MickD

Look at the SC2 blanks from St Croix. There are some 6 footers for about $75. I'd rather learn on a $75 blank than a $150 blank. Use running guides of about 4-4.5 mm to keep them light and you'll have a very sensitive rod. Good luck!

Six foot, light power, fast action IMX. I don't think cutting any blank will give you the equivalent of that blank. IMHO. Closest thing I've found is the SCV St Croix . SCV is a very high quality blank. 5S60MLF-G Bass/Walleye 6' ML FAST 1 4-10 1/8-3/8 0.425 4.0 1.1 $155.00 00

I am not a fan of cutting blanks. Cutting from either end will slow the action. I think you should keep looking and find a blank that, as designed, is what you want. I know from my experience that as I built rods I got better with every one for a long time. I also started with an expensive blank and ended up later on totally rebuilding the rod to get it right. I recommend starting with an inexpensive blank to at least get one rod built before trying a $100 + blank. What is the length power and action of the Loomis you like so well?

I have no personal experience with either, but I know SC3 and SC5 are very fine, sensitive blanks based on personal experience. I submit that the differences between Rodgeeks and SC4 if any will be minor, and the best thing you can do for max sensitivity is to use the lightest, smallest, running guides that you can.

Exactly where did the break occur, and describe the appearance of the break. It is possible, if it's a rod worth some time and effort, to fix many breaks. The rod most likely, if it's a candidate, will fish just the same after the repair as it did before. http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/repair-oquinn.html

Mizmo tubes are very good. Skinney, shiney ones don't work well for me. "Hand poured" usually do. If buying in a store, look for duller finishes, sort of scrubby, chubby, tubes. I'm talking surface finish re the shine. Not the flakes.

Suffix or Power Pro, 15 for almost anything works great. IF YOU WANT TO USE A FC LEADER, learn a good line to line knot that is either not going to go through the guides or is small enough to go cleanly through the guides. Double uni is easy and reliable, but big. Albertos is usually good, but you have to put the line back through the FC loop in the same direction it came in, or it will fail. Also, some FC's, in my opinion, don't like being folded as sharply as they are in the Alberto. FC is fragile in certain conditions. For the smallest and best knot for most all conditions, learn the GT. Many videos on line. Search this forum for knots by name and find that there have been very extensive discussions on which are the best.

You can throw it on a fly rod if you want. Or you can handline it. Or use a 20 foot bamboo pole. Suit yourself.

Tubes are great lmb lures, the lightest tube jig you can use depending on depth is usually the way to go. Vary the retrieve, but if you have the pattern right, they will hit on the fall. I like Mizmo tubes, haven't tried some of the others mentioned. i'Ve never found "shiney" tubes to be very effective, the dull, softer, "hand poured" ones are more effective. I'm talking about the texture, not the flakes. It seems the more primitive and irregular the tubes are, the better. Most often shades of dark green with sparkly flakes of different colors on different days work the best for me.

You haven't mentioned tackle, but the sensitivity of braid makes feeling what's going on down there much easier than mono or FC. I use 10-15 pound braid with a FC leader. Regarding weighted vs unweighted, Senkos and similar will sink pretty well without weight, and if I'm in shallow enough water , I'll be weightless. When the water gets so deep that waiting for the lure to get down is impractical, I'll put a BIG snap about 1 1/2 feet in front of the lure to get it down faster, yet allow it to have almost normal action. Even deeper water, use a pinned small bullet sinker instead of the swivel.

Sorry if I misrepresented the repair. It was a casting rod, it was a Dobyns, and the grip area was coming apart. What I remember was that I was surprised that a supposedly qualtiy rod was coming apart. The reason the rod was brought to me was a blank failure that was not a Dobyn's problem. The blank had been struck on a sharp object causing it to fail. But the workmanship in the grip area was deficient, and needed repair. I remember it as in front of the reel seat, but I could be mistaken. But I am not mistaken in my memory of a rod coming apart.

The direct answer to one of your questions is that the improved clinch knot is not reliable for braid to lures. Palomar is the ticket. What I don't like about the palomar is that it uses a significant length of line with every tying, so I recommend either using a snap so you won't have to retie so often or a flourocarbon leader with a snap or tied with your improved clinch knot (wet it when sliding it). For braid to mono or FC the double uni is reliable and easy, but it's big. The GT knot is a little harder to tie but is very small and will pass through almost any guide set.

Have faith.

I repaired a casting rod a year or so ago and was disappointed in the quality of the cork and the grip to blank structure, which was coming apart. I'm not familiar with the prices involved, but I would certainly compare with St Croix before buying.

I have made many rods on the old Legend blanks, 7 foot , medium fast. I have every confidence that you will find that rod your favorite rod for the right techniques. If that blank is similar to mine, it will be on the high side of medium power, fast action (CCS data), and very capable of handling just about any fish. The new ones with nano tech should be tougher than the old, and mine are not at all fragile.

I am surprised so little attention is given to getting an imbedded hook out. The reference to a "hook remover" probably is simple a length of heavy braid. But you need to know the technique. I have used it effectively for hooks as large as spinnerbait trailer hooks, and it works cleanly with no damage to the flesh. It does take a big dose of confidence and the will to jerk hard. Put the braid through the bend of the hook, press the hook down toward the flesh so as to push the barb down so it will clear when the hook is jerked out, and jerk fast and hard. The link below is by a doctor, so this is not "junk science." If you are out in the sticks of Canada or some other remote location, this can save the trip. http://www.aafp.org/afp/2001/0601/p2231.html (string yank method)

If you can retrieve it, based on my experience, a good reel service person can make it as good as new with the deep cleaning as DVT said. I've been there, done that. I was lucky mine was dropped within 15 feet of shore in 15 feet of water. I knew within a few feet where it went down, still took me more than an hour to locate it with a video cam. Locating it is the real problem, then snagging it with some sort of tool is the next. I made one out of an old bike rim with the spokes bent to form hooks, mounted on my roof snow rake pole, but it still took me another hour to snag it. I think the only way to get one back out of 25 feet would be to dive for it. And you would have to know within a fairly short radius of where it went down. Keep in mind it's not worth taking safety risks. It may be that 25 feet makes it an expensive lesson, but not the end of world.

If you don't use CP on garnet it comes out a very distinctive, rich looking, 'black cherry' color. See approx what it will be by doing a test wrap, then applying alcohol to it. Before the alcohol evaporates you'll see the approx color. Looks very good on the Ti Chrome Rainshadow Immortals. My first build was in high school, graduated in '58, did a few then and when in college, then gave it up for a long time. Used to order all the parts from Herters. Remember "Finest Procurable Quality?" Kids/work/rebuilding an old house. Did my first modern build as a present for my adult son, an avid fisherman. So he could experience a world class rod. I built a St Croix SCV 7' MF. He was pleased, but after we really looked it over, we found that I had misaligned the guides. What to do? Being "new" to building, I tried bending the guides into alignment. The guides were Fuji Y titanium guides, and those of you who have tried to bend one know, it isn't easy. And it really didn't come out well. I didn't know at the time I had damaged the blank (longitudinal cracks under the first two guides). My son used it for a few years with no problems, but then I asked for it back to fix it right. When removing the guides I found the blank damage. Only option was to carefully add a fiberglass cloth reinforcement at those points, straighten the guides to original geometry (again, a very tough job even off the rod), add the guides and rewrap. You would have to know what to look for to detect anything out of the ordinary with the rod. Son has used it for another 4 years or so, no problems, no detectible loss in sensitivity or other functions, and all is well. Since then I have built him another St Croix SCV , his wife one, one for me, and two Avids for two of his kids. All great blanks. The 70MF SCV is a terrific blank for tubes and other finesse. The main moral of the story is, for first builds, don't use a $160 blank.

St Croix rates their rods conservatively for power, so their medium power is often more of a medium-heavy to other brands. You did right with the St Croix Medium Fast.

Treat it with respect and it will last forever. Rods can be structurally damaged by knocking them against things, jamming the tip into bulkheads, etc etc. All good suggestions from the other posters, and I suggest you read this: http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/rodusage.pdf There is a tradeoff involved with moving from the sluggish, heavy, types of rods to the light, sensitive, responsive modern graphite rods, and it is that the new rods simply will not take the abuse the old rods will. It is a good tradeoff, but you have to change your ways or you will have a $300 rod in two pieces very fast. I compare it to a manual transmission car. You can fail one in one minute if you treat it wrong. Treat it right and it will last forever.

If you want an eye-opener, compare the strength of the frames of the Amtak NIA with the Y Fujis in titanium. No comparison, Fujis much less prone to bending and breaking.

What's available in 6' 3"? Just hundreds if not thousands of blanks at 6' 6" that can be shortened from the butt 3". If it's a good blank at 6' 6", it will be a good blank at 6' 3".

It's not OCD on SIC tiptops, it's common sense. If anything is going to groove, it's the tiptop. Been there done that with cheap tiptops. SIC on tiptops makes sense.

I will use anything above carbaloy. Even they will probably work for guides, but I always use a premium ring on the tiptop. I've never had a cheapo guide ring groove, but have tiptops. My ring preference is to go with what I want either for weight (like titanium frames) or appearance of the ring and frame (l really dislike the old flat, gray rings. So ugly. Also any ring that's fat. So where I always end up is with a decent quality ring because cheap rings are not put into titanium frames, and I avoid ugly gray rings and poorly made/poor metallurgy frames.

If you are asking about how to space micros, you space them the same as any other guide. If you find that spacing allows more line contact with the blank that you like, add a guide or two. An extra guide or two does not, at least to my experience, cost any performance attribute of the rod. For spinning rods, the real issue is the reduction train; after that use all guides the same size spaced so you like the way the rig under stress looks. I don't think there is a chart that answers all the possible questions for all possible blanks for all possible guide types.