MickD

The contention that micro guides cost distance is false. As is the contention that the Microwave guide train costs distance. Proper guide train design (reduction guides) is necessary, but micros if anything increase distance. The biggest factor in distance, assuming good guide train design and execution is the line. With high quality braid of less than about 15 pound test almost any guide/reel combination will cast very well. If set up this way and still having distance problems, it may be technique and not having a rod that loads properly (power vs lure weight). I use all micro equipped spin and cast rods and have no problems with distance. Yes.

You can cobble a wrapping stand if you have basic carpenter skills. The "dryer" (epoxy does not dry, it cures, it's a chemical reaction) from cheap motors available on line and a simple stand. I use a tuna can with pegs at four spots and use rubber bands to "grab" the rod butt. RPM should be fairly slow, like less than 20 rpm, if I remember right. Others correct me if wrong, but you don't want high rpm for the curing process.

No one can answer except you. I will say that many are doing it and enjoying it. A buddy just built a rod and since he really likes baitcasters better than spin, he's having a ball. Even with light neds. I'd say go for it.

Keep in mind that most Daiwas still have anti reverse switches and the Vanford and most Shimanos do not.

I notice a jointed Rapala in there, they always caught fish. I'll have to dig mine out and try it again. For some reason, it's been years.

I think the red/white one is a South Bend bass oreno, the second one looks like a copy of a river runt. Something doesn't look quite right with it. I searched for bass oreno and found one on E-Bay with an $85 asking price, so I'd check out those lures carefully. You might have some real cash available in there.

Start on top near the inside turn center left, defined by the 15-10-12 depth numbers and work progressively out to the right. Since shallower is easier than deeper, start easy and work deeper at an inside turn. If that doesn't work drop a stick of dynamite into the 90+ depth and see if Nellie comes up.

Canada craw. I just don't understand ned jigs with weed guards. The weeds on mine are almost always at the line tie/head, not on the hook.

You cannot decode it because it does not exist. There is one manufacturer which offers blanks all called "fast" which have CCS AA's from about 50 to 75 degrees if I remember correctly. An incredible difference, all called "fast."

With some manufacturers there seems to be no rational explanation for the variation in the subjective descriptions of their blanks (and rods). A big maker of blanks has recently been giving CCS numbers on their new blank introductions. This did not happen by accident. Builders on forums have been pressing for CCS data much more insistently lately. The only solution is to continue to request CCS numbers, continue to press the manufacturers for the data, which they all actually do have. Rainshadow RX10 spin and cast and Point Blanks are the only ones I know of that provide the data up front. Here is a source of quite a bit of data: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r3zv1ygtuUjPBa-c5LT9RTYeDR_pnCDIkVIdDv0YoeQ/edit#gid=1592691333

If you are interested in going lighter with spinnerbaits, cranks, or chatterbaits you probably can do better with the latest Daiwa SV103 TW. Best casting reel I've ever found without breaking the bank. About $200. If worried about excessive speed, get the 6.3:1 ratio.

Sounds more like a leader problem than a knot problem. I just don't have that problem with mono or a number of FC leader materials.

I don't know why an Alberto would break "just in front of the knot." Or any knot. If it's breaking there then it's not a knot problem. How do you know the break is "just in front of the knot" if the knot is gone? It could be an inch or two or more. The leader must be somehow getting damaged if it's truly breaking. Are you sure it's not unraveling? To make the Alberto reliable so that it cannot unravel tie the braid tag end into two tightly set half hitches after setting the Alberto tightly. Bullet proof.

Thanks, will try you method. I love the Fuji KT4'a for spin, but they are so small they are hard to do anything with them. Next rod will be a 4 piece fly with double foot titanium snakes for my son, and he wants to help and learn, so will take a while. At least they aren't hard to handle, hold, and wrap.

I have recently built two MHX Elite Pro blanks into rods and have found them to be truly premium blanks, light for their power, fast response, crisp, smooth actions. Not to worry about NFC; there are plenty of blanks out there that are just as good. And most do not have ridges that complicate wrapping.

I have found that sparsely tied smaller jigs with trailers like Z man trick shotz really work well for smallies. Fish like Neds. As usual, green with green trailer and blue/black with similar trailer.

For the very fine weeds at the bottom of Lake St Clair this does not work. It's the head and tie that collect the weeds which may be dead and are like hair. The only way to keep them off is to keep the jig out of them.

For those of you who dislike Neds, keep it up. The fewer fishermen that use them, the longer the fish will keep eating them. For those with bottom weed problems, I think a solution might be to drop shot a ned. I haven't tried it yet, but after seeing fish chase neds on the retrieve, and starting a slow swim retrieve before they hit bottom (and it works), I don't think they are limited to just bottom fishing. I think a drop shot will keep the weeds on the sinker and the ned will be above and stay relatively clean.

Two inches off will affect it but probably leave it with some good uses, maybe crankbaits. Try it and see. But it is possible to fix it so that its action will be affected so little that you probably would not notice it. If you have the original piece. https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/repair-oquinn.html Before a crowd climbs on and says it will never be the same and won't fish well, I have fixed a number of fly, spin, and baitcasting rods this way and the users have been pleased with how they fish. I have one fly rod that I use as a spare that after repair had the same CCS numbers as when new.

Just took a 5.25 smallie today on a Canada Craw ned. The contention that neds just take small fish is false. Neds take all fish, and most are small . But they also take big ones.

Buy the best lock you can get. Cut-off wheels go through most locks in seconds.

The challenge here also includes the knot going through the guides and tiptop.

Just last week while fishing a shallow canal we had largemouth bass follow caught bass, and we caught the follower a couple times, right below the boat within sight. While the trolling motor was on spot lock and the transducer on. It may not always be that way, might depend on the mood of the fish, but it is clear that the motor and pings do not always inhibit the taking of lures.

Very good point, often the same for me. When you think about it, it's sort of hard to get an uneven coat of epoxy if it's a minimal coating to begin with.

I was fishing Sag Bay just off Charity Island, very clear water, on a drop to about 8 feet. My buddy had a metal leader, a yellow jitterbug, and a couple split shots to take it down. I said something like "that's not going to work," and he promptly took about a 15 inch smallie.