MickD

There are lots of good quality, colored blanks at a reasonable price. You might get some ideas from this site-note the "granddaughter rod). http://clients.criticalimpact.com/newsletter/newslettercontentshow1.cfm?contentid=9599&id=1069

If your spinnerbaits will get bent from carrying in a bag in your pocket then you need to buy better spinnerbaits. Most likely fish will bend them too. With just a few, a baggie will work fine and be more compact than any hard box regardless of size.

No, I do not see any correlation between straightness on blanks with respect to cost. Or company (AmTac, Rainshadow, St Croix/Rodgeeks, Point Blank.) Almost all are within that 3/16, most within an eighth. I build on blanks that run from about $60 to about $200, most in the $70-$120 range.

I am a builder and have a "trained eye." I've been working on that eye for about 65 years. If the bend is easily noticeable, like you keep seeing it and cannot forget about it, then it's too much. If it can be masked by building with it up so it's not going to the sides, then fine. It won't hurt anything. While I don't know, I expect that manufacturers don't even notice the slight bends and don't bother building on the straightest axis. Most blanks I see, when put onto my wrapper with two supports, one at the butt, and one about 2 feet out, will not show more than about 3/16 of an inch of tip position movement when rotated. I asked a blank maker one time about a blank that moved 1/4 and they wanted to replace it. Built on the straight axis, tip up, it is not noticeable. To me.

Sticking with US manufacturers is pretty limiting. If not insisting on that there are thousands of very good blanks out there from Mudhole, Rainshadow, American Tackle, Rodgeeks, and on and on. First, I would look to a moderately priced blank for my first build. American Tackle Bushidos are a very good blank at a very good price point. The reason I say this is that your first build will not be your best-that will come later. Better to learn at a moderate price point. You will not be disappointed with the Bushidos, and the Rainshadow Revelations and RX6 blanks are very good blanks. I have no experience with the mudhole blanks, but they are very popular and therefore good. You cannot fool people forever. I would start with a moderate fast action, the length you want, power possibly going a little above your lure range to gain a little more versatility, still will cast well. 3/16 to 1/4 is not much of a range. I suspect you will be going above that a lot with the techniques you mention. Cast or spin? Look at the Fuji KR concept guides for spin, see the Anglers Resource catalog for instructions. The Fazlite guides are very good guides at and depending on which you choose, can be very affordable. You have a bazillion options, so it's hard to recommend.

Regarding the bends. A rod should not have a visible bend. Contact the mfr or dealer.

I know what a mod and mod/fast action ROD are but don't know what a mod and mod/fast action TIP are.

How do you get spin line to come off the spool cleanly? Mine gets caught on the notch in the spool and skips all over the place, often coming down on the wrong side. Taping the notch hasn't worked for me.

Your observation is right on. While we keep worshipping "faster is better," they are using moderate action rods for most techniques.

Won't be frozen. Fish will be taken. Mark your calendar and check back.

Cool. I remember all that stuff so well. I loved the red/white Hula Dancer. So did the smallies.

I've tried them on St Clair with no success. Closest I came was a walleye follow. A guide friend says they work best when it's really calm, which isn't very often. A friend had some success on them by counting them down in the summer when the fish were deep. I don't know about color. I'll try them again in spring when the fish are shallow.

Have a few Neds in your pocket. Some guides don't believe how good they can be. Until the guy in the back of the boat starts embarrassing him.

This advice is totally wrong. There are still a lot of myths about rod building, but these two, spine and spin/cast crossover with blanks, have generally been debunked. Many years ago.

Beetle spins and the rigged worms, the ones with three small hooks and the dot on the front. Using these is easy and they will take fish of almost all species and sizes. I don't see trebles on a crankbait as being a big risk as long as there is an experienced fisherman in the boat to provide assistance.

There is an easier way, and most likely cheaper, way to rig the tube weedless.

Find out if the guide is going to provide the lures, most do not until they find you don't have what is needed at the time. Get his recommendations on what to take. Hard jerks with long pauses, tubes worked very slowly (try some small ones as well as the big ones), Ned rig. Some St Clair fishermen only use shades of green, mostly dark.

Rather than reinventing the wheel, let's try to get the braid/leader to work. Most likely your double uni is not tied well. Watch some videos on line on tying the double uni., With the light line and leader you want to use, it should work with almost any guides. But if not tied properly, it can get big and ugly. As you pass the tag ends through the loop they should not ever be on top of each other, and when you get the one side done, gently snug it up before going to the second one. When doing the final set, be sure it's well lubed with saliva. Cut the leader tag end quite close to the knot. If tied properly it will not come out. If you are not a good knot tyer or "learner," forget about other knots , especially the FG. Just concentrate on tying a neat, tight, double uni and I think you'll be ok.

I don't remember anyone mentioning Payday candy bars. Nice even energy from the peanuts, sweets from the caramel, and they don't melt. They last a long time without getting stale, so when I don't eat them, they are still good the next time. And for a long time. + gatorades, frozen water bottles, a sandwich, an apple, and a cup of fruit in those handy little containers (refreshing).

I'll bet rubber will not sand well. It also may deteriorate due to ozone. I think harder is better than softer here. Ideal would be discs cut from a black plastic sheet of the right thickness.

I doubt if it would make an appreciable difference. What I would recommend is to tape on some guides and place the reel seat as if it's a 6-4, try it, then do it over for its 6 -6 length. I'll bet you won't tell the difference on power or action. But the two inches might be significant simply by giving a little more clearance to the water. If the latter is not true, then simply leave it alone at 6 - 6.

It has been suggested here before to use a paper punch to punch out discs from plastic lids, like butter or margarine tubs. You can pierce or drill a small hole in the center, or just let the hook penetrate them. My son mentioned to me that he does that and find they work just fine. Small, light, free.

Probably a real crawler. Can't remember, about 75 years ago.

This is what you are trying to accomplish, right? One way to attack this is to take an old cheap rod and try the fore end notch to see if it does what you want. If not you haven't screwed up a nice rod. If it does you may want to do it on your better rods.

Here you go.