MickD

Drop shot. I find it hard to not work it too much. My son will be catching with drop shot, I change to the same thing, and still don't do very well.

There have been millions of fish caught with rods of all varieties, materials, powers, and actions. How many rods did your father have? Probably one. So, IMO, it is not a necessity to have a crankbait rod. But it can be advantageous. If you are using mono or FC now, lines with quite a bit of stretch, which equates to "forgiveness" when the fish hits, it may not make a big difference. But if you are using braid you will probably do better with a moderate action, which will be more forgiving, resulting in fewer missed fish due to too aggressive hook sets on the strike. All the crank rods do, regardless of material, is soften up the rod's reaction to the strike. In other words, consider it a system, line + rod. The system should be "harder/stiffer" for finesse applications, "softer" for cranks and surface. (treble hooks). The casting characteristics will be somewhat different, but that's not compelling, and what works better for one caster may not work better for another. As previously stated, if you're not missing a lot of strikes now, getting another rod won't be a big improvement. To me, bigger than the action difference is the convenience of having more setups, each for its own technique and lure, so lure changes won't be necessary so often.

I should have added that rubber parts have a mold release on them to help get them out of the mold that forms them. It may interfere with the effectiveness of epoxy. What I do is to "wash" them with alcohol, vigorous rubdown with a wet with alcohol paper towel, then sand the barb and internal surfaces with 150 grit sandpaper. I don't know that it is necessary, but I've done it many times with no failures.

I believe the post above has it right. If you get to the point of needing something more than patching it, and getting a new butt knob is inconvenient (as in ordering only one part and paying $7 for shipping) go to anl O'REilly's auto parts store and go to their display of interior trim fasteners/parts and find the container with the 5/8 inch diameter rubber "bumper" pieces, and buy it, glue one into the hole to provide a black rubber bumper on the butt of the rod.

I've owned both Shimano and Daiwa, my early Daiwas being the Cabelas Prodigy. I have never met a Daiwa spinning reel that I didn't love. Both are very good, but one can usually find more Daiwas on sale than Shimanos.

OK, here is the truth you've been looking for. All the others are not telling the whole story. :-) This post could go on for years without a resolution that works for everyone. There are a hundred ways to screw up an FG knot, and when people tell you how they are tying it they most likely are not telling you the real secrets of the knot. Not that they are evil, but they most likely don't understand what they are doing right. There are simply so many variables in that knot that in spite of tying it for about 3 years now, I still am learning. There are probably fifty ways to screw up an Alberto. The most obvious is the direction the tag end goes out after doing the wraps. But the method of doing the wraps and tightening them are important. Here again, I think people who are doing it right don't even know how to tell us others what the important parts of the technique are. I for one have trouble making an effective Alberto. With certain fishing techniques, they often unravel. The double uni is large, but it is reliable. Unless you have pretty small micros, it should work OK if you trim the leader as has been mentioned. One other trick is to use UV cure epoxy on it, forming a more streamlined shape to go through the guides. If you are using small micros, like below about 5 1/2 mm, then it most likely will not work with your heavy line/leader combination. OK, time for everyone to tell me if I just did this one little secrety of theirs. . .

That is what I thought. I think the best blanks for these are blanks with moderate or moderate fast actions, but really, just about any rod will work fine. You might make your selection of characteristics based on having a rod that will work well with other techniques. Finesse leads you to faster actions, cranks to moderate. Base the power on the weight of the lures so that the rod gets loaded properly on the cast.

Isn't it great when you pay $1700 for a magic sonar unit that is touted to do everything but make bacon and eggs in the morning and you find out you have to spend a couple hundred more to either protect it or make it work properly?

After placing the guides on the blank per the chart instructions put line through them and stress the blank about 20% of its length and look at the angles the line makes at the guides and the path of the line through the first three guides. Looking down the rod try to get a "bullseye" appearance with the first three as best you can. Adjust the positions of the runners to get small, equal angles. If you cannot acheive this, move the first guide out a little and retest. If it still looks like the angles are too large, add a running guide. Test cast, moving the first two guides up and down an inch or two. There are great articles on this topic, but at sources not allowed on the forum.

So where is Lake Menderchuck?

You might want to look at my profile pic.

If it makes a huge roostertail, it's mounted too low. Further North is right. The comments about the advantage of a second transducer keeping the mega above stuff that could damage it are right, too. At a cost of about hundred bucks.

What is a bladed jig, a silver buddy? I can't help with glass, never build glass. But If I knew more about what kind of fishing "bladed jig" fishing is, I might help with graphite recommendations.

Can you hear the pump running? My Lund livewell has a valve where the water enters the livewell, and if that valve is not open, the pump will run but the water cannot enter the livewell.

I believe the best two specs of the traditionally offered specs on rods, to use to select a rod, are the lure weight coupled with the action description. Because, if the rod doesn't load properly it won't cast properly, and the lure recommendations are pretty good. The action descriptions, Mod, Mod-fast, Fast, XFast are also usually pretty true. I just received a blank labled Med-Light power, from the same manufacturer that offers another blank labled Med-Heavy. I've tested both on my CCS rig and the power measurements are almost identical and they both should be called Med-Heavy. Both are seven foot blanks, one RX7 and one RX8. Actions are similar, not identical. Both are labled Fast, but one probably should be labeled XFast. It is not hard to measure CCS, and you can do it with equipment that doesn't take up a lot of room, and the numbers it yields offer OBJECTIVE measurements of blank and rod power and action.

Just bought a Daiwa SV103 baitcaster-best casting reel I've ever owned. Previously owned modern reels: Shimano Curados and Revo SX's, Shimano Calcutta 100 (almost modern-still use it, pretty nice). I build my own rods, so have lots of favorites for various techniques, but doesn't answer your question. I have to say the most impressive spinning and casting blanks to build on right now, to choose one line, would be Point Blank. A little limited in selection, but what is offered is pretty impressive.

Based on my experience with that transducer, it is critical on mounting, but it WILL, if located correctly, give depth readings both at slow speeds and on plane. The easy solution, as stated, is a 2nd transducer.

I really don't see how a largemouth study of an eighteen acre lake has any relevance to Great Lakes Smallmouth fishing rules or practices. Or smallmouth bass in any environment. You just cannot extrapolate this study to any smallmouth waters of any size or location. It is a very specific study of largemouth ponds.

Agree with the recommendation to use KB's all the way for runners. The KT's have such a small foot it is easy to imagine that they might not hold up to your heavy duty plans. The KB foot is much more substantial. I see no advantage for this use in going really small, no need for small guides for sensitivity, weight advantage, or possible casting distance advantages. I would use KB 6 runners all the way to the tip . That way if you change your mind and want to use braid with a knot, your system will pass any reasonable knot cleanly. This seems to me to be an ideal application for a spiral wrapped rod. The simple spiral is a piece of cake and works as well as any other spiral designs. For max strength of the wrap/epoxy/guide bond I would consider not using CP. Some will argue that CP does not compromise strength of the system, but I find that guides wrapped without CP really come off hard. Test your wrap on a test section with alcohol to see the approx color you'll have without CP.

As stated, to mark fish he has caught before. It's just the curiosity thing in wondering if one has caught the same fish more than once. I caught the same smallie twice in the same day, could tell from a bad eye. Probably have caught the same fish many times before, but don't know it.

There is at least one fisherman on Sag Bay who snips the top of the tail a little to mark his releases. I wish he didn't do that, but doesn't seem to harm the fish. One of our biggest of a couple years ago was marked that way.

The string technique is not just for worst case scenarios as you describe. In fact with a struggling fish still on the line, you're just screwed, and the line technique, like anything else offers nothing until you get rid of the fish. The string technique really is of value for everyday fishing accidents. I took a big spinnerbait trailer hook out of a partner's hand while fishing a fly-in lake in Ontario, and he was amazed at how well it worked, no pain, no flesh damage, next day could hardly find the spot where it came out. Saved us a lot of time and trouble getting out to a doctor. I used it twice on myself this last season (yes, I know, be more careful). Anyone who fishes should learn it-it is in your interest to do so.

Make sure you don't cut the hook close to the skin, or you may end up with the barb + more inside the flesh, which makes it a lot harder to get out.

Think layering. For all-weather flexibility. I have a Cabela's top of the line coat with removable fleece, which is very nice, but heavy. Most of the time I use a lighter waterproof breathable top with multiple layers under it. For the bottom the insulated bibs would work fine; just have lighter rain pants for warmer weather. I've never used bibs, do the layering thing for the pants area , too. Most important is to make sure everything you buy for the outside is breathable waterproof.

lt's still common sense. It's common sense + science. Science and common sense agree.