MickD

Mono and braid have the same density, so equal volumes weigh the same. The title of the post mentions elect tape. Not advisable in my opinion, would likely in time get gunky, hard to remove, hard to clean the reel.

Based on the fact that the jug fishing was a very slow and effective presentation, I would try some of the ideas presented, like wacky rig senko, but fish them very slowly, lots of stops. Or wacky on a drop shot with light line, so you can just let it suspend just off bottom without much movement. One of the best search baits, if you can fish it in your water, is the ned rig. If bass are there, and they can see it, they will eat it.

Typical of Z-Man customer service, excellent. Always stand behind their products.

You can try to reset it with epoxy, no harm done if it doesn't work. If you need a new guide, and the guide being a micro, you needn't worry about an exact match. They are so small you won't pick up on minor differences. A custom rod maker can fix it pretty easily without costing you a fortune. Biggest problem might be thread color match, but most factory rods are done in black, so. . . piece of cake.

All high mod rods are more sensitive to breaking than the old stuff. http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/rodusage.pdf

Anything but the red crap. Nothing but hype, and some reel servicers charge extra because it contaminates their cleaning fluid. Sewing machine oil is designed for precision machinery, so as DVT says, it is a good choice for the areas that are appropriately lubed with oil.

Short rod, micro guides, light action (to make the blank as light as possible), or just forget it as recommended above. Much ado about nothing.

There is a pretty tough "almost clear" UV resistant tape available, seems about 4 times thicker that packaging tape, easy to handle, would work fine for your strategy. I've found it at the big tape displays at Staples and other big stores.

C +. Some good, some misleading. He talks about $200 entering the custom market then shows a $150 blank with probably 75- 100 more in components, with nothing for the labor of the builder. If he wants to talk about a $200 custom rod, show a blank, like RX6 or maybe Revelation that might build into a $200 rod. With good guides, but not the holographic ones which are pretty pricey. One big advantage of a custom build is quality of the cork (usually), but that's pricey too. Another advantage not mentioned is that custom rods usually are structurally better with respect to reel seat to blank integrity. Many factory rods use cardboard shims and insufficient epoxy while custom builders use better shims and plenty of epoxy, totally encapsulating the shims to prevent long term deterioration due to water. He obviously doesn't understand the spline of a blank. He makes the point on custom tailoring of the rods' proportions as required to fit the owner properly quite well. More guides are good for sensitivity and line control for better casting and feeling what's going on , but he misleads on the line being damaged by contacting the blank. That is not true. Better to not even mention that aspect of the design and stick to the better performance offered by extra guides.

Many of their grips have tenons on which their end caps may be glued. On the butt knobs, don't ream all the way through, just ream to about 3/4 of the length of the knob. For your specific question, I think you want a full grip finished off nicely, right? In this case ream carefully, not generating a lot of torque, with your Dream Reamer or equivalent to get the ID you want, a fairly easy slide fit over the blank. Remember what Ghoti says about skin wrinkling. The grip you should be using will have the previously mentioned tenon. Glue on the appropriate Winn butt knob to finish it. Mudhole offers much of the Winn line-up.

If you want it to sink faster, use a steel split ring. I've just started to use very small cable ties, but not enough experience to comment. You might try them.

I guess I'm a little slow today, ghoti. But I would like to get it. I just spooled up my first reel with Bushido 15# braid, and I think I'm going to love it. Very small diameter, sort of a tight weave/harder finish than some braids. I haven't fished with it yet, so out on a limb (avocado tree), but it looks very promising.

Showing it to an expert as a first step is good advice.

Braid works fine for any technique. I use leaders, but some do not. You'll need to learn a good leader to line knot if you choose to use leaders, and your braid to lure knot needs to be better than the usual mono knots. Palomar is a great one. If using surface lures use mono as it does not sink like FC. An easy to learn and tie knot that is very reliable for line to leader is the double uni. There are other good ones, but most are harder to learn and tie.

Bushido and Rainshadow Revelation are great blanks for the money, select the action and power you want. Keep in mind that blanks may be built as you want-you don't have to pick a "spinning" blank to build a spinning rod. A casting blank with the right characteristics many be built as a spinning rod. I personally think medium power might be better for lipless cranks, but go with what you want. I usually try to get the recommended lure weight to match what I'm going to be using in order to properly load the rod. Go with a faster than normal crankbait action to get the snapping-free-of-grass attribute.

Don't worry yourself, S. Sass, I won't be anywhere near where you are fishing. I don't remember seeing anyone preaching to you about keeping fish. Great attitude.

Leader FC is harder, stiffer, than line, and I think less likely to be damaged by either fish teeth, mussels, or rock, and is less likely to tangle. If that is important, it has advantages to justify its price. You don't use that much of it, especially if it gets damaged less, so the cost is less than it at first appears. If your knot uses a lot of leader , you'll be using more of it. Keep in mind that FC sinks, so either version is not the best for surface lures. You can get hard mono which is very tough, and it floats. Hard mono is available from fly shops.

I wish my buddy who sank a 4/0 gamagatsu into my scalp had pinched the barb. :-) Another advantage of barbless.

Caution: It will take only a slight amount of heat to loosen the tiptop, so don't cook it!. The blank can be damaged. The best way is to be pulling on the tiptop as you apply heat, like with a rubber band. then it will slip within a few seconds without damaging the blank. If it does not come loose in a few seconds, stop. The tiptop is probably epoxied on and heat is not the answer. In this case take it to pro and let them handle it. A pro will be able to better match the old tiptop for ring and tube size, and provide a better quality tiptop than repair kits do.

It is my opinion that with any product, you get to a sweet spot in price vs value where after that, added money yields less and less advantage. So I don't often go "all the way". I think when you get beyond about $200 on spinning reels, you've about max'd out. BUT, that sweet spot may be higher up in price if you are shopping for a salt water reel. Really premium salt reels are better able to handle the salt and have more drag capacity where it is really needed. I don't think there is a fresh water fish that's going to fry a drag on a good spinning reel, but that is not the case in salt. If I were to fish salt regularly, I'd probably pop for a Stella or similar.

Flouro has a density of about 1.5 that of water, so it does sink. Braid density is about 1.0, same as fresh water. One way to get your senkos down faster is with lead nails inserted into the senko. If you're using senkos wacky, use tiny cable ties or O rings and place the hook between the cable tie/O ring and you'll lose fewer senkos. Big split rings work well for this too. Even on the same day, in the same school of fish, fish take the lure in different ways. If active, or if there are more than one fish near the lure, they will hammer it, sometimes running immediately. You can feel that on any tackle. Sometimes they take it so delicately that you only notice when you move the bait. If you feel resistance when you move the bait, set the hook aggressively. And there is everything in between. I think you are using braid, so that's good, more sensitive than mono or flouro. A flouro or mono leader will not affect sensitivity unless it gets very long.

In my opinion the Winn Wrap is the way to handle the grip with badly worn/damaged cork. They do feel very good both dry and wet, don't get slippery when wet, and DEET is their only enemy. But DEET is the enemy of anything that is plastic or rubber based. They don't cost a fortune, so give them a try and make your own decision. Mudhole.com has a great selection of them.

If it's working for you, then don't doubt using it. Doesn't matter what others think. The double uni is a great line to line knot, and if you use big loops, it can be done fairly easily. I think it may be the next easiest reliable knot to join braid and flouro/mono.

I agree with others that sensitivity is a pretty subjective thing, but there are some things that affect sensitivity. The lighter the guides and finish the more sensitive the rod will be. This is one of the reasons that people prefer micro guides where it makes sense. The lighter the blank for its power, the more sensitive the rod will be. The higher the modulus of the blank material the more sensitive the rod will be (assuming the manufacturers know what they are doing). This is more subjective, but I "feel" that the faster actions are more sensitive than the slower actions. Not talking power, but action. When you change power the more powerful will most likely be heavier, so possibly not as "sensitive." In your example, I think you just have to try them with the same line and see what you "feel." There is no question in my mind that braid provides a more sensitive system than does flouro or mono. So if you are using flouro or mono, and want to improve the ability to feel the bite, try braid. BIG difference. If one is building a rod and sensitivity is the primary objective, he will build with micros on an extra fast blank of proper power for what he wants to do, use the lightest reel seat, and very little cork. Carbon fiber rear split grip on a casting rod, no foregrip. Butt knob only on a spinning rod. Possibly skeleton seats. No long, decorative thread wraps.

How about using beads that keep the weight away from the knot?. The knot is swallowed by the hole in the bead, the weight never touches the knot, the bead stops on the eye of the hook, so doesn't damage the knot either.