ICRBE and liked the feel.

That's an awful lot of pressure! It's gonna be pretty hard to one-up the inlay on that last fighting butt.

Looks like a PacBay aluminium butt with a large diameter winding check. http://www.mudhole.com/Heavy-Duty-Aluminum-Fighting-Butt

You should have seen the first attempt! More misalignments than not! The table on my bandsaw was out of square.

My rods and reels are about equal in cost, maybe a bit more rod heavy if you factor in my labor to build the rod.

Exsence, Twinpower and Vanquish are all between the Stella and Sustain. The smallest size a Exsence is made in is 3000, which is the same frame as a 2500, but a deeper spool. My#1 DS rod has a Twinpower 2500HGS. S denotes shallow spool. It holds 10 yards of backer and 50 yards of 20# braid. Any more than that and it's just a waste of line.

I have a spool of pink Gliss that will be going on my tube rod.

The ICRBE inspired me to knock out some lingering projects. Here's a Sage ESN I glued up last night. It's been laying around in pieces for almost a year. Whipped up the fighting butt over the weekend.

My favorite dropshot rod has a Tennessee handle with rings as does my wife's. Also, my spybait rod has one.

3" fore, 13" rear It's going on a swimbait rod.

I think it would be good for small tubes and weightless plastics. Maybe even #5 Shad Raps.

Been tinkering with this grip since November. Finally finished it up tonight. Shipping it out to @clayton86 tomorrow.

16 sounds excessive. Doesn't really matter if the line touches but If you're concerned about keeping line off the blank, wrap it spiral. Without seeing the static test, I'd wager a guess of 10-11 guides is all that is needed.

If it was high or light on the front end, I'm surprised it wasn't all over the road. My Tahoe is finicky, my old Silverado wasn't.

The powdercoat steel one is 50#

It was $350 + shipping when I ordered it last spring. I believe they have increased since then. Hardest thing was finding a ball to fit it. Only one company (Curt) makes a 2" ball with a 1.25"x2.5" shank.....and noone locally carried it. All the money over the years I've spent on bars and balls would far exceed what I paid for this.

Sounds about right. My Lund took 10 weeks when I ordered it.

Or get one if these and you'll have a wide variety of options. I love mine!

Dremel with a cut-off wheel, then pry apart with a flat screwdriver.

It looks a touch low in the front. IMO, it's better to be low in the front than high. I'd leave it alone. Now, if you load up the truck and it drops more, then I'd probably look for a straight bar to level it out.

Truth in advertising. Vanish......your lures Vanish.......the fish Vanish.......your money Vanished!!