MickD

It's light power, not action. Action is described by fast, X-fast, moderate, etc. The lighter power casting rods are ideal for casting light cranks. To cast well a rod must be loaded properly on the cast, and the heavier power rods won't load well with light lures. Moderate actions are good for surface and cranks due to their being more forgiving on the take, but less ideal for finesse techniques. Might work very well for Ned rigs if you can cast the light lure. Maybe the bigger Ned.

I think it's more about the power and action than material of the rod, so with heavier powers/faster action glass rods one might want the same mono used with graphite rods of similar power/action.

I have friends who fish Lake St Clair and Sag Bay and use nothing but greens, most likely green pumpkin. I use colors same as Nhbull, would add gold flake to his green pumpkin. I use mostly Berkley powerbait, crazy legs chigger craw, some legs trimmed if the original seems to be too much on a particular day.

The windy ends of inland lakes with smallmouths are always better than the others, assuming other things approx equal.

Seems like we should simply put one of each on the hook. I admit that in the past I've never discerned any difference between the two. Will be more careful now.

shipping. . . new rod? If so ask for a replacement. If you want to get rid of the white you can cut it off with an exacto knife, down to where you have clear epoxy. Wipe the wrap off well, no alcohol, Then fill it back in with WRAP EPOXY, not structural epoxy. Carefully! Most likely the new wrap epoxy will blend with the old and you won't notice it. You may have to coat the whole wrap.

Use a darter head jig, I use 3/16 oz most of the time in water up to about 9 feet. Snap it off the bottom or reel slowly and steadily, depending what the fish want. Without the stabilizing influence of a darter head jig or weighted hook the boot tails will spin. Tie directly to the hook or jig.

For casting rods there is absolutely no need for kits. Order the RV guide for the first one and whatever KB's and Kt's (or all KB's if a heavier power rod you want to use to teh tip. They are called micros and are available from 4 (I believe) to 6mm. I generally use the 5.5's on a casting rod. Remember the intent is that the RV be installed backwards from normal, meaning the double legs will be away from the reel, facing to the tip. For spin, go to the Anglers Resource catalog and find the section on selecting the reduction guides based on your line plans. Very easy. Then use KB's and KT's to the tip. I generally use the 20KLH, 10KLH, 5.5M reduction guides with size 5 or 5.5 runners to the tip.

My new Daiwa SV 103 TWS is the best casting reel I've ever owned. Previously my fav what Shimano Curado, but the Daiwa has it beaten by far.

I would not let any comments on this string deter you from using braid. Even if tiptops groove, they are a piece of cake to replace, and the advantages of braid will most likely get you more fish. I cannot imagine not using braid for most of my applications. MUCH better sensitivity/bite detection, smaller diameter for more line capacity for smaller reel spools, and while it is more expensive than mono, it lasts for years (many reverse it on the reel after a few years) without getting curly/kinky/brittle/or anything else. (compared to mono. Some florocarbons are more expensive than braid, and are much harder to handle).

I'm not going to argue the theory, only state my experience. And that is that I've never had a guide groove but have had to replace many tiptops due to grooving. Which is why I will build rods with many different guide ring materials with confidence, but always use SIC ringed tiptops. Which I've never had to replace.

I like the higher ratios for everything exc spinnerbaits. I use an old 5.3:1 because I find it hard to slowly retrieve them with the higher ratios.

I have used a lot of regular FC line for leaders, and it works OK, but if I want more confidence I use FC designed to be a leader. One technique where I will not use line for leader is fishing blades. The stiffness of the FC reduces tangling when twitching the blades.

I've always used right retrieve casting reels, casting with right and retrieving with right. As others have stated it feels right. But after snapping blades off the bottom for about 6 hours last fall with the left hand, with the right on the reel handle grips, my bad left shoulder said it didn't like it. So I'm learning to do it the other way for techniques that over-stress the bad left shoulder. It's easy to get used to. I found that for a technique like blades, requiring quick reeling after the snap, changing hands did in fact take too much time.

These new units will drain a starting battery faster than the older units. With two running on my new rig I found my starting battery too low to start the engine after about 8 hours on the water. They have power saving features, easy to use and saves battery when not really needing them on. I also bought a jump starter power unit just in case. Takes up less space than jumper cables, and on my boat it's a lot easier to use than jumping from the trolling motor batteries.

Good luck with trying products intended to soften line (a plastic material) on EVA (a plastic material). Why do you want to "condition" it? All they need is a soap and water wash now and then. IMO

I used a power washer for years on my boat, worked well. I suggest the simple green procedure recommended above, then do the power wash, no need to vac. Be sure to be careful with the power wash, you want to be a little aggressive, but don't want to damage the carpet. Have the front of the boat high and the plug open.

Keep in mind that the video stated that lines are not all spooled the same way, so for spin, label up on some, down on others. I check EVERY time to be sure it's going on right. Any spooler that has the source spool rotate is not the best for spin. OK for cast. Another way that the immersion in the water can help is that nylon absorbs water and becomes softer. That's why storing nylon line and reels with nylon line on them in an unheated building in the north is a bad idea. Very low humidity, nylon tends to get brittle.

Watermelon green tube, Ned rig, 4.5 inch paddle tail swim bait on a 3/16 oz darter head jig.

I use the KB's for the first two on spinning rods, KT's after that. I have used a few AmTak micros in the past, no problems, have grown to prefer the KLH reduction guides, KB's and KT's for runners. The AmTak design was not tangle free. I don't like the Microwave system that much, no problems, just personal preference. I sometimes use KB's for all the running guides on casting rods and heavier spin rods.

So many questions. . .-Get the regs from the MI DNR website, no boat issues I can think of. Pick your lake depending on the wind. The really clear lakes can be tough because the bass see you so easily. Long casts, sounds like you have the right idea on braid and FC. No need for high pound tests as most water is pretty snag free. Don't forget about lipless cranks. For clear water I like chrome, lighter colors, ghost, transluscent colors. You may find bass still spawning up there, so slow stuff for beds should be part of your plans, tubes good, even lizards. One good search lure for me in clear Saginaw Bay is a 4 - 4.5 inch white swim bait on a 3/16 darter head jig, snapped off the bottom, vary the cadence until you get a good snap off the bottom, with a tight line drop after that. Fish often hit on the drop. Make sure you rig it so you keep good hook exposure/gap to the lure. Hard jerks you have planned should be good. Be sure to try long pauses. If you don't fish Ned rigs, get some of various colors. They sometimes are the only thing that works. Fish very slowly. I would have a few silver buddie blades along in case you have to fish deeper for them. In some of the lakes up there you will find different colored bottoms (often dark) as you search. Focus on them-they are often weeds which will have fish around the edges, or they will be rocks with fish anywhere near and on them. Finally, have a few colors of super flukes (5 inch) fished weightless. White, pink, and dark green. Good luck.

Check out the Fuji KLH guide trains in the Fuji catalog. I love them. All my rods are built now with some version of Fuji K series guides, spinning and casting. It's like putting very functional jewelry on your rods. I cannot offer valuable info on cork components; I turn my own from the best quality cork rings i can get. Easy to do on a drill press.

For the rod to be used for spinnerbaits I would use the lower ratio because I tend to crank them too fast. I use an old Calcutta 100 with 5.4 (I think that's it) ratio to slow me down.

Agree, good stuff. Only one coat, as the instructions state. Two will not be better.

I agree that Mudhole is a good place to start, not only their products, but their techniques and tips videos, too. When you have questions on how to do something, also consult the very good Flex Coat videos (search for "Flex Coat videos" I suggest you do not start with an expensive blank. You will get better with every build, and you will make mistakes. Better to start with something reasonably priced. There are tons of reasonably priced very good blanks out there. Mudhole offers "turnkey" kits which include a simple tool set, so that seems to make sense as a starter. Once you build a few rods you will develop a style that you like and will expand into doing more than assembling ready-made components. One can turn cork on a drill press with a simple setup that costs almost nothing, for example. I turn almost all my cork and some other easy-to-turn materials which allows me to get a larger variety of looks and functions beyond the components available for sale. There are also a couple other good rodbuilding forums out there which offer good instructive information.