MickD

There is another knock-off of the WP. It's called a jitterbug. Or is it the Crazy Crawler?

Only if you think it is. I am beginning to think nothing is going to work.

Good suggestions so far, but I would be sure to take some super flukes with 3/0 gama hooks. Don't take a lot of space, and they kill smallies on rivers. You have to hide them when tying on. :-) White/pearl with chartreuse tail and something green, I like the green back, pearl belly. The weight of the tube jig will depend on the depth and current speed-take along 1/4, 3/16, 1/8. Smaller rather than longer tubes. Green green green.

Hold the rod high when reeling. this will become clear to you within a few casts. Around Mid MI I've had very little luck with the WP. Loon/Bone 110

This site may help, but a call to the PA Fish and Boat Commission might help more. http://pfbc.pa.gov/fishpub/summaryad/children.html

Titebond III is waterproof and is used by many rod builders to glue cork rings together for grips. Epoxy is waterproof as well, but clean up will be easier with Titebond III or similar waterproof glue. I think the job calls for something that will contribute to structure since it appears that the existing cork is not in good shape. You'd like it to not just fill, but to provide more structure. Wood filler would be the easiest, but not the best, IMO. Please let us know how you handled it and how it turned out.

It's worth a try, very well could work, and could save you from a bigger repair. To replace the piece without taking the rod apart it is possible to take a piece of cork, turn its OD to the right dimensions, bore to fit the blank, then split it, glue it to the blank using tape to hold it tightly in place while the glue dries, then sand the surface to make it smooth. The split will not be that apparent. I would use waterproof wood glue or epoxy for adhesive. Also, if you don't like the looks after you repair this, use Winn grip tape to get a new, tacky, and attractive surface.

If the leader length is such that it comes close to the reel but doesn't enter the reel the knot should flow well if the guides are not too small. That should be plenty long, usually about 7 feet.

Replacing reel seats is not a trivial task, so it won't be cheap. Have you tried tightly wrapping the threads with electrical tape, then running the nut over the tape? Or simply using many very tight wraps of electrical tape right onto the reel foot, with the nut backed off?

Above comments cover your WP specific question, but after that. . .It's pretty easy to feel if one is overloading a rod by casting too heavy a lure. Cast gently at first and get a feel for the rod/lure combination. When you feel the rod may be overloaded, just cast more gently.

If one knows in advance he is going to fish this method he can easily prep the worms in the garage, out of the wind, under better control. I think that's what I will do with the elaztech.

Got it, thanks. Yes, without some trick sticking a nail weight into a elaztech bait would be impossible.

What's the lighter for? I seem to have missed that.

I use a quite old Stradic every year in salt with braid and have had no troubles. But I have the reel well oiled to begin with, rinse thoroughly every day after fishing, and when I get home, drag the line through fresh water behind the boat. i think if the salt is left well inside the line stack it can get "sticky" and not peel off freely, so I try to get the salt off the whole line. Same for fly reels and rods. The color on some of my braid has changed, but does so in fresh too, so don't know if salt is worse for that.

Yes, one gets used to them. I actually prefer the feel of them as the knob gives me better grip on two hand casts than the full grip. And I use full grip and split grips interchangeably on the same day and have no problems. It's a personal thing, so I cannot be certain, but I expect if you try one soon you will be not even noticing it. Similarly, until this year, for about 70 years, I had used BC reels with right hand cranks. After a shoulder problem with some techniques I bought a left retrieve BC reel, and now it feels more natural than the right cranks.

My double uni's are tied well, and I've spent a fortune on FC trying to make it work. Maybe junk FC costs a fortune. To be a little clearer about the failures I've had in the FC side of the double uni, it is after the rig has been used quite a bit. If I retie every time I go fishing I know I will not get the failures with FC, because they don't occur right away. The FC is more fragile than mono under these conditions. Period :-)

I'll try Big Game mono-easier to find than hard mono leader material.

I don't think the "invisibiliity" of FC is enough better than that of mono to justify the fragility of FC. I've checked knots lately and often found that after a while the braid to FC knot fails easily, and it's always the FC right at the knot that fails. I'm going back to hard mono leader material for my leaders. I usually use 10-15 pound leaders.

What is the difference between a Stradic FK and a Stradic HGFK? Interesting that the 2500 is a little heavier than the 3000.

Gerry Gostenek on Lake St. Clair is as good as it gets. Search Great Lakes bass fishing guide service, you'll quickly find him.

Getting wet and dunking are two different things. When I fished in Canada I often left my outfits in the boat overnight and they got rained on. But since the reels were maintained properly, none malfunctioned. With all the advice you've been getting it appears you have two choices. Keep dunking them and not maintaining them and get the same results, or treat them better and give them a little oil and maintenance now and then and have them last forever. Your choice. "Shielded" and "water resistant" and "corrosion resistant" don't mean the same thing as "waterproof" and "corrosion proof."

Did it get dunked? Maybe a number or times? Stored outside in a shed or something like that? To get rust you have to have water, either in vapor or liquid form. Reels don't get water inside as a general occurrence, but this one obviously did. I think your expectations are too high. To get you a reel that never needs attention and could take all kinds of mistreatment would have to be made of "unobtainium" and would cost a fortune. It really doesn't take much to make a reel last a very long time. A few drops of oil, proper storage, don't dunk it, common sense stuff. I still have reels from the 50's that my dad gave me, and they still work as well as ever. Reels are pretty intricate devices. Which is why they are among the things I will never loan to anyone. I missed the "dropped in the water a few times" comment. Reels don't like to be dropped in the water. Like non-water resistant watches. And firearms. Outboard motors. Most machines. Especially inexpensive ones. If you get a new reel, and drop it in the water, take the cover off to expose the inside and let it dry in a dry environment until you use it again. And try not to drop it in the water again. Put a few drops of oil in the obvious places, like bearings, anything that moves or spins. Keep track of the screws; you need them. It was not a "bad one." It wasn't treated right and it wasn't maintained right.

Suggesting a beginner go with FC is in my opinion wrong. FC is expensive, most of it is very hard to handle on both spin and BCast. Braid of 10-15 pound test will cast very far, which is important for a shore fisherman. Some will argue it will get damaged by rocks, and maybe it will, but one can keep his rod tip very high to help keep it out of the rocks, and it gives the best chance of reaching the fish. If you cannot reach them nothing else matters. Many fishermen fish braid with success without adding a leader, so that complication is not absolutely necessary. Mottle the last couple feet of it with a sharpie pen. Learn the palomar knot - many terminal knots will not hold well with braid.

You may get better responses from some pro builders on the site, but here is my take. Obviously the finish is separating from the rod. It may or may not spread, but the best idea I have is to carefully remove only the finish that has separated, (a small, new, hobby tool blade will work, cut it off) then refinish the spot with just a little overlap of the unseparated finish. The right product for finishing rods is Lumiseal or U40 Permagloss, available from rod building sites. However, since we don't know what the finish on the rod is, it is risky to use these products as they are very "hot," and will mess up many other finishes. If that were to happen you'd have a much bigger problem on your hands. So I would use a rod wrap epoxy. It will not attack anything. The repair won't be invisible, but with a thin application of the wrap epoxy, it should be pretty unobtrusive. Better idea is to first send the pic to Daiwa and ask them what can be done. If it all started with damage to the finish, like a hook digging into it, it's not a quality problem. If it just formed on its own, it could have started with contamination on the rod when it was finished.

I use the remote for almost everything exc adjusting the direction with my foot, for small adjustments. Now and then I adjust the speed with my foot.