faygo1979

Phenix makes a 7"4 rod that may fit Phenix Glass Crankbait Blank, 7'4", 8-17lb, XG2-Glass-R Mudhole sells them

for me I would ask what you want from a custom that you cant get from a regular? I build rods for myself and that is because I want something i can't really pick up in the stores. When i started building I picked longer blanks then i could find locally as well as winn grips or full handles with specific reel seats because most of the rods I liked in the stores for some reason like to use uncomfortable reel seats. a standard 7ft mh, seems kind of generic

They started shipping the first batch last week. I know one of my buddies received and installed his this week. I don't know anyone that has put it on the water yet as we only have hard water But i am guessing we will get some videos and reviews shortly. I use an OLD town PDL myself but i am looking forward to trying out the overdrive once it warms up.

You are going to want bibs, you will be sitting and regular pants will just allow you to get soaked. I normally go non-insulated for the gear, I will wear fleece under them when it is cold and will give you more options. I wear my PFD over my rain gear. it is easier and less bulky that way. I just wear the standard bass pro options.

I started with spinning and moved almost completely to casting. The thing is I have been moving slowly back to spinning for more techniques. Ned rigs, drop shots are all pretty standard for spinning but I have been moving back for a lot of my Texas rigs, top waters, small to med swimbaits, and even some crank baits. Basically Jigs, large swimbaits and frogs is what I have left for casting rods.

I use drop shot tubes all the time up here. no complaints

I built something similar and Used the point blank 73ml. It seems to be a good all around fineness blank. I am able to cast ned rigs with it if i need to. But I primary use it for slider heads, 1/8 oz texas rigs with 4 and 6 inch worms and light cranks and topwaters.

nice, what is the lure recommendation of this blank?

Looks like a competitor to the stanly top toad for me.. That has to be one of my favorite top waiter frogs I use.

Buckeye lures has a finesse swimbait hook, or I will use a cabellas Bed jig head. They are all basicly ned head style heads.

Diawa Tatula HD. It is Small, inexpensive as well as handles larger baits very well.

I use one of the mid depth cranks that I like. I do not know if the sound and lights help at all but I like the weight and action of it. I own 3 of that bait but I don't really feel the need to buy any more of their hard baits. I have pocked up their swimbaits and I like the design of those. their smaller 4 inch models remind me of the smaller Hud baits in their action. like the weedless shad.

depends on the rod as well as what I am throwing. For light stuff on my spinning reel I use 15lb braid. For squarebills, poppers, jerkbaits and med divers I use a casting reel with 20lb. For deep divers and big topwater baits I run 30-40lb braid

Stanly top toads or the Zman frogs.

Fish it like jig. I fish them the same place I would with a finesses jig or a swim jig. Light cover, under docks or over rocks. because of the size and weight I don’t use them the same way I do the larger swimbaits. Slow drags on the bottom or slowly swimming them through the shallow weeds,

I use either zman swimbaits or netbait paca chunks

They seem to work fine. The only issue I have with them is moving the rubber ring when i need to replace the plastic. pulling it on and off the hook after a while causes the band to rip.

The longer the better for me. Sitting so low I like the range I get from a longer rod. Most of the rods i use are between 7'3" and 7'11"

lol

Buy the ones with a loop or you can wrap a some line around the d and some supperglue will fix it.

I think this would make a mess if you are talking about cooking the sugar in with the plastic.

I built my own on a 73 ML point blank rod. Wonderful blank for poppers and small plastics. Tackle warehouse should have some ML rod blanks that should fit the bill

I use a SV105 for my finesse stuff. If i don't bring a spinning rod I use it to throw my 1/16 oz ned rigs with out issues.

I use the Daiwa Tatula HD for most of my swimbaits, Almost everything I throw is under 3 OZ. Mainly because it is about the same size as anything else but with a little more line capacity.

you will need to buy a new tip top. with out the insert it will fray your line. you can buy a quick replacement at BPS or even order a new top from st croix for a few bucks. it should not be too tough to fix your self.