MickD

One can never have too many rods. You made a good buy.

Fuji Speed Threader, no moving parts, no adjustments, no loose parts, $2.99.

To find a diver contact the nearest diving club-stores that sell diving equipment most likely can help. There is most likely little to no metal in it, right?

As stated above, there is no objective way of evaluating sensitivity, so what you are dealing with here are opinions, not facts. The CCS frequency measurement is probably as close as one can get to objective data, but no one answering the question has the data. If they did they would offer it. I'm not saying the rods suggested are not good, sensitive, rods, but which is the most sensitive? It's all opinion. The best you can do, in my opinion, is to buy the rod with the "most premium" blank material (whatever that is) and the smallest, lightest guides. Finding guide weights is no piece of cake, but titanium micros or Pac Bay Minimas are probably as light as it gets.

You can go over the rated lure weight on rods. Start gently and work your cast velocity/rod loading up. It will be pretty obvious when you approach overstressing the rod. When you start forward on your cast, the lure won't start forward instantly-there will be significant delay. But your original question was answered quite well above.

I have no experience with the heavy power Point Blanks, but I think the secret of their medium power blanks is they have a really solid backbone and a really light, lively tip. When you do the CCS on most of them you'll find their action angle is very high, about 80 degrees. There are many blanks called X fast that have AA's more like 75-76 degrees. This makes for a very versatile rod. When casting light lures the tip does it; when casting heavier lures some of the backbone gets involved and it still casts well. It's hard to overpower them when casting. I guess the light, forgiving tip keeps fish on quite well, and it could be their materials and design/construction keeps their light tips from feeling sloppy. They do in fact seem like they do about everything well. I would be interested hearing other opinions on why they seem to do everything so well. One of my favorite Point Blanks s a 6' 9" 600 gram power rod with 80 degrees AA. Interestingly I have found a 7 foot 3 piece travel blank that is said to be made of RX6 material, that tests exactly 600 grams power with 81 degrees AA. It feels a lot like a Point Blank in spite of weighing a few tenths more. It casts light cranks very well and because of its long, strong, backbone, handles big fish very well too. It feels pretty crisp with Fuji CC micros as running guides. The manufacturer calls its power medium light while Fuji calls theirs medium power. It is a much more capable blank than any other ML blank I have fished. It even works quite well on finnesse techniques.

I expect direct to lure is best, but if you choose to leave the split ring on the lure, fasten to it rather than just leaving it hanging. I really don't think it makes a lot of difference unless you're using light, small, cranks.

The reason for dropping the engine to a vertical position is to assure that the lower unit drains properly. You hadn't even mentioned the engine, but that is the highest risk, IMHO. My dealer mentioned to me a practice that he said was used by duck hunters in cold weather. As they leave the water, with the lower unit out of the water, they start the engine, letting it turn over only a few times. But time enough for the water to eject out of the indicator stream fitting. it's visual so you will see the water spit out for only a second or two, then no water. This indicates the water pump in the engine has no water in it. Drain and overflow refer to live well, I assume. They have no pumps so should drain nicely and not be problems. My dealer last year shut off the valve on the live well pump. I had not done that on another boat for 20 years with no problems, but it seems to be a part of his winterizing. He might have put rec anti freeze in the line but I don't know. I would think that running that pump dry with the boat out of the water would be adequate, but possibly someone else will chime in to clarify. My current boat is a Lund.

Keep in mind the article refers to what the author considers a problem specific to the fall season. He is not referring to other seasons.

Watching fishing shows seems to indicate to me that pros are often using more moderate actions for techniques where most of us seem to prefer. fast or extra fast actions Based on the bends in their rods (the regular TV shots, not the GoPro shots). Anyone else notice this?

I believe by definition all graphite rods are "composites." There is also the common practice of joining two different materials, like two different moduli of graphite material, or combining sections of glass and graphite in the same rod. A mention above states that a series of rods most likely will have all the different powers and actions made from the same material, and I believe that is generally true. The way that different powers and actions are made from the same material is by changing wall thicknesses and tapers through the shaping of the sheets of material. This video explains it well, even showing how multiple sheets of the material are sometimes used on the same mandrils to give different powers and actions. This is an interesting video from Seeker.

I would be surprised if it were different anywhere. I think live wells count as "possession," but I have to admit, I'm speculating. ?

Sounds a little stronger than speculation. I have to admit, it is tempting to put a couple other definitions up here. But I'll just check out on this one.

OK , I concede not all have done it. Glad you read the article, anyway.

Not his research, as you later state. The rest of your response seems to agree with the article. The reason I posted this was only to point out a risky thing that we have all done, but which has a much higher risk in the fall of endangering the biggest of the fish we catch and want to release unharmed.

Here is a must-read article from Outdoor Canada for those of us who really like fall Great Lakes smallmouth bass fishing. http://www.outdoorcanada.ca/keeping-fall-smallmouth-in-your-livewell-all-day-you-may-be-killing-them/?fbclid=IwAR1AHPXgU0xTtL0TtcJXgJsezCX4xsC8roP6_Ub0vKgadFIpnLwT1lqxNfU

A coincidence regarding customer support, I was just coming to the forum to communicate how fast and effective Humminbird Customer Service is, e-mail form and phone number on their web site. I've used them a number of times and it's always the same.

Yes, but in this case there was one rod tested twice, once before breaking and repair, and once after the repair. It gives objective data on power and action, numbers, not terms like "med-light." It would be very valuable for a person who has a favorite rod and is trying to duplicate it, but the exact rod is no longer available. The favorite rod could be tested, then a candidate second rod could be taken home from the store, and tested. If the numbers were not close enough, it could be returned. Of course the process does not damage the rod or blank. If a rod is found that is close in the numbers, it will be close in the feel, power, and action. I recently received a new blank and before even testing it I thought it was very close to another premium blank that I like. When I tested it the numbers were almost identical. It was originally developed for fly rods, and the info below focuses on fly rods, but it may be used for ANY rod or blank. Exc possibly for the really heavy salt rods where flexing them to a deflection of 33% of their length doesn't make sense or cannot be done. http://www.common-cents.info/

I did an RX8 Rainshadow built as a casting rod that was broken about 6-8 inches from the tip and it came out well. The rod was not a high powered rod, a "med-L" power, fast to X fast action. I agree that the lighter the power, when broken near the tip, the more the action and sensitivity will be affected by the repair. Mass is being added at the exact wrong place. The fly rod I mentioned was broken quite far from the tip, at the bottom of the second section. It was shattered to the point there were loose pieces. If the rod is an expensive one I submit it is worth a try-not that hard to do. Very good point about this issue. Did you get my message about the line sample you sent me?

The expense, of course, depends on the builder's rates. But it really is not that big a deal to repair as the article suggests. I'm a hobby builder who gets requests from my friends to repair their rods, and I do it gratis. And they give me waypoints and their latest greatest lure. One case I did a repair of a fly rod with an internal spigot and external sleeve for a person who found me on line, and I charged him $20. For him, it made sense even with my caveats that I couldn't guarantee the repair. it all depends on what your favorite rod is worth to you. But I maintain, it is not out of the question to repair rods like we are discussing for a price that makes sense to most people. And, after the repair, if done right, they will fish just fine. I cannot stand simply putting a tiptop on a broken tip. It simply is never quite right. But this repair is not like that. it yields a rod that fishes just fine. At what point is the rod repair not practical? I'm not sure, but between the simple 4 inches from the tip failure to the shattered rods I mentioned, my repairs have been effective worth the effort. But as stated before, it depends on the cost you have to pay for the repair. And the value of the rod. For a fifty buck rod, replace it. For a $200 rod, the repair most likely makes sense.

You understand CCS objective rod testing? Measures power and action? I repaired a "shattered" 8 wt Pac Bay Quickline that I built and had tested as new. The repair consisted of both an internal spigot and an external sleeve. The CCS and AA after repair matched what it was when new, and I subjectively evaluated its casting characteristics as being unchanged. No it's not the same, has to be a little heavier and the characteristics have to have changed with the repair. But I could not find the difference either with CCS or my evaluation of the repaired rod. So, don't dismiss the repair as being one that will change a great rod into a dog. It will still be a great rod. With a lump in it. I've done other rods where the rod owner said the rods performed the same after repair.

Sure, we'd all like to keep our stuff inside, but to answer the question directly, cold will not hurt rods or reels. Nylon line can get brittle, like all nylon does, from low humidity. But I've never had a problem with line left in an unheated building. Probably because when I use it, it's wet . ?

I assume you have seen this site: https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/repair-oquinn.html Glass is preferred, but not mandatory for a good repair. Find any graphite, preferably cheap, rod (lower modulus comes with cheap) at second hand stores or similar possible places, or simply buy a really cheap rod to use for this repair of a rod you want to save. I have a few old rods that I'm willing to sacrifice if this comes up on one of my favs.

A friend of mine, a very accomplished builder and bluegill fisherman, swears by the Revelation blank you mention, or the UL version of it. Until Rainshadow came out with these the only choice for those wanting a longer light or ultra light was to build a fly blank into a spin rod. And the Rainshadow blanks we're talking about are far superior than using a fly blank. You are on the right track looking at 7' blanks and those close to that length. Short UL and L rods are an abomination.

With some surface lures the sinking FC screws up their action. If using that kind of lure go with a hard mono salt water leader material, like Mason. Since it is hard (stiff) knots will be difficult in the higher pound test leaders; you;ll need to set them with pliers. 30 pound test is .028 inch diameter, and is really tough. You may have to buy it from a saltwater fly source. If sinking leaders is not a problem, FC is usually smaller in diameter for the same pound test, so knots should be easier.