MickD

I would include a good hard suspending jerk.

The late "ReelMech" reel mechanic, one of the best reel servicers, would charge extra if a reel had hot sauce in it. He hated it, didn't think it lubed well, and it contaminated his cleaning system. I think it basically disappears as lube leaving only the stain. I have been using "reel butter" for the last few years and have liked it. I see Lucas has a reel oil now; I would expect Lucas to be as good on reel oil as on the rest of their products. You can do better than "hot sauce." IMHO

FC designed for leaders is clearly superior than line which is formulated to be softer. But I use both because I too am cheap. But when you consider how little you use, the cost to go first class is not that big a deal. When I know I'm likely to encounter big, powerful, fish like salmon or am fishing where I really need to pressure the fish, I will have leader material on.

I think the Palomar works for anything. All knots should be wet when drawn down, especially with anything that contains flourocarbon. . Agree you don't need 10 twists. I doubt if your leader is the problem. If it was Vanish, I would be suspicious of it. If your leader to line Alberto starts to fail it's most likely tied wrong. Put the tag end back through in the wrong direction, it will fail. It is very easy to do some testing on your own for your own tied knots to troubleshoot what is going wrong. Take the time to do it. In your kitchen or shop so you're not stressed to have your lure in the water. Try different techiques, wet vs dry, 10 vs fewer twists. Your knot has to work for you, and someone else's knot, tied your way, may have problems that are better found off the water.

Swim baits, jig sized for the bait. Tailor the retrieve to what the fish want, but they will work fine with steady retrieve or jerking/twitching off the bottom. I use round heads for grubs. I think darters usually have longer hooks, which would go through the grub farther back than I prefer.

Good advice. I will add that when I use split rings for chinook salmon, I buy by pound test rating, usually about 80. The shock of their strike straightens out "normal" split rings. Even though the line may be about 30 pound test, you need about double that to prevent the shock failures. (using braid, no stretch, high transmission of shock).

If you decide to renovate the whole blank, do NOT use wrap epoxy for the coating, big mess. Use Permagloss or equivalent, check for on-line videos for how to handle the material.

10 to 15 pound test high quality braid. Very easy handling, few problems if any, long casts, high sensitivity. so thin leaders are not required exc maybe in crystal clear.

One thing not yet mentioned is that if you are getting a lot of bumps, even a foul hooked fish, then something is not quite right. Change size, color, speed, something, until you get them eating instead of bumping.

If you use flouro on surface lures the line will sink and drag the lure down on the twitches thus destroying the desired action. FC has a density of about 1.5 x that of water. Mono is about 1 x that of water. It doesn't float, but it doesn't sink either, just hangs around the surface with a surface lure.

If the FG is too big, all others will also be too big. If you're not tying it well, that's a different story. One thing for the glue proponents to watch out for is putting the glue on instead of tying the knot properly. The knot actually "sinks" the braid into the FC so there is a mechanical lock. If the knot isn't tightened properly there will be no mechanical lock and not even glue will save it. One technique with the FG has me worried, that is the very aggressive hard bait jerking technique. The only two FG's I had fail did it with this technique, and I'm going to pay special attention to the locking half hitches. If they come loose, the braid can loosen and the mechanical interlock will be lost. With soft baits and cranks, I've not had an FG failure and they seem to last "forever," not getting damaged by the guides like double unis do.

And the answer is? I believe the threads on all size 16 Batson graphites are the same, and the same as size 16 Fujis. Not so Pac Bay, based on my stock.

I have done a number of feather inlays, and they can be intricate, or pretty simple. What I've found to work well is: 1. Develop your pattern in advance so you won't be designing while applying. I don't use painters tape, just put the layers in place on a tabletop using tweezers. 2. Always work one layer at a time. You can do multiple feathers, but not multiple layers at one time. 3. I've not applied over wrap, and expect the advise to lay a solid layer of CP or epoxy is good advice. 4. I put a generous layer of CP undiluted down for a receiver for the feathers. Place them carefully, and using a needle or other appropriate tool, move them and "dress" them as you want for best appearance. 5. Let the first layer dry, then put another coat of CP down for the next layer and repeat for all subsequent layers. 6. The feathers will all be well saturated with CP from the laying process, so epoxy may now be added. Often the inlay will be bumpy. After two coats of epoxy, you can sand or cut off the bumps and recoat as necessary to get a smooth final finish. It takes time, but depending on the design, can be pretty easy.

The tenon of the cork foregrip is .600 in. OD, and some of the reel seats have a 15.50mm (.610 in) ID, so the fit with the tenon inside the reel seat will work fine. Other seats, the ones with the exposed blank feature, have ID's that are sized for the blank, so for many blanks the ID of the seat will be smaller than the tenon OD for most of its length. However, the ID is defined by longitudinal ribs which end just short of the end of the seat. The tenon will have to be mostly cut off, with just an 1/8th of an inch inside the seat. Even if you have to cut the whole tenon off , it will be ok to butt the foregrip tightly to the end of the reel seat. Since it is epoxied to the blank it will be solid. I have rods built this way that are many years old and still solid. This is one advantage of custom built rods; you can put lots of epoxy where it is needed without worrying about the economics that cause OEM rod manufacturers to skimp on epoxy, which results in structurally unsound seat/grip/blank assemblies. If this is not clear, ask again.

In New York it is unlikely that a good tip top hot melt properly installed will fail to retain the tiptop properly. At least in Michigan, I've never had a failure. I suggest you simply try harder to get smaller chips into the tube and rotate the tiptop as you slide it into place. I cut the chips off the edge of the hot melt stick and then curl them between thumb and finger to make them small cylinders, then stick them in. If you can get enough in so that it comes out when the tiptop is slid on, it is on the blank as well as the inside of the tube, and should work. Putting it onto the blank sometimes works, but sometimes gets scraped off when the tiptop is slid on. I used super glue once when I was unable to get hot melt, and it works for retaining the tiptop, but it will come off a lot harder the next time, possibly damaging the tip of the blank. Good retention, poor removal.

Natural blanks look very nice especially with a coat of permagloss or equivalent to give some gloss and bring out the beauty of the texture. If you're going to try stripping a rod and finishing it, two things: Don't sand into the "cloth," take only the finish. Second, never use wrap epoxy to finish it. Too soft, heavier build than necessary, and very difficult to get a smooth finish. Permagloss or equivalent is the way to go. Thin coat, work fast with a disposable foam brush.

Nice work, and those who are complaining about the data, do your own tests and report back. Did you try any "second cycle" stretches? I've heard that once mono is stretched into the "yield" area of stress, it will have a higher yield strength on the next application of force. Yes, I understand that plastics don't have a well defined "yield strength," like steel, but I think one can get the picture of what I'm asking.

What is the difference between the Duncan and the San Diego jam?

Great work, great reels. I caution those who send their reels to an unknown for tuning, don't do it. Stick with a person who comes with creds like Ian. I sent a Calcutta to a guy who butchered it, took about $75 to get it fixed. Lesson learned.

With the light lines most likely to be used here the guide setup should work fine no matter how it was set up.

Or paint one of your old ones. Piece of cake.

Keep in mind that they have to be "dried out" occasionally, microwave works.

The problem with changing the spacing is that it is (for me, at least) impossible to finish off the old guide positions and to have a decent looking rod, the whole rod will most likely have to be refinished. If the old positions are about right, keep them, even with different guides. If you do a simple spiral the 90 degree guide will be an added guide between #1 and #2, so will not introduce any finish problems. The simple spiral positions all guides the same as conventional exc that your second guide and all others to the tip will be at 180 degrees. An added guide, placed at 90 degrees, is positioned half way between #1 and #2, and its only function is to keep the line off the rod. It will have no torque on it, will be loaded directly toward the blank, so it's not under high stress. Make it the same diameter as your running guides. (all guides can be the same, small, size, exc #1 which needs be no bigger than a 6. Think Fuji reverse KR (single foot facing the reel).

For a great source try Siebert, sponsor on the right.

Question for DVT, the mid-rod guides, the 2-3 in front of the two or three transition guides, are in the mid-section of the rod. Isn't this where the loading on the guides will be max? That is the area that Fuji recommends the KB's for. I also notice when stress testing a conventional casting rod that if guides rotate during the testing, it is always the mid-rod guides that do so. thanks, Mick