MickD

I was asking about a previous post in which it was mentioned that the hands are not on the grips much. I think casting is the best application for Winn grips or tape. Keeps the rod stable in the hand. Tacky under all weather conditions. I would think they would be ideal for heavy duty rods like muskie rods. I have Winn's on my pitching rod and really like them.

Power is about the whole rod. You don't fish just the tip, and you don't fish just the "body." In CCS the POWER number is the weight it takes to deflect the rod to 1/3 its total length. If two rods of the same length have the same power, but one is "X fast" and one is "fast" ACTION, the X fast will have the softer tip. CCS measures the power and the action and yields objective values (numbers) to describe the rods/blanks. One might argue about certain details of it, but it beats describing rods as "heavy-moderate" all to heck. Too bad you don't have the numbers for the rods you are considering. It is not just about fly rods, but can be used for any rod. http://www.common-cents.info/

Yes, St Croix generally run a little more powerful than most others. It's very difficult to evaluate power in a store. Modern hi modulus rods with small, light , guides just don't respond to anything other than gently deflecting them on a carpet. Even that is not very good. Best is to know the ccs numbers for all. You'll more easily get social security numbers. Let me get this straight. You have an ML St Croix that you love, but you seem to be wanting something a little heavier, but you won't simply buy a M power St Croix, which would be the next logical step up in power. I'm not sure anyone can help you. Seems to me if you buy a "light power M" you'll end up back at your ML St Croix. Buy a M St Croix. It will be a great rod for something. One cannot have too many rods.

Yes, he's an idiot. I can't believe he doesn't lose more fish the way he handles the rod. Agree on the mute button.

Don't even consider anything other than LED's. The only thing you need to know about wiring them that is different is that polarity must be maintained correctly. Wire them backwards and they don't work.

I used to take a young man fishing with me and since I didn't trust him to handle the rod right, I always gave him my old ugly stick. One time he got tangled and I gave him one of my rods while I got the ugly stick untangled. He too said it was a lot more fun fishing my rod, and when I fished the ugly stick I couldn't believe how clumsy it felt. I retired the ugly stick. This was one of the old original ugly sticks; I expect the new ones are better. But the point of using reasonably good rods was made on me very well that day. It doesn't take a lot of money to have decent rods, but you have to know how to choose them. First step is to go light. Light usually means sensitive. The old ugly stick, 7 feet, weighed about 5 oz. My other rod weighed about 4. The rods I'm building today are usually 3.6.

What color is the wrap? You can get wrap thread and epoxy at Mudhole.com. If the color is a bright color you will need color preservative, too, to keep the bright color of the thread from going translucent and darker when the epoxy is applied. They have great customer service so an email with a pic of the guide, with a ruler shown in the pic to give them a size (or measure the OD of the ring in mm is better) and design for a good match will help them. If wrap is black, then you won't need color preservative. I would not substitute plain sewing thread. Get wrap thread, most likely size A for most fresh water or inshore rods. Search for youtubes for wrapping instructions. Or view them at Mudhole.com. A cardboard box with "V's cut for rod support and a book to tension the thread will work in a pinch. Wrap epoxy is different from the structural stuff you get at the hardware. It is designed to level well and be clear for guide wraps. It is two part and has to be close to 50-50 proportions. Check Mudhole.com again for video instructions. Not rocket science, but it can be screwed up.

Sorry, missed the "eyelet." (guide) To replace a damaged guide it has to be re-wrapped and coated with wrap epoxy. If it's damaged, it has to be replaced. If it's just loose, it can be just re-wrapped. If you don't feel confident to do it yourself find a repair person to do it. Won't cost a fortune.

there are risks in everything. Doing something has a risk. Not doing something has a risk. I see the risk of taking apart a brand new reel as being pretty high. The manufacturer has no incentive to provide to us anything other than a reel that is ready to go, to best represent their company with no other action by us required. I have never done anything other than use a reel that I bought. And I have never thought that I made a wrong decision.

An easy way to find out if you like the way Winn's fish is to spend $10 for a Winn grip tape and put it on one of your rods that has deteriorated cork. You fix one rod and get experience with Winns. the tape will feel just like a new Winn grip. Exc for casting a baitcaster?

I don't think it is a Big O. Big O bill is uniformly thick for its length, not tapered like this one.

How much force does it take to rip hooks out of bass's mouths? And straighten most hooks?

I think it's a cheapo, as you suggested. That bill is really thick. If anything might help it would be smaller hooks rather than bigger, I would think. Use a small snap (not snap swivel), and try gently bending the eye to the right and/or left just a little. Doesn't take much. If you can get a decent wobble, with the lure staying upright, hunting is not necessarily bad.

Reels, including spin, are now so complicated I only take them down about one layer and if more is required, send them to an expert. However, I take good care of my reels, keep them clean, and lube them regularly. It is a rare thing for me to send one in. I think that good quality lube is one of the things that keeps me out of trouble. With casting reels the level wind worm drive and pawl get lubed a number of times a season. I use reel butter oil, but see Lucas has one out now, which I will try. They know lubrication. And reel butter grease (rarely need to use more). There are lots of good ones on the market. IMHO, the hot sauces are not good lubes. Stain everything, the grease dries fast. Nope.

I have a Pfluger Patriarch that is very smooth, and many have commented that all of them are very smooth, but the thing I don't like about the Patriarch is that the distance from the stem to the spool lip is different than my other reels. Significantly, so it's not as comfortable. Other reels are Daiwas and Shimanos.

Do not use epoxy or super glue. They will be very difficult to remove if necessary. Use hot melt, preferably that designed for rod building. Slice off little chips and place them into the tube of the new tiptop. Then heat the tube with a lighter and slide it into position. Rotate it 360 to distribute the hot melt well, then stop at the correct position. It will be adjustable for 20-30 seconds. If you misposition it, a couple seconds more of the lighter on the tube will allow it to rotate again. VERY LITTLE HEAT IS REQUIRED!

If "busted" means "broken," that was not what the OP reported. The ring from the tiptop came out.

Yes, that is why I was reluctant to even mention heat. The heat needed is so little that one can hold the tiptop in their bare fingers immediately after it slips off. But when I started building and repairing rods, I didn't understand the technique and amount of heat needed and I fried one.

If you can make a rod in a showroom "wiggle" by shaking it, it's a pretty crumby rod. Avid blanks are a good value, attractive in price, very high performing, so I expect the Avid rods are too. I'm glad I got into rod building where I have thousands of blanks to choose from and can configure them any way I want. And don't have to worry about grip/reel seat failures that plague many OEM products. I can also get cork that has not been filled, so I can see its real quality. To exaggerate a little, not that much, It appears that if the filling of cork goes any further on OEM rods, the grip will be more filler than cork.

catfish and carp are nothing like a bone with regards to back-reeling. Wiper would be closer, but still, with the explosive speed of many saltwater fish, one just hangs on for the first few runs. I don't think anyone could keep up and in control by back reeling. Think of snagging a passing pickup truck. I too like back reeling when it's practical and I'm capable of doing it. My point was not to deny its utility with most fish, just a comment on its limits.

Let me know how that goes after trying it on bonefish.

I don't think there is a way of determining with confidence if this is a faulty tiptop or if the tiptop had been whacked against something. But it needs a fix. Have you asked St. Croix to send you a replacement tiptop for you to replace yourself? Piece of cake to replace. It hardly seems worth shipping a rod to get this fixed.

I reread your original comment and finally got your intent.

I don't get the point here. It seems like what other sports do has no relevance to this issue. My post was all about protecting the fish and fishery and how our DNR is putting more emphasis on tourist $$ than protecting/managing, which is their primary function. Tournament practice is part of the issue. Please elaborate. If the fishery is not protected/managed properly there will be no tournaments. Tournaments are held only where there are adequate numbers of fish. Any idea how many tournament anglers there are in MI, including visitors? Any idea how many non-tournament anglers, including non-resident?