MickD

How much are you willing to spend? Roughly.

The best ultra-light rods are longer than most people think is appropriate. 7-7 1/2 feet is not too long. Longer = better hook sets. The problem is that these blanks don't usually come in multiple pieces. So it leads to travel fly rods. St Croix has an SCV four piece fly blank, 3 wt. 7' 9", which would work very well, but costs $250. I suggest you look around for travel blanks, maybe you can find one that works. If not, I would give the AmTak black Matrix travel fly blanks a look. Much less expensive, and are really nice blanks. I have a 3 wt 2 piece that is an excellent ultra light spin rod. This is a growing market, IMHO, and I expect soon a fast or extra fast action multi-piece 7 foot ultra light spin blank will show up.

I use mostly the R bend because that's the way Terminator makes them. I have transitioned to tying them directly to the line so they don't foul as they will with snaps. Only takes a few seconds longer.

With drop shot keepers I put the sinker there and put a grub head onto the hook to keep from that snagging anything, including a buddy who may not know a hook is there. Bright chartreuse is an attention getter.

I find all the terminal knot debate, whether mono or FC, to be sort of off the target. With either, I find the simple clinch knot will work fine, or maybe the improved clinch if you want to be more careful, if you use about 7 or 8 honest twists, then lubricate, then with your fingernail, as you are tensioning the knot, help the coils to get in order near the lure . Then, do a slow, very strong, "proof load" on the knot to "set" the coils against each other. That knot will work. No need to adust anything in your fishing technique.

Different people have different priorities, but for me, I'll take breathable and add layers in the winter. The biggest issue with breathables is foot construction. The feet that are formed by just gluing together the breathable fabric at the feet are, IMHO, terribly uncomfortable. I just cannot get them into the boots without major toe jamming/cramping/etc. I think neoprene feet would be much more comfortable. If you buy from a local dealer you can sort this out in the shop, buy on line and . . .

I see no difference between spin and cast relative to micros. Others have defined the potential problems with micros, and they are true whether cast or spin. I have both spin and cast with micros and love them both.

Why would you not send the photo and question to St Croix? To me it looks like less than great workmanship but not a functional problem.

Photo would be helpful. i'm not really sure what you are talkng about.

" If you guys do not consider any possibility to save a buck or two, than you are in a more fortunate position." It's not about "fortunate," it's about ethics. If you cannot see that, too bad for you.

If I were TW, and I could recognize you, I wouldn't take your order.

Are you serious?

I think a light power crankbait rod is great for small cranks and surface, so think there would be room in your arsenal for that. I have a couple of them and have taken fish as large as 15 pound king salmon on them. Of course there are better rods for that use, but I'm just pointing out they may be more versatile than one first thinks.

Mono or hybrid. Not FC, too much variation in line quality and ease of casting. Braid casts better than FC, not as well as Mono IMHO. Mono and hybrids have the stretch that is good for cranks. For spinnerbaits I use a good quality braid so I can snap the lure off the weeds better, and also like the solid feel of the strikes. But some braids are better than others, I'd stick with Power Pro or Suffix.

All the CD cases I've seen are very fragile, so I doubt I can make that work. The CD wallet sounds like the ticket to me. I envision one for tandems, one for willow/Colorado. One of the big challenges of tackle storage is having a system that doesn't store a lot of air, and this looks ideal. Why didn't I think of that?

They are also fun when trolling. The fish hits and you hear that wonderful sound of a fish taking line.

PacBay Quicklines are great fly blanks. They are faster, as the name implies, than the traditional actions.

I have used the Plano and have never had a problem with bending. I think you may have some unusually fragile spinnerbaits that most likely will bend on fish too. I don't like the fact that I cannot really tell what I've got in the box, so am going to plastic bags. One design/color in each freezer bag (they are tougher than storage bags, labeled with marker, and all put into a gallon sized freezer bag.

The old way of fishing hard jerks was to use glass, sometimes even adding weights about 8 inches below the tiptop to slow them down. That may still work for some jerk fishing , but if you're fishing smallies in waters like Lake St Clair, you may never get a bite. The ticket there is to have a VERY aggressive twitch/jerk, and you just cannot get it with a slow action. For that you need something like medium power, XF action. Braid helps keep the twitch aggressive with minimum effort.

Here we go again! The Alberto, sworn by by many, sworn at by some, can easily be screwed up in the tying process. I have given up on it. Most on this forum have heard it before, the GT knot is the smallest knot, is a very reliable knot, has won strength contests, but looks intimidating to tie until you get it down pat. Then it is easy to tie correctly, can be run though micros, lasts until you cut the leader off because you've almost used it up with rigging changes, and it is now my only line to line knot. Lots of videos on line on how to tie it.

Glenn, I have to disagree. I know that if they are swiping something isn't right, but in the process of changing stuff to get it right I could lose a good number of fish. I'll compromise. I'll use a trailer hook and if the fish are caught on it I'll use that as a signal to change something until they start eating the whole lure.

When you solve the glove and clothing problems, just be sure to wear your PFD. As my son always tells me, it makes it a lot easier to find the body.

In this order, based somewhat on your location: Tubes, lipless cranks, and hard jerks. But have to ask, how can any bass fisherman not have spinnerbaits in their arsenal? Don't worry about having a rod for every technique. Your rods will work for almost anything. As you gain experience with techniques, you will add to your rods with more technique specific rods, and you will soon be out there with 5 or 6 rods and will not be doing much rerigging.

the biggest issue is not the weight or the depth of the water, it is the action of the lure. Some sizes of a brand's lipless cranks work better than other sizes, so find the one whose action you (and the fish) like, and alter your retrieve to accommodate the conditions. Experiment with the retrieve. Sometimes yo yo works, others a fast retrieve, in colder water, a slow steady often is the best. From my experience for largemouths, smallmouths, pike, and walleye, usually the sweet spot in action is around 1/2-5/8 oz. The bigger and smaller sizes either don't have the right action or they are larger than the fish are looking for. I prefer Xcalibur first, Strike King second, but just discovered that the new Rapalas can be very effective, will have to learn more about them.

Rainshadow Revelation has some blanks similar to what you're after, and they get high reviews from builders. They also are reasonably priced.