MickD

This whole thing sounds confusing, skeg tab "all the way to the right," hammering on a lower unit, motor mount area caved in, getting it back from having the hull patched. It doesn't sound to me that this is the place to get this situation under control. I think it can be done only by having a competent boat mechanic take the boat and do what it takes to fix it right. Then avoid stumps and leave the adjustments alone. IMHO

The rapid spin looks like a nice seat, but the cheapest one is about $20. For a first rod I would use a $5-9 pipe style seat, size 17. By "that style" I think you are asking how well a skeleton seat holds the reel, and the answer is they do fine at that. Ergonomics is possibly a different story.

For your first build, keep it simple and use a seat that comes already assembled so you only have to mount it on the blank using either masking tape wrapped to form arbors (make sure when gluing that the tape is totally covered with epoxy) or rigid foam shims. Any brand seat will do but I prefer the Fuji DPS size 17. Better for long fingers than a size 16. The Aero is fine, too, and is very good ergonomically in even the standard size 16.

I should have added that the same deglossing needs to be done to the skeleton seat components. A good way to do that is to use a shotgun patch cleaning tip on one section of a gun cleaning rod mounted in your drill driver. But put a piece of Scotch brite in the slot instead of a cleaning patch.

The hump will be in the cork, the seat in front, so the hump and the skeleton seat are separate issues. If you like the hump you're interested in comfort, but also want a skeleton seat? The skeleton will have no "insert," just the rod blank, which will make it, at the reel stem, pretty skinny and not the greatest ergonomically. But if you want it, any of the brands are probably fine; I don't use them so don't know details on the differences. But the important thing is that they rely on a very small surface for the epoxy adhesive to hold the reel. The sheer stresses are much larger than with conventional seats which have large areas for epoxy. So you need to maximize the strength of the bond, and how you do this is: 1. buff the interface surface between the blank and the seat parts with Scotch abrasive pads to degloss the surface and remove any contaminants. Do not follow this with anything other than wiping the dust away with a dry cloth or paper towel. 2. Don't skimp on the epoxy, and use structural epoxy, not wrap epoxy. Make sure that every bit of available interface between the components and blank are generously epoxyed. Clean the excess off with alcohol on a paper towel before it hardens. Personal preference, but I like the fast cure Rod Bond paste epoxy. It stays put better than liquid epoxy, hardens fairly quickly, yet still allows adjustments for quite a while after applying.

I went to the Charity Islands in Saginaw Bay with a friend who never got beyond Zebco 33's. We were fishing a nice rocky drop, the deep water about 10-12 feet, and I was fishing tubes. He put on a yellow jitterbug with a metal leader plus enough split shots to take it down, . . . and almost immediately caught a nice smallmouth.

I favor putting your best unit at the helm where you can use it to scan for the right structure and fish while travelling with the big motor. Since most of the time I'm in front I'm standing, I cannot see the detail anyway. The front unit, for the most part, is for water depth and "gross" structure" changes. Which would mean that the transducer for your best unit will be at the back and the transducer for the front unit will be mounted to the trolling motor head. That's not God's word, so it may be imperfect. Just give it a lot of thought before drilling holes.

When you like a spot, whether on spot lock or not, enter a waypoint into your independent GPS unit.

Never mind . :-) Nice that you got out so easily. I just finished a long reply, glad you don't need it.

My only suggestion is to line the second outfit with 15 pound braid + 15-20 pound FC leader. And take some extra line to handle any serious issues with the lines.

I feel that life is too short to waste time trying to find the right FC, or even using FC as a line. Too many disadvantages. So I only use it for leader, and prefer the saltwater hard leader material. Many have made it work, but not I.

I think many will be surprised if they use a scale to see what drag they are using. I would be surprised if mine is over about 4-5 pounds on 20 pound braid.

We have lots of opinions on knots on this forum, but not a lot of data. Here are data to go with their opinions. Especially valuable is the testing for different types of lines. https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fishing-knots/?utm_source=Fishing-tip&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Knots&utm_content=Knots-post&inf_contact_key=5adc6108c3c8bfb00c58817f7d6dec74c8ae3dfe33f190b3e23fe2f0eb3571a7

I put 150 yards of Bushido 15 pound braid on mine, filled it up. Will reverse it after a year or two. I'm not sure I get your point, 130 of 8 on a smaller reel and 140 of 10 on a bigger reel? Isn't that sort of logical? For what most of us do, 75 is plenty.

Got the 9535, and it's the right size for what I wanted. Very nice, smooth, reel, drag seems very smooth. But, it appears to me that the spool lip is farther forward relative to the stem than the Daiwas and Shimanos I have been using. sort of an uncomfortable reach for the finger. Hope I get used to it.

Depends on the size of the guides and the pound test of the line. Uni is not a small knot, so in the higher pound tests, it can snag on some guides. For 10 feet of line, cut it at the damage and fish with no knot.

I think, considering that the swivel is obviously a limiting device for line to line connections where the function of the swivel is only to avoid having to tie a good line to line knot, you should bite the bullet and practice a good knot, like double uni or surgeon's knot until you can efficiently and effectively tie one or the other. You don't want to have to go through your fishing career limiting yourself to not being able to tie a good line to line knot. Look at the schematic, follow it religiously, use spit to lube the knot (+ a few of the other tips given in these posts), and test it before using the rig. In time and practice it will come. The problem with the FG is not that it isn't strong enough; it has been tested and is the strongest line to line knot. The problems with it are that it is a difficult knot to learn to tie properly, and it doesn't work as well with light leaders as it does with heavier ones (15 and above). If it is not done correctly it can test well in the hands, but suddenly fail when fished. The two I've mentioned above are easy to tie correctly, plenty strong, and are reliable. Inspect them every few days and if they are getting frayed from passing through guides, cut and retie.

You'll probably be transferring the odor of WD to the lures you're using, and that is not a good idea. How about a damp cloth for a wipedown? I don't use anything other than that on mine and keep them looking and working well.

I expect the "regular old fisherman's knot" is a clinch knot, not an improved clinch knot. If a clinch, it is not a reliable knot. But if you are using that knot and the end of the line looks curly after your lure disappears, the knot is slipping, not breaking. The uni is a good knot, but no one is telling you how many times to pass the tag end through the loop-I use no fewer than 5, also lube the knot with spit. Make sure you are passing the tag end through the loop properly so it goes around both lines when making the turns. It is possible to screw this up and not capture both lines with the turns, and it won't work if that is done. Do a search for uni-knot.

Any opinions on best maps for the Helix 9 for Michigan lakes, especially Saginaw Bay and Lake St. Clair, Detroit River?

Personal preference- I like the most sensitive rod I can afford for drop shot , which leads me to the SCV rods. I think the medium power is more appropriate based on better hook sets. Fast or extra fast. If you're sticking with light or med-light power, and missing fish, check your hooks-must be sticky sharp, especially for lighter powers.

I have never seen a ceramic guide ring grooved, but I've seen a significant number of tiptops grooved. Which is why I always use SIC tiptops. Exc for possibly the Torzite, SIC is the hardest ring material.

I'm no expert, but I have seen a hell of a lot of pretty sick looking fish at the weigh ins of current tournaments. When I pick a bass out of my livewell, it goes nutso. The fish I see so often on TV just hang there. I've heard that fish treatment is a high priority at bass tourneys, but from what I've seen, I'm suspicious there is a lot of fish mortality associated with tourneys. OK, tell me how wrong I am.

To cast well a rod has to load properly, and it will do that only for a certain range of lure weights. Sounds to me like this rod is loading better at the lighter weights. The spacing at the tip is not a casting issue. The only issue with running guide spacing might be that a section of the rod might get overstressed and would fail. Not likely , though. The reduction train is where the distance is made or not made. Here is a top secret tip. Don't tell anyone else. Try 10-15 pound braid on it and it will cast any weight really well. :-) There is more to gain with the lighter braids than any move you can make with the guides.

If you're really serious about changing the rod's color, then there is a way to do it that should not affect the action that much. There are a lot of builders who have painted rods using Duplicolor spray paint + clear coat. I don't know if it needs a primer, but I expect the people at the auto parts stores will know. Graphite rods are not that different than auto plastic parts like fascias. Also, the white color of your rod is undoubtedly paint, so that should provide any primer function that is needed. First scuff the old finish with scotch abrasive pads. If you start seeing graphite, stop. Mask off the guides and grips. Probably should do this first rather than second. You will want to use very thin coats. The color coat may even be a "tint" that will show up as a light shade of the color (or allow the color of the primer to show, if one is used. Try to avoid a primer. With the scuffing, I really don't think one is necessary. Without one you'll feel better about getting a denser color with the color coat. If you have some of those fiberglass driveway marker rods, practice on a couple. Be aware that you just might make this rod into a total failure. Since you cannot fish with it, not that big a deal. Auto paints are flexible enough for rods; Rodgeeks uses auto paints to provide 28 colors of rod blanks. If you get it done, post some pics, and good luck with it.