.ghoti.

Sam, what a nice idea. After some thought, why don't we just PM him. He won't be doing anything at all for several weeks. One of my best friends went through this a few years back, and for the first eight weeks his world was the bedroom, bathroom, recliner, and the hallway connecting them all he did was rest, and walk the hallway.

Update. Surgery was Friday, triple bypass, no heart damage. He may be going home today. Thanks to all the good thoughts.

I think there is no single correct answer to this question. Consider this... Do you have a favorite rod? I'm sure you do. What do like about it? Length? Weight? Power? Taper? Etc,etc,etc, Would you like it a little better if the handle were longer? Or shorter? would you like it better if the grips were a bit larger in diameter? How about a different reel seat? Would you like it more if it had smaller guides? I assure you you would. Smaller guides remove weight where it counts most, making the rod more responsive. Spiral wrapping the guide train will often result in one less guide; sometimes two. Depends on the taper. Fewer guides, less weight, better response. See where I'm going with this? You can specify precisely what you need. And I haven't touched on the bling factor if that blows your skirts. Does this represent value to you? If so, contact Mike at DVT, and get started. Be warned, it's hard to stop.

I use casting most, spin some, and fly occasionally. No blasting. Crappie cops tend to frown on explosive fishing techniques

Been talking to Rahlow about our Warrior Project rods. He seems to be a straight up, no BS, kind of guy. Just heard from him. He is going in far bypass surgery in the morning. Let's put him in our thoughts.

Okuma Helios. Light, sensitive, well constructed. If it didn't have that Minima reel seat, it would be perfect.

Donations continue to trickle in. I have a rod nearly finished at this time. It will be shipped sometime next week? We have enough cash on hand to build another which I will start on soon. I have paying customers to finish some rods for before starting another one of these.

I sharpen hooks on jigs and spinnerbaits when they need it. Single bare hooks get sharpened once, then discarded. Treble hooks get sharpened a couple of times, as needed, before replacement. Forget the hook file. They rust too quickly. Diamonds do not rust. One good diamond hone, like the $15 Smith's Glenn showed you, will outlast a dozen three dollar hook files.

Somebody sems to be channeling Dr Suess.

I was going to say, if you have to lie to your wife to go fishing, you have the wrong wife. That's not correct. If you have to lie to your wife to go fishing, she has the wrong husband.

Perfectly normal. A lot of reels come very over-lubed from the factory.

Whatever you do, do not solder that tip back in place. Way too much heat for the blank to withstand.

Building spinning rods on fly blanks with a "thing" once upon a time. Maybe it is again? If you like fishing with a limp noodle, this would be the path to take. There are a lot of excellent UL blanks available, at all price points. Why not start with a blank designed for the application? Give Mike, at DVT, a call. He can do it up right for you.

Reels are, overall, less application specific than rods, so it makes sense to have more rods than reels. That being said, I have no sense when it comes to rods and reels. When I find a bargain, rod or reel, and it's something I like, or think I will like, I tend to jump on it. And, that's like having a single boot. It needs a mate, and I'm going to be bothered by it until I find one.

I hope you had a fine celebration. Scott and I are in complete agreement on this issue. He said he was venting. I think I was in full rant mode. I have two blanks I can't, in good conscience, sell to anybody. When a company does something this desperate, they have to be on the verge of collapse. So, these two blanks are going sit in my rod rack until I have time to build them up for myself. Hope I don't love "em.

https://www.amazon.com/Work-Sharp-Knife-Tool-Sharpener/dp/B003IT5F14/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1527517524&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=work+sharp+knife+sharpener&psc=1

Hogsticker, allow to try one more time. There are dealers and distributors who had considerable inventory on hand when NFC decided to start selling direct to the public. Said dealers paid more for each blank than NFC is selling them for now. Where are you going to buy one of these blanks. Directly from NFC? Or, pay more for the same blank, and buy from a dealer? The dealers are stuck with this inventory. Their only choice is to sell it at a loss. If Ford Motor Company started selling cars and trucks directly to the public, for a lower price than they sell to dealers, how many dealers would remain in business, selling Fords.

What?

You missed the point. Every dealer and distributor out there who has NFC blanks in stock has one lousy option now. Sell their inventory at a loss. They have no ther choice. This is not how dealers should be treated. Scott said they are throwing the bone to their dealers. I say they have bent them over, hammered it and and broke it off in them. Like I said; that story is over for me.

I bought two NFC blanks during the GetBit 65% off sale. If I had known then what I know now, I would not have bought them. I will NOT be buying anything else from NFC. End of story.

Rattletraps, or any of the many knockoffs. I can catch a lot fish on any of them, and they are all dinks. Never caught a keeper size bass on one. Dont Have a single one in any of my tackle bags/boxes.

Been using Trilene XL for years. They changed something a couple of years back, and I've been looking for replacement since. Seaguar Rippin Mono is well worth a look. I have it on four reels. One of them has not been respooled since I first put it on. Just used it last week after it rested all winter, and it performed just fine. Compared to XL, it has less stretch, tougher, more sensitive, and casts as well. I will have it most of my reels this year. Much more affordable than Armilo, and performs as well.

For an ECS seat you will need a KDPS hood; which you will have to trim down. http://www.anglersworkshop.com/Fuji-Spinning-Seats/Fuji-Traditional-Metal-Hood_2

I used a straight razor for about a month, about 40 years ago. Then I came to my senses.

A true sportsman will only catch them on the rise.