MickD

I realize there are products that can switch etc, but I have a very "clean" boat and don't want to get into running new wires and mounting new switches unless a last resort. I have room right in the starting battery compartment for a single bank charger, and that would be the cleanest, most reliable fix. thanks for all the comments, much appreciated.

Tape on a few 5's and 6's and try your proposed line/leader combo to see how it works. Doesn't matter which style or model guide.

For most bass techniques the use of a bobber will interfere with the feeling of the lure and the hook set. Exc for slip bobbers, they are a pain to cast, too. I'm not sure how slip bobber stops and some micro guides will get along. However, as mentioned , when the bass want it really slow and require accurate depth control, as the the float and fly, it makes sense and is effective. I expect the last time I used a bobber was fishing for pike with live minnows. But one way to get the depth control and very slow action is to use a drop shot, and the casting problems with bobbers are eliminated.

30 braid with 20 leader yields a pretty big double uni knot, so I would go with S Hov on the 6 mm running guides. Max sensitivity is not an issue with this rod anyway, so don't go too small and be fighting the knot issue all the time. Go to the Anglers Resource home page, click on the catalog, and find their charts for reduction guides in the KLH series for the line weight you will be using. It's more about the line than the reel, IMHO. I believe they will recommend a 25KLH, 12KLH, 7KLM, then the runners. I don't see an advantage in four guide reduction sets-I've done two with good performance. The only thing to watch for with these guides is they are tall. If they have to go into a rod tube, pay attention to its diameter. Same if they have to go into the rod tubes on boats. On my boat the tubes are far enough from the rod butt that it's not a problem. Fuji has a new corrosion resistant finish that is very good, and not expensive with some ring options.

I agree with your comments. I think that my engine is not providing adequate output from the alternator, and when I get that fixed, it may be OK. If not, add a single bank charger. thanks, Mick

It appears that my boat, which was purchased with on-board chargers and 24 volt trolling motor voltage, charges only the two batteries for the trolling motor. On my old boat, I installed an on-board charger that charged both the trolling motor battery and the starting battery. Note that the electronics (fish finders, 2) are on the starter battery on the new boat. Is it possible to wire the two on-board charging circuits to include the starting battery? I would think that wiring the starting battery in parallel with one of the trolling motor batteries would work. Anyone know whether I'm right or not? Thanks for your expertise.

Forgot the quality of the guides. While top end production rods usually have pretty good quality guides, the mid and lower price levels do not. What makes a higher quality guide? Reduced weight from premium harder and thinner rings (ever notice those fat ugly grey guides on production rods?) or titanium alloy guide frames.

One thing that will help at the beginning is to use a spoon or practice plug, then a fairly heavy crank, then go to other stuff like spinnerbaits that catch the wind. Even then, best not to try to cast the windcatcher lures like spinnerbaits up wind until you get very proficient. Mentioned above and very important are these three tips: 1. use a rod that loads properly for your lure weight. If it doesn't generate a good generous bend while casting, the rod is too stiff or too fast for optimum casting. 2. Start with shorter distance/lower power/slower casts and work from there. Even with slower casts , your rod should load (bend) significantly in the cast, just not as much as with a full distance attempt. 3. Don't try to go too light in the beginning. Use your spinning equipment for now. I'd say 5/8 - 3/4 once is a good place to start. Work on the fundamentals and be patient. Don't use flouro-too expensive and fragile, mono or hybrid as recommended above is the best place to start.

there are two areas where custom will get you better quality than almost any "production" rod: 1. Better integrity of the reel seat/grip attachments. I've had to repair some pretty well respected rods for these parts coming loose. 2. Better quality cork on the custom rods (if the builder is committed to better quality cork, no open pits, fewer deep longitudinal voids). Check the cork carefully on a "production" rod-you'll most likely find heavy use of pit filler.

You said no Ned, but this may be news to some: Rig a drop shot with one color Ned on the hook on the line and another color on the bottom instead of a sinker. May not be legal everywhere.

I like using a leader because the terminal knots are easier and more reliable, and I'm using up leader rather than the braid which I would rather not use up (due to cost and having to refill the spool more often in order to keep the spool full.)

Unless you're talking the exotic stuff I've found that AmTackle Bushido's are great blanks for the price, as are the Rainshadow Revelations which you probably have already built on. I really like the Pac Bay Quickline fly blanks, so expect the other Quicklines are just as impressive (shop around-prices vary a lot on pac Bay for some reason). Getting into the pricier stuff, good old SC5 from St Croix is hard to beat, RodGeeks for some very neat colors on premium blanks, and the Point Blanks from Anglers Resource are really wonderful blanks. We builders are very lucky to have thousands of blank choices. There are probably another ten or so major blank suppliers that I've not yet built.

The reel's drag can limit stress on the reel, so I see no need to worry about matching specs with the rod. The main thing with really big lures is that you are going after really big fish, so pick a reel which has drag capacity to match what you want to do with it.

In my opinion, it's not about one vs two piece or SC5 vs SC2, it's about the power and action specs. For your use I would recommend a medium power, fast action., not a med-light power. My favorite rod for the use you mention is a seven foot SC5 medium power, fast action. I also have a Rodgeeks 4 level, same length, same power, and it's fine for that technique too. I have built Rainshadows of the same specs, even medium heavy, and they are very good for tubes and jigs. I'm sure you would be more pleased with the REVS72M or MH. If mostly tubes, the M, if mostly jigs (skirted jigs with trailers or swim jigs with trailers) the MH. Revelations and Immortals are both very fine blanks at a much lower price point than most others. Most of my builds are Rainshadows. I have a couple ML power rods, and while they are great for snapping 4 in swim baits off the bottom, they are not right for tubes and jigs. They don't have the power you want to set the hook , especially in deeper water, and they are certainly insufficient for jigs.

What could possibly make a rod good for spinnerbaits and chatterbaits but not good for buzzbaits? The major difference between glass and graphite is weight, which means the heavier rod will be less sensitive and slower response. For the steady retrieves of all these lures, doesn't much matter. Lighter in the hand for graphite? Usually. It is possible for graphite to match the power and action of any glass rod, but it will most always have faster response due to lighter weight. Regardless of how many tines the hook has. We might be overthinking this a bit.

do not use rodbuilding epoxy to attach the tiptop. Too risky if you have to remove it again. Use rodbuilding tiptop cement which is a hot melt adhesive.

A good structural (not 5 minute) epoxy should work well on most materials. Flex Coat and other rodbuilder companies carry it and other good brands. For coating cranks that I've altered I have used Sally Hansen fingernail hard coating with good success. Work fast with this stuff. One thing you might try is to call Mudhole.com and ask for their advice. They carry both rodbuilding and lure making products and have a very strong customer service activity.

I think some here are saying action but mean power. Including the original post? Action is described by the words slow, medium, fast, extra fast, etc. All are "speed" terms and describe how the rod bends, not the force it takes to make it bend. Power is described by the words light, medium, heavy, or combinations of these terms that imply the force it takes to make the rod bend.

Probably a carp, fought like a carp. And it might not have been snagged-carp will strike lures. Not really common, but not that uncommon either. I had an experience like yours one time on a flooded MI river mouth, fought the powerful but slow steady fish for about half an hour, then it was gone. I think in time the hooks open a hole in the lips allowing a hook to come out more easily. Mine took a Norman DBN, gel-craw pattern. I never saw it , but cannot think of anything else that fought that way. Last fall in a hot water release area carp were all over the place, hitting blade baits and cranks. My son and I took probably ten or more from an area of about 2-3 acres.

The reason fly rod blanks were used for light spin rods was that at one time all the Ultra Light blanks were no longer than 5 or 5 1/2 feet, and many wanted longer rods. Longer rods give better casting distance and much better hook sets. Fast action fly rods, about 3 wt, 7 1/2 feet long made much better rods, but they are pretty whippy and sloppy feeling. As stated above, there are many great ultra light 7-7 1/2 foot rod blanks available today, so one doesn't have to put up with the fly rod's sloppy action any more. Walleye blanks of light power work well as panfish blanks, too. I would not, unless special circumstances like small streams or kayak fishing dictate, build on a blank shorter than 7 feet.

It is my understanding that the tip top, not the tip, broke. You cannot tell by photo which material was used. But you'll know right away by applying a little heat (and tension at the same time). Epoxy will not come off with gentle heat. If you haven't tried it on this problem rod by now, do it. You will hurt nothing if you add a few seconds of heat and pull at the same time. If it comes, problem solved. If it does not take it to an expert. There is a Lower Alabama Rod Builders group on Facebook, with a contact number.

If gentle heat did not work, it is because epoxy was used to hold it on. Not a good idea as the temperature it takes to get the epoxy to fail is about the same as the temperature it takes to make the blank fail. For you who said a little heat worked for you, yours was installed using some sort of hot melt, a much better way to install tiptops. EGbassing, I think you have three options 1. Keep trying to get the old one off with gentle heat and twisting and pulling and hope for the best, 2. Cut it off and put the new one on with hot melt (preferably one designed for rod building), or 3. Take it to an expert rod-builder/repairer and have him/her walk the tightrope between damaging the blank and getting the tiptop off. Most have done it before and probably have a better chance of success than a person with no experience. good luck.

If 5 minute, OK, but some are put on with regular structural epoxy, and it doesn't easily soften. So in trying to get them off, one is walking a tightrope between the temp at which the epoxy "fails," and the temp at which the blank "fails."

This is hearsay, but from people who should know: 5 minute epoxy is not as strong as the liquid slow cure rod-building epoxy. Also, use liquid-it gives the best possibility of getting the epoxy everywhere . You don't want to just use it at the ends-you should cover the whole area of the blank/sleeve interface with epoxy. My only failures of repairs have come when I didn't get enough epoxy in place. One end of the blank pulled out. Doing a proper epoxying job then fixed the rods permanently. If you are hearing cracking with an oversleeve, then I think you are not getting enough epoxy in place, using inferior epoxy, or too short a sleeve. Outer sleeves are needed, interior spigots only when the fracture is such that you think you need to reinforce the repair as much as possible, or when the rod is shattered such that a spigot will stabilze the parts within the outer sleeve. Interior spigots are no larger than the I.D. of the broken blank, so they cannot be as strong as the unbroken blank. Because sleeves are larger than the O.D. of the blank, there is a possibility that the sleeve can cause a "flat spot" in the action due to the higher strength. The use of glass sleeves on graphite rods is an attempt to reduce this tendency. Read the Rodbuilding.org article-well worth it.

If you spin a Q-tip in the rings of all the guides and tiptop it will snag on any crack and reveal it to you. I'd check them all, especially near the tip. Most likely tip-top. Tiptops can be either installed with hot melt or epoxy. If hot melt, very easy and no risk of damage to the blank, just a LITTLE heat while pulling on the tip top with a rubber band. It will slip off when the hot melt softens. Very little heat required. If epoxy, a little trickier because more heat is required, but most epoxies used for tiptops soften easier than typical structural epoxy. But heat is again required, but more heat. Do the same process, but if it doesn't slip right off, stop and try carefully to move it by gentle twisting, then pulling, maybe a little more heat while pulling. This is a little risky, but usually can be done without damage to the tiptop. Some will say cut it off-I disagree with that approach. Better to get help from a pro builder in your area if you cannot handle it without excess heat. The tiptops are specified by ring diameter (outer diameter) and diameter of the tip of the rod. OK to go next size up on the blank diameter spec, but don't sand the blank down to fit one onto a blank that's too big to slide into the tube. If more questions, ok to PM or email me.