MickD

If you discard it burn it or cut it into small segments so that birds don't get tangled in it.

does the diameter at the grip interface get larger?

Most of the time I fish with AR on so that when a fish hits hard/fast the drag can handle it rather than my being too slow to respond by back-reeling. Back-reeling can get tricky. If you let up too much you can get slack line. I have, when not using it, had the handle of the spin reel quickly in reverse painfully whacking my hand. There are times when I leave it off and back-reel. I like the choice. I will often turn it off just to let out a little line when I've reeled up too far. Note that many new reels are coming with full time AR, no switch. So if you like the switch, buy carefully.

I may be missing something; what is the difference between a size 16 and 17 casting trigger seat? It's only the hole for the blank, isn't it? Then bigger than 17, what are the differences? On cast I've never used anything but a 16, but I haven't designed for reels bigger than line counters or really large diameter blanks, either.

I saw your pics on storing baits with rubber bands. You simply need more lures. Come on, A-Jay!

Thanks. The damage is, in my opinion, only cosmetic. If I wanted to react to it at all, I would simply use Winn tape and recover the grip and butt knob. Or only the grip, with black. I don't see what is in front of the seat, but to me it doesn't matter. I would not disturb the seat. That is getting into major work with little value. To take off the grip and butt knob, first use braid fishing line between gloved hands and cut the existing EVA off, including carefully removing the winding checks. Try not to damage the area between them. You don't have to have it perfectly clean, but you need to provide surfaces to which you can solidly glue new components. The problem is that the blank has taper, so when you load the new parts from the rear, you have to have an inside diameter that will clear the butt. It will then be sloppy on the blank near the seat. What you need to do is 1. Get a replacement grip the same length as that which is on the rod now. (same for butt knob). Ream it to clear the butt diameter. 2. With masking tape build at least two , probably three, arbors on which to glue the new grip. Build them to be the same diameter as the ID of the grip, or slightly below to allow an easy slip fit over them. One should be at the reel seat, one at the end of the grip, and one in the middle. What you are doing is providing a cylindrical surface on which to glue the new grip. 3. Get some epoxy adhesive, (best is 10 minute paste designed for rod making, like U40 or Flex Coat) not wrap epoxy, and totally encapsulate the tape arbors, be generous with the adhesive. Slide the new grip onto the rod. If any epoxy comes out at the reel seat, carefully try to pick it off with a knife or other precision instrument. Then use 90 % alcohol on a paper towel to wipe off what might remain. Wipe, let the alcohol evaporate, then wipe again with a clean one wet with alcohol. Keep at it until there is no evidence of epoxy. Let that set. If you want to use winding checks for appearance, it won't fit as well as the original since it has to be loaded from the rear over the larger butt diameter. But, it will look ok if you carefully center it on the blank and use epoxy adhesive to attach it to the grip. The butt knob winding check has to be slipped onto the blank now. The butt knob should be drilled to allow an easy slip fit to the butt. The taper is not an issue now in the last couple inches of the blank. Glue the butt knob on and carefully apply a little epoxy to its end to capture the winding check. Do the same cleanup routine as you did for the grip to seat joint. Getbitoutdoors.com will have all the parts you want. You will need to order winding checks that just clear the butt diameter of the blank. Good luck. I'd try the tape first to see whether I liked it before going through all this.

I think you're right. Which if true would lead one to believe that all the schemes of rod-building that try to get the line through the guides with a minimum of direction changes don't add much either. If the big change of direction going through the first guide (the one on the reel) doesn't seem to be a problem then the gentle changes out on the rod are inconsequential. This doesn't mean that spiral wraps don't make sense. They do for eliminating the torque in the hand. But as far as which spiral system is better on the cast, it really doesn't matter. They all work fine.

I think if your FG is getting hung up you may need to do two things. First, make sure you are trimming the leader end really close to braid, then tie a few more half hitches to finish the knot. The half hitches won't make the knot any bigger and may finish the end so it doesn't get hung up. Worth a try. But the best solution is to keep the knot out of the reel, and I don't think you need leaders that are longer than the rod length. I never use one longer than 5 feet and have not seen anything that has made me think it was too short. I think that leader invisibility is much more important than leader length. How far away from the lure do fish look? Not very far, in my opinion.

Can you post a picture of it? I think I know what you're dealing with, but a pic would help.

What determines the size for me is its pound test. Don't buy unless you know its strength. I should mention that I have not often used a snap swivel. Snaps, yes, snap swivels no.

If it forms loops simply pull it aggressively, to build up a little heat, through your fingers, or use a leather leader straightener. Unless you're fishing rocky areas where they may get caught between rocks one can use split shot, which is cheap, easy to adjust distance to hook , and easy to adjust the weight being used. You can let them slide,or tie a half hitch below them to keep them from moving.

Never knew there was such emotion about the ACS. I don't seem to be sensitive to the casting seat design, have used a number including ACS, and never have felt that I had any real problems or dislikes. Count me # 1 for being ambivalent.

Why would you put epoxy over cpextra or Permagloss? They are bullet proof and will not yellow with age as will epoxy. Seems like a complication that adds no value, and actually costs a little due to yellowing potential.

One can never have too many rods. Build it. I'm confident you will not find it "bad." You may like others better, but they will work fine. Keep in mind that it's not "world peace." It's a reel seat.

I thought we were talking about retying the line to leader knot. Yes, we have pike, but not one has ever cut the leader anywhere close to the line to leader knot. It's always right at the lure. And you're right, the difference between a 6 and 12 foot leader will not affect your ability to catch fish. But 12 will have twice the stretch of 6, if that is of any significance. And 12 will take the knot onto your reel, which I don't prefer. Just a matter of preference. I like to start at about 5 feet, and retie a new leader on when it gets down to about 3 or less.

The difference between FC and braid for stretch is dramatic. I can feel significant stretch in just 3 feet of FC, zero in braid. Get 75 feet of FC out there and it feels like a rubber band (only a little exaggeration). Stretch testing indicates that FC isn't significantly better than mono, in some cases more stretch. Retying the leader to line knot during a day of fishing is rare.

I think the visibility advantage of FC is over-rated. Some fishing sources I've read only use mono. I really don't think it has to be that long. You get significant stretch/forgiveness with only about 4-5 feet. Keeps it off the reel. I don't think the fish look very far in front of the lure. I think with some of the new braids, like Hitena, .006 diameter for 21 pound test, with a little magic marker camo on it, the fish will never see it even without a leader. I will always use a leader so that when I cut off to change lures I'm not cutting off braid.

Let me caution you that if you have the Humminbird models like mine, it will only take micro SD cards. These cards are very fragile when not in the SC card adaptors, and they don't always go into and out of the units that cleanly. And are so small that it's hard to hold onto them. I use tweezers VERY CAREFULLY, being sure not to force them at all. If you feel you have to force them something is not aligned correctly, most likely. I don't know why Humminbird ever went to micro SD chips for a product that's used in the outdoors and the need for micro size is not there. Big mistake.

Fact: I gave up a long time ago. I have many partially used spools of FC in the garage. Opinion: If you really think you need to make FC work, go with the expensive stuff mentioned in the posts above and don't bother with the others. And do all the other things required to make it work well. I use braid, which casts like a dream, seldom has any problems, no appreciable stretch, so bites are easy to feel, hook sets are better, lasts for years, and is much stronger. All the braids about 15 pound test and under cast better than any 8 pound test mono or FC. 21 pound Hitena is only .006 inch diameter, casts like a dream, is basically fool proof. It's a little pricey, but lasts a long time. Using braid does have the braid to leader knot issue if one thinks they need to use a leader and to use small guides, like I do. But the Alberto knot with the added two half hitches after setting it is very small, easy to tie, and is reliable. The FG is great if you can learn to tie it reliably, but not all fishermen can. With guides above about 4.5 mm ring size the double uni knot works fine, very easy to tie, very reliable. For me FC is limited to fly tippets and leaders on my spin and cast. I use leader grade FC-for leaders a little more stiffness is an asset.

I have been informed by epoxy experts that there is no difference in strength between the fast cures and the slow cures. I know there are those who don't believe this, but it came from someone who has been in the epoxy business for many years. And they could take a significant hit in strength and still be strong enough for rod building. One thing in our favor most of the time is that we work with large areas. Surface prep is very important. I took a rod apart recently and found that much of the epoxy adhesive between the grip and the blank never bonded to the blank and I could pick it off with my fingernail in places. If this had been a skeleton seat with minimal area, it may have failed. This article tells how to ensure this doesn't happen: https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/waterfree.html

The fact is that line on the blank is not a problem. You're right about this being a bigger issue with the heavily loaded rods. Some argue that line under the blank is a problem. If that is true, why? If the rod doesn't break, if it doesn't affect the effectiveness of fishing, if it doesn't fail a guide, then is this even true? There are a lot of myths in rod building.

One thing that spirals do is to reduce/eliminate the torquing in the hand. This used to be a more significant problem than it now is with smaller, lower guides. If one uses micros on the top of a casting rod, like I do, there is very little torque. I simply don't feel it. With stand-up jigging salt water rods, it's an entirely different story (tall roller guides, very high loads). Other rods are somewhere in between the two extremes. For me there is no problem, so I'm not going to go through all the steps to set it up. For others who feel the torque, go for it. It could be the greatest thing since sliced bread for you. I admire the devotion to excellence that it took to develop it. It is clear that that job was not trivial.

Most tournaments are not held during the spawn for a good reason. Take bass off the spawning bed and relocate them and you are guaranteeing a failure of that bed. The research is clear. If you see tourneys during the spawn you are seeing damage to the population.

But is the difference significant? I think not. Keep in mind the biggest deviation from a straight line is right at the reel, and that doesn't seem to screw things up much. I can lay out a simple spiral with the stress test I have to do anyway, then add one guide at 90 degrees half way between #1 and #2. Piece of cake, works fine, line is off the blank, guides loaded perfectly either at 0 degrees or 90, no torquing of the guides. I doubt if anyone can prove that either fishes better than the other. Unless it might be Jimmyjoe. He's making a case that sounds logical.

Jimmyjoe, do you have this problem with spinning rod/reels? The spirals just load the rod the same way spinners do? The best way to find if you like the Cagey wrap is to try it. Nothing really to risk. To me it seems an unnecessary complication. The simple spiral works just great and I see the Cagey as a solution without a problem.