MickD

I have used fiberglass crank rods and find them inferior to graphite mostly because of the weight and lack of sensitivity. You can get any power and action you want in graphite.

Re where I fish, mostly Saginaw Bay for smallies. It is common that our take for the day averages over 3 1/2 pounds, not unusual 4 pounds. Largest last season was 6-14 by my son. Since it is open water a medium lite will work, and I use one for my ned rig fishing. But for other stuff, it is not the ideal rod. I stand with my recommendation of med power fast action for better hook sets and better control of the bigger fish. Re backreeling, I have done it, but I find using the drag with the anti-reverse on to be more reliable for me. I tend to lose control of the reel sometimes without the anti reverse on. I tend to keep the drag on the light side from what I think most will do. I might do otherwise if the water were not open as it is in Lake St Clair and Saginaw Bay.

You need something to hold the blank in order to rotate it and wrap the guides, and you need a way of tensioning the thread. When the guides are wrapped and the epoxy is on you can use your blank holder to hold the rod and turn it manually now and then to keep the epoxy from all ending up on one side of the blank. The simplest way to accomplish this is to get a cardboard box about 18 inches long and cut V notches in it to hold the blank, and run the thread through the pages of a heavy book. Better is to get one of the manual wrappers like the Mudhole or Batson, not that expensive. I've used a home made manual wrapper for years. When you get to wanting to turn your own cork or EVA, you will want to cobble something up to allow a drill press or portable drill to allow this. Search the internet for ideas. For convenience a slow rotating motor mounted to a frame to turn the blank slowly will really help keep the epoxy on the wraps in the right place. Go to http://rodbuilding.org/list.php?2 for an excellent forum on rodbuilding. Be sure to check out the library and use its search function to find help on about anything. You will get better with every build, and your first may not be what you are expecting it to be. which means it's best to start with inexpensive builds and work up. Nowadays the inexpensive blanks and guides are very good quality, very capable. But don't use a $100 blank for your first. The kits are a good way to start as they include all the components.

The smallies take on that pattern when kept a couple hours in the live well, not sure why. Can anyone explain it? The dark? Meaning they would look that way after a dark night in the lake? ??

While I agree that ML would be better for casting the lighter lures, it will not be the best for hook set. Any rod selection is a balance of strengths and weaknesses. I would rather give up a little on casting to gain better hook set capability. Surely you do not want anything less than a fast action ML, better a fast action Medium power.

The ID of this part is 15mm. So it has to go over something that is very close to 15 mm. What are you trying to adapt to? A pic or description of what you are starting with would help a lot. For different configurations there will be different solutions

The ring material has nothing to do with placement, and in my opinion, all the materials available today will take mono, FC, and braid. I would use premium material for the tiptop, like SC. As to placement, I really like the charts in the Fuji catalog. They take into account the type of line and pound test. Start here: http://anglersresource.net/Catalog.aspx

If the cleaning recommendations don't work you can renew the grip by applying Winn Grip tape to the grip. I think they cost $10, come in many colors, are a piece of cake to install, and give the Winn Grip feel. http://www.mudhole.com/Winn-Rod-Overwrap-Grip-Tape

I'm wondering if blanks breaking on hook sets may be due to high sticking or rods having been damaged before the hook set. I've NEVER broken a rod on a fish. I suspect something else is going on rather than just a hook set. IMHO

The ghost or ghost shad (Yozuri) on Lake St Clair and Saginaw Bay for smallies. Firetiger if the water is stained.

I think the Pflueger recommendation is good; I;ve heard a lot of good things about them. Also look for sales at the usual on-line sources and combos that have the stuff you're happy with. Might luck out.

I use braid with FC for most setups, braid + mono for surface. FC sinks and screws up surface lure action. It gets dragged under. I seldom go over 15 pound test braid, sometimes 20, 30 for saltwater inshore. But I think unless one has to really stop a fish, like wreck fishing, 20 will do fine.

I fish spin outfits about 2:1 over casting. Super flukes, 4" swim baits on bullet jigs, wacky, drop shot, small jerks and cranks, swim jigs. Personal preference for the fairly open water that I spend most of my time on. So I would go for spin. Do you find yourself changing lures on your cast more than spin? Or vice versa? Go with what will minimize having to change.

With the lure weights you are talking about you need to go longer rather than shorter to get better casting. Or simply go to what works much better with 1/16 oz and similar lures and use spinning outfits. You are, in my opinion, making it way too hard on yourself trying to make baitcasting work on such light lures. Unless I'm missing something. . .

I see no advantage to going as light as 8#, but if it works for you , do it. One advantage will be a smaller knot. I usually use 15 or 20 FC for jerks. For surface, I don't like FC because it sinks and affects the action of the surface lure. Always mono leader for surface, or straight mono from reel to lure. For surface the stretch of mono is advantageous, in my opinion as I have trouble slowing the hook set enough, and braid is too direct/solid/non-forgiving. If you want a double duty outfit, jerks and surface, just use a mono leader. It will work fine for both. I think the visibility advantage of FC is overrated.

Expanding on the Tackle Logic folder, I've found that the folders sold for CD/DVD storage work well , are inexpensive. Not so good for buzz baits. Easy to organize by color or blade shape, etc. With the plastic boxes you are storing more air than you are lures.

You may be able to get some cover from a count of your wife's shoes and purses. "Why do you need so many rods?" "Why do you need so many shoes?" "Because they are for different situations." Bingo!

Depends on the boat to some degree. When they are too thick and you start stepping on them, that's too many. I usually have 5 or 6. Above that gets a little hard to handle and doesn't add that much function.

I prefer moderate actions for cranks and surface, power chosen to properly load the rod on casting with the weights I'm using.

ML is not powerful enough for much jigging, swim jigs, tubes, hard jerks, senko type lures. In some cases they are too heavy, in others there just isn't enough power to properly set the hooks. I was using a ML popping rod with 1/4 oz bullet head jig and 4 inch swim baits and was missing a lot of fish, changed to a medium fast and my hook rate about doubled. Medium light would be good for ned rigs and light cranks, but a medium power, while not ideal, would still do it. My opinion.

I disagree that it is hard to find a bad braid. I seem to have found some pretty easily. I now stick to Power Pro and Suffix Performance Braid, and don't go over 15 pound test. Casts a mile, plenty strong enough for what I do. I think 30 is definitely overkill for spinning and will cost significant distance. As someone said, you don't need to fill the reel with it, so cost should not be a factor. Buy 150 and use 50 yards per spool with backing required to fill the spool. It lasts for years, so you won,'t be replacing it soon.

Agree go with medium power, much more versatile. Medium can do just about anything a ML can do. There are a lot of things that ML cannot do. I would go Daiwa. I have not used skeleton seats on spin rods, but cannot believe they would be as comfortable for a long day of fishing as the Daiwa grip. The possible sensitivity gain of the skeleton would not, IMHO, offset its loss in comfort/ergonomics. Maybe a skeleton would make sense on an ultra light, but not on a medium power rod.

I looked into the TT ratings, and their chart appears to me to be a simple rod deflection chart, and I don't see how one can interpret it to get "action" ratings. It appears to simply measure "power." Force vs deflection. The CCS system measures deflection at 1/3 (and at other points if you want more sophisticated info) its length (a 9 foot rod is measured at the weight it takes to get 36 inches deflection). The weight it takes gives an objective measurement of "power." At that deflected position the angle of the deflected tip is also measured, and this gives an objective "action" rating. The higher the angle, the faster the action. A very fast action is usually about 77 degrees, a fast about 70-74, and moderate about 65 or a little higher. But it doesn't matter what you call them, the number tells the story. So 500 (grams)/75(degrees) blank is about what a St Croix SCV 7 foot MF measures. More sophisticated measurements can give you numbers relative to sensitivity and speed of recovery. If you want to really get objective about rod ratings, CCS is the way to go. It works for any rod or blank, no matter what type.

All ratings on rods are somewhat subjective, thus are approximations. I agree that St. Croix rods are usually a little more powerful than you would expect from their description. I'm not familiar with the TT system, but the CCS system is a good way to get objective data on rod power and action. http://www.common-cents.info/ One can make their own rig that doesn't take up the space of the one described at the CCS sites, and it correlates well with the big sheet rig. With CCS it all becomes objective, and once you understand it, and fish with rods that have been rated, it is easy to get the rod you want for the next one. It does not damage or mark the rod in any way so one could buy a rod, test it, then return it if it didn't perform as expected. With time and experience (there are data on line for some rods, but not even close to all) one predict very well what CCS numbers will work for what your are trying to get.

Make sure you know the reputation of the person who is to super tune your reel. There are a few idiots out there who advertise super tuning but will ruin your reel.