custer

Sounds like 2 possibilities. 1. Stripper guide too small 2. Stripper guide too far from real seat. Best solution is to build your own If you do that it's hard to complain about the build.....

Depends on application. If your fighting tuna, you want the knot on the reel, bass fishing, much less a concern. I use crystal braid and 14-24" leader.

When choosing your lures, remember sml is usually stupid clear.... farther up lake you'll find smallies...... enjoy!! It's the most beautiful lake I fish!!!

Of you like the advance, wait until you try the titanium plus. Best line on the market.

Bent my trailer on a ramp at lake Gaston. Let a rock do custom work on my prop. $1900 into 2019 already.

Mine isn't like that at all. It's good tight and smooth.

I was on a tourney on Gaston fishing 6lb creek. There's a very narrow chute about 250 yds long. We're minding our business trying to catch a sack and a bunch of gold spoon NC yuppies in a wake boat, fully ballasted just going up and down the chute laughing, drinking and 'boarding . After the 3rd or 4th pass my backseater lifted his shirt and made huge production of adjusting his glock when they went by. We never saw them again. While this is never the answer, neither is rudeness and disrespect. Truthfully, I was more scared after realizing the "extra" equipment he brought on the boat....

You don't buy a car without driving it. Many areas have fishing clubs with many members who would love to let you toss their combos and teach you the terms (seems like every interest has its own language) and be very patient doing it. Shows are also good places to research and learn. The internet is nice, but I want to touch and use before I invest.

I use the gammy, but when I want an accelerated fall, I put a tungsten bead above the hook. They come in several sizes.

Awesome work!!!

2500 stradic.

One reason I'm a revo3 stx fan. It has both, centrifugal and magnet. I set the centrifugal first, based on lure weight. Make a cast or ten varying the mag setting. Reset the centrifugal so your basic mag adjustment is neutral. You want the centrifugal set so you can cast the target lure rig throughout the mag range in no wind conditions Then when the wind comes, you have adjustability in your set up.

Folks, I've posted comments like this a million times. I have nothing against any mass-produced rod, but....... Get into building your own rods. You can have quality equal to the most expensive rods on the market for around 50% (or less) of the cost of a high end rod. The International Custom Rod Builders Exposition is coming up in 2 weeks. Google ICRBE. Since 2003 I've been able to build an entire arsenal, from SW to Surf to Sweetwater. I've built 29 rods. And haven't spent over $150 on any freshwater build. I get to choose the blank, guides and seat the way I want them. For example, my mid depth cranker (7'6") would have a little (3/4") more butt for leverage. My dock cranking rod (6'6") has 1 1/2" less butt for accuracy. One size doth not fit all, building your own is an awesome way to bridge between Ice and Ice off........ Rod building is a lot less magic then deciding what color soft plastic to use....... Tight lines.

6lb 9oz, tourney on Chowan on a home made rat crankbait......

No, you're not alone.... .trust me on that.

I've got the MHX MB843 HM, MB843 and the EPS86MHF. I also have Gl3 and lamiglas rods. A friend has ScIV and NRX. I'll take my "mid-low" end mhx over the other over priced rods any day of the week. Built properly they compete with the expensive stuff leaving you money to actually use them. Their action, power and rating are accurate. And Mudhole backs their blanks.

If you fish alot of slop (versus grass), or fish in temps below freezing I would avoid micro guides. Full disclosure, I haven't, don't plan on and won't use micro guides. I feel they limit your line options ( for instance using braid with a bite leader) Even using straight braid in grass or slop can cause the guides to choke. Most tourney fishermen I know have either re-wrapped or replaced their micro guide rods. .... But, it's your rod. Do what WORKS for YOU! !!!!

Since the ecowhackos won Hatteras I haven't been back. I do go to core banks, and have been custerered on big drum, but have caught plenty pups, flounder, spannies, and BIG biters... Losing the beach forced me back to Sweetwater so that's now my primary focus. ..

IMHO.. (Which with $10 will buy you a Starbucks) spiral wrap is good for trolling, or with very cheap blanks who have a significant pronounced spline to them. I've surf casted the same blanks built spiral or standard and found zero benefit to the spiral build (unless being different is the goal) Like others have said, it's just as easy to wrap spiral as standard. Getting the proper sizing and spacing is a different story (again, IMHO). I build for myself or close friends, so I'm no "professional ", I only use alconite guides. With going on 20 years (and 50+ rods) of doing this I've NEVER had an alconite fail. For the same reason I only use Fuji reel seats. Not trying to say anything bad about ALPS, rainshadow or any other manufacturer. I was taught by a guy whose been doing this 40 years, he only uses Fuji because he's never had one fail. At the end of the day, it's your rod, it IS a custom, Build it any d**n way YOU want. ... Good luck

I prefer Berkeley fireline in white with seagar red label. The white is easy to see, it floats and makes bite detection very easy. Red label is very good line, well-priced, and since I use it as running line on some rigs, I always have some around. I've not had a break off with that combo either salt or sweet water. As for length of leader, that depends on what guides / spacing the rod was built, water clarity and what technique I'm fishing. For whacky rig, sometimes it's 40" or more, for unweighted soft plastics in dirty water I may use 18". This is truly a case where "depends" is a correct answer. Good luck! !!

Go with a longer rod as you'll want longer casts. The mudhole mhx cb905 would be my choice. You could also use that for traps and topwater treble lures.

Build your own!!! Mudhole or get bit outdoors can set you up. Topwater treble use a softer slower rod, topwater single hook go for a stiffer faster action.

Pretty much all listed reels will work. I'm an abu guy who drives Chevies, a friend is full on shimano and he drives dodges, we both catch fish When looking at your first bait caster the better your equipment the flatter the learning curve. All I know is abu, so this is biased . the $135 revo sx will do all you want and it's pretty bullet proof. However, going up one level to the stx series ($199) Now you have a reel with three adjustable features, magnet, spool tension, centrifugal brake. while this may appear overwhelming , the truth is you can counter many bad habits (look at the adjustability in golf clubs now) which allows you to spend more time with bait in the water rather then keeping professional overruns cleaned up. If fishing is your love ( like most on this board) it's not an expense, it's an investment. Good luck

Suffix tri+ 8lb in green I'll go to 6lb flouro in gin clear water

Suffix tri+ has never failed me, salt or fresh, heavy (20lb ) or light (6lb).....