MickD

Agree, no way to make it invisible. The technique in the recommended link works very well-the rod, if done right, should fish as well as new. i fixed a shattered fly rod and the CCS numbers were the same after the repair as they were before.

For a travel rod I would not hesitate going down the technology spectrum a bit. The "best" rods are high modulus graphite which minimizes weight to get sensitivity, but in the process, usually give up some "toughness." They are more fragile, more easily damaged. Which might lead one to go lower to get more durability and a tougher, less easily damaged rod for the rigors of travel use. For your budget I think you could get a custom rod made on the very good Rainshadow RS6 blank SB841. Don't be misled by its ML power rating as it has a very fast tip and is into the backbone very quickly allowing it to handle bigger fish than one might expect based on its description. It also can cast a wide variety of lure weights very well. It's like a short (7 feet) hot shot rod.

I think you need a warranty replacement. When mine gets too low on voltage I think it just turns off, doesn't go white. Have you put a volt meter on the source battery to see what it is providing? Then probe the power wire at the Helix 10 to verify it is also correct. Might help convince Humminbird that the voltage is correct.

You didn't mention charging after fishing-did you have the battery on a charger when not fishing? You also didn't mention if it's getting charged off the motor alternator. If not, and if you are not charging in its idle time , you're right back to insufficient power. My depth finders run off the main engine circuit, and of course this is charged when running. However, on a long day of fishing without much main motor running time, it can get dicey for keeping the depth finders going and also starting the engine. So i always charge when not in use, and have a jump starter unit on board in case I run the starting batter down too far. You also can put the Helix onto a "sleep" state so it's brain is still alive, but the display is turned off so the drain on the battery when you are not using it is minimal. You can with a single push of a button have it up and running instantly.

One thing that can cause braid backlashes is if you have too much line on the reel. Wet braid tends to spin off the spool, and if too much line is on the spool it will contact the reel structure. If your problems return after fixing the fundamentals, check how close the line is to the reel cross bars and reel foot. Take an 1/8 on an inch of line (diameter of the fill) off.

Most braid baitcasters seem to prefer 40 due to better handling than the lighter tests. If lure tangling is a problem put a fairly stiff mono leader on (not FC for surface-it will sink and screw up the action of the lure unless you're using a lure that is steadily retrieved, like the Whopper Plopper or old jitterbug). I like braid for surface, but my casting rods I use for surface are pretty slow action. With a fast action, mono may be more appropriate.

Never had the issue with two different motors. But, now and then I inadvertently hit the remote button, could happen by feet hitting the foot control, and shut it down. If you're wearing the remote, put it down on the deck for a while and keep away from the foot control. You've probably already considered this, but if not, try it.

Old line? What does the end of the line look like after the break-off? InvisX is supposed to be a good line (oughta be for the price), but FC is fragile. Some little difference in your process might be the difference. Let us know when you figure it out.

I have tried them a few times, never did well. Did better with tubes and other plastics because I think I could make them do what I wanted them to do. Which was, most likely, act like a live craw. Go figure.

Oops! Sorry.

The reason some knots work for mono and FC but don't work for braid is that braid has no stretch. With mono and FC the knot can be pulled down very tight, which stretches the line keeping some tension in the line that helps keep the knot tight. Also, mono and FC will take a "set" which helps keep the knots tight. With no stretch, and the slipperyness of braid, it takes specific knots to work properly. The palomar, in my opinion, is a great braid knot. I expect the uni is too because a double uni works fine for joining FC/mono to braid. You will get a hundred opinions for and against many knots, so I suggest you try some of the knots recommended and see for yourself. But do not trust a cinch or improved cinch with braid. i don't think many will recommend them for braid. They will unravel, especially with aggressive jigging action like snapping a swim bait off the bottom. I like to have a leader on the end of my braid and I use either the double uni or the FG knot, depending on pound test. With braids below 20 and leaders below 15 the double uni will go through almost any guide cleanly. For micros I use the FG as it is the smallest, strongest, albeit hard to tie properly knot for line to line. Having a leader may be a help for stealth, although that is debatable, but it means when I retie many times I'm not cutting off expensive braid. Improved cinch IMHO is unreliable for braid, but if it works for you. . . It will unravel when subjected to aggressive jigging (with braid.)

Good plan to start at the lower end and move up with your skill. Mudhole not only has closeouts often, but they also have a good line of reasonably priced blanks. Their color series, which I believe, based on weights, is graphite and priced less than $30.

The ones we are talking about are double crested cormorants and are not an endangered species.

Michigan has had similar problems, with the birds being determined to be the main reason for the decimation of the perch population in the Les Cheneaux Islands in northern Lake Huron (and Saginaw Bay if I'm not mistaken. ) We had our own "bird islands," with the trees killed by the birds. After a few years of population control by egg oiling and other methods, the perch populations are coming back. In October one can still see many thousands of them in a group migration on Saginaw Bay.

I was just asking for more info. Nothing more.

If SCV refers to St Croix, their SCV line of blanks are very good blanks. Of course the rods made from them have to be designed correctly, the components correct, and the blank matched to the job. In what way is the SCV deficient? What model is it and what is the technique that it is not performing well?

I have encountered what I would call slots in the edges of the line spools and they do interfere with line coming off the end of the stationary spools, which is correct for spinning reels. . I've tried taping them shut which doesn't work. They are a real pain in the butt, and I have found no way of avoiding them when spooling the line. Spooling line per the Junger sketch above will result in adding twist to the line. It would be so easy for the line companies to simply eliminate the slots. I don't see how spooling a spinner with a rotating spool, whether it comes off the top or bottom, will prevent twists. Please enlighten me with the details.

Substitute the word effective in place of "better." Same answer? I don't know how one can argue that better equipment, within reason, does not make one a more effective fisherman. More so for less skilled fishermen than highly skilled fishermen, but always true. For example, even highly skilled fishermen cannot make a less durable reel more durable, and if it fails, that's time off the water.

50 people will define this question in 50 different ways. To me the issue is will more expensive equipment perform better than cheaper equipment, cheaper equipment defined as equipment that an expert could get along fairly well with. The answer to my question is yes, the more expensive equipment will let those of us who are less skilled be more effective fishermen by allowing us to cast longer, more accurately, with fewer backlashes, and with less time out for repairs. But fishing reels are a lot like just about everything else in that the advantages are not linear to price. With each added $25 in price, the incremental improvement is less, but it's still there. When you get up into the many hundreds of dollars, there is little practical advantage in spending more. To me the sweet spot is in the $200 range with Daiwa. Maybe a little higher. But for $200 one can get a really good, easy to use, durable casting reel.

Some units have settings where you can set them to either not screw around with the returns, or to make the returns look like arches, or to make the returns look like fish. Turn off the arches and fish images if you have them on and learn to interpret the raw data yourself. If both you and the fish are not moving, the fish will look like a horizontal line. If either are moving it MIGHT look like an arch. If very close to the bottom it might look like a bump. Keeping in mind how narrow the "beam" is , you might miss fish altogether. You will see marks that are unattached that may be a piece of weed, a fish, or noise if sensitivity is too high. But in time you will , if you turn off the arches and fish, get to interpret what you are seeing pretty well.

The easiest lures to cast are those with the least wind resistance, those that are most streamlined and affected the least by air resistance. Like spoons, lipless cranks, practice plugs. So do a lot of casting with them, then move on to more challenging lures. Like long stickbaits. Then spinnerbaits. Even after becoming quite proficient you will most likely avoid casting spinnerbaits up wind.

glass rod pieces are getting hard to find, and glass is the right material to use. Due to not having glass, I have used graphite, so far so good. My 8 wt fly rod shattered so badly I used a graphite spigot on the inside and graphite sleeve outside and the CCS numbers and casting quality were unchanged from original.

The issue here is that these rods are "hot shot rods," very stiff butt, soft tip, extra fast action. They are hard to describe properly, and I know that Rainshadow calls one of theirs medium light power when in fact the tip is light but the overall rod is quite powerful due to the heavy butt that goes very far out the blank. Checked on CCS it measures 525 grams, 82 degrees action angle, which is quite powerful, more powerful than what most would call medium light. More like a medium heavy when talking freshwater spin. So these rods should be very versatile rods. Because of the light tip they will cast light lures well. Because of the power of the whole rod, they should cast fairly heavy lures well, also, and should handle large fish very well. I suggest you try them at whatever you need another outfit for and see how they work. Most likely you will find them very good rods for many techniques, and they will load properly on the cast with a larger range of lure weights than most other rods. It is my opinion that most fishermen don't really understand this type of rod, but as more do understand them, they will become much more popular. Point Blank has a number of this type of rod in their premium blank lineup, I've built a couple, and they are terrific.

Big Game is listed on Berkley's web site as a mono, and does not mention it being a co-polymer. Regarding the line to leader knot, if the double uni will go through the guides cleanly, use it. It is very easy to tie and very reliable. Check it for damage caused by the guides now and then. It works very well with all pound tests of all braids and leader materials (at least the many I've used.) If using micros, learn the FG, the smallest and strongest (if tied correctly) knot, but it is easy to tie it wrong and not know it until it slips. It is usually the braid locking half hitches that fail, so some use super glue or UV curing epoxy to anchor them better.

Am Tak? Are you sure they are not titanium alloy frames? I'm interested in how they failed, care to comment? thanks,