MickD

The most important aspect about boat flipping is, as stated a couple times, technique. I don't even pretend to get it, so don't do it. The pros have to catch the fish so it doesn't hit the boat. I doubt if it does fish much good to be essentially thrown into the boat onto the deck. Bottom line is that if you bend a modern graphite rod much past 90 degrees, sooner or later you'll break one. If you notice the pros doing it, they have the fish moving strongly toward the boat, flip it without bending the rod that much.

Years ago a guy told me about fishing Lake St Clair with a green "stick" about 3 1/2 inches long, made by a local MI company. It was all he used, only the one color. It looked just like a Ned. One feature of the Elaztech Ned is its buoyancy, which I don't think the others have. The success of cut off longer sticks and the product mentioned above indicate that buoyancy may not be that important.

I don't see how backing can affect the digging in that takes place at the surface of the line "stack" on the reel spool. From my experience, 30 is about at the low end of the recommended braid for casting outfits, and if you set your drag quite heavy, it can be a problem. If you don't want to set your drag sort of light (keep in mind that most fresh water baitcasters have drags limited to only around 12-15 pounds unless "locked up."). I expect mine is only about 8, but I don't really know. Or care. It works. I don't see Power Pro as being any worse than others, but look for braid advertised as "round." Which I expect all of them are now. Used to be braid was flat and it REALLY dug in.

I only have experience with one M1 that I recently built. Very light for its power, very handsome gloss black. It is the M1 7 foot 2 inch medium power X-fast action. I test all my blanks with CCS for objective power and action ratings and its power is just above the St Croix SCV70MF, and it's a little faster in action. One has to keep in mind that ratings and comparisons to them, if one doesn't use CCS, are just opinions. The opinions of most seem to be that St Croix rods if anything are a little more powerful than their descriptions. If this is true, then the Phenix MI in this model is not underpowered. In any event its ERN is 17.2, AA is 78. I predict it will be a great finesse rod for tubes, wacky, worms, etc.

I'd rather fish in the wind, or do most anything, than listen to Whoopie. When the trailer comes off the hitch ball it sort of ruins a fishing trip. Don't ask how I know.

Lots of guides with ceramic rings will work fine with any line. Even those without ceramic rings will work, but might groove sooner in the long haul. I always use SIC rings for the tiptops as that is the most likely to groove, although if you treat your rods hard, banging against the boat, that kind of stuff, Alconite is tougher. I've never had a SIC ring break or come out of the frame. I prefer Fuji guides, and you can get them in many designs, finishes and ring materials, and prices. They have what they call their "corrosion control" stainless guides which can be very affordable and provide corrosion resistance almost equaling titanium. I've never had a failure of a Fuji guide, they are well-finished, and I've never had to polish burrs off the bottoms of the feet as you sometimes have to do with lesser guides. I usually can wrap up the feet without doing any grinding on the feet as is required by some guides. A few brushes with fine sandpaper to help the thread climb the foot a little better is all it takes. Their site, anglersresource.net has software for locating the reduction train on two different types of spin guides and a two-line method stress test tutorial for locating the running guides. I use their KW series, KLH reduction guides and their software and I don't even test cast any more. They always come out right.

I don't think they are delicate at all, never had one fail. In fact since they are so small they don't get exposed to much of the damage that fails larger guides. When you have all the guides on the rod and it feels the same as it did without guides you know you've done the right thing for sensitivity. You don't need any more on a spin build, only a baitcaster with the guides on top. You mention spiral, you don't need more on a spiral. The Danek Improved Alberto will pass through all micros with leaders 15 or less, and it's an easy knot to tie. As far as I am concerned, there is only one disadvantage to micros on a spin, and that is that they will freeze up more readily than a bigger guide. And since I don't fish when it's freezing. . . moot point for me. Luckily, I design and build my own, so I can do it like I want regardless of whether it would sell to the general fishing public.

FG is tough to master. I don't tie it on the water either. But the Alberto with the half hitches is easy, IMO. Get some leader and braid and tie a bunch of them watching TV. One difference between the double uni and the others (FG and Alberto) is that the double uni doesn't care whether you set it heavily or not. It will simply tighten up on its own under stress. The other knots, if not heavily set, will unravel. I submit that the proper way to set the Alberto is to pull it to snug it, then set the leader tag end hard to get the leader loop to close tightly, then go back and set the whole knot hard again (with spit). finally add the two half hitches. With practice the wrapping of the braid around the looped leader becomes very easy. I use 7 wraps. Some use 10, but I think the knot gets too long.

If you have not yet tried carbon, use this as an opportunity to do so. Maybe on one rod, then decide on the other. I have not experienced durability problems with Winn. The Winn rep I talked with admitted that they don't like DEET, but I'm not sure other materials will like it either.

I thought Heathen was a special knot that I did not know. I've used the double uni forever, and it's a great knot exc for its size. I still use it when I don't need the smaller knots. thanks

Rapala DT's in Ike's Custom Ink "smash" are very good smallie lures. For the spring, when jerks are working, slow down with the DT, stop it often. I call it "nudging." Also the regular color "live river shad."

I believe I know exactly why that was happening and I believe it is solved with the two half hitches added, after HEAVILY setting the knot. The heavier the leader the more likely the regular Alberto will fail. Do you have a link to show me the knot? thanks,

You are missing an opportunity for reliable, much smaller knots. Double unis are easy, reliable, and I use them when I can, but they are much bigger than necessary. As I stated before, I use leaders up to 15 with size 4 micros with no problems.

I believe that micros do in fact help casting distance some. I have no data, but my micro rods really seem to cast "a mile." You knew that was coming, right? My theory on the advantage is that they get the line arranged into what amounts to a very small cylinder going through the air instead of having bigger loops trying to cut through the air. I don't think that the difference is compelling, but I think it's there. Regarding knots, as stated above, the right knot will go through micros just fine, unless you're getting into quite heavy leaders. In that case, the power of the rod probably dictates stronger guides anyway. I use size micros on almost all my spin and use 10-20 pound braid with 15 pound test leaders and have no problems. I use the FG and my "improved" Alberto (which is the Alberto with two half hitches of the tag end around the main braid line to finish the knot after HEAVILY setting it). You can see it quite well by casting into the setting or rising sun, too. Without slo mo.

The heat shrink will add a little weight which is the enemy of sensitivity. Significant difference? I doubt it, but it's in the wrong direction. Another possibility is to wrap the grips with Winn's tape. Similar issue, easy, can be removed easily if you don't like them. I personally think the woven appearance of carbon fiber is handsome in a techie way. With those components you don't have a lot of surface area for epoxy bonding to the blank. Are you familiar with prepping the surface of a blank and the components to assure the maximum bond performance of the epoxy? https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/waterfree.html I took a rod I did many years ago apart and found that while it had not failed, some of the epoxy had not bonded well to the blank and could be chipped off way too easily. I didn't know about surface prep at that time.

Check out Lurepartsonline.com , too.

What is "they?" glass reinforced nylon, ABS, and other plastics are common in the auto industry. I see no reason that reinforcing any plastic with glass or carbon or any other high modulus material would dampen its transmission of vibration (sensitivity).

You've got about the highest modulus "plastic" material in carbon fiber over foam forms. I expect Winn grips are a form of plastic. Most spin and cast reel seats are in fact made from reinforced plastic. I think I remember cheap kids rods with blow molded plastic handles. Which looked and felt really cheap. I think cast-resins are pretty dense, but have not taken the time to compare with current reel seat material. A Fuji DPSM seat comes in at about an ounce, even for a size 17, so that's pretty efficient use of the materials. Allows 7 foot spin rods to come in at well less than 4 ounces even with a comfortable seat. I think most others are similar, some lighter.

Whoa! Hair dryer CAN BE way too hot, and you cannot focus the heat well. You don't want to heat the blank; you want to heat the tiptop. When I do this the heat I use is so little that I can handle the tiptops without gloves and without burning my fingers. I use a butane lighter with the edge of the flame on the side of the tube of the tiptop. If you have a rubber band with tension pulling on the tiptop, trying to pull it off, and you apply the heat, the tiptop will slide off when the cement melts thus avoiding more heat than necessary. If it doesn't readily come off, epoxy was used to fasten it on. Get a pro builder to take it off, and use hot melt on the new one, not epoxy. I hope I got to you in time.

Yup. I have never mastered how to flip fish into the boat, just don't even try. I'm pretty good with the net while fighting the fish near the boat, though. We usually net or lip our own fish to allow the partner to keep fishing. Nailed it.

Agreed, but my point is that one can moderate the force on the rod by the direction it's pointed. Never directly at the fish, but the rod will have a lot of power if offset from direct by some amount. If pointed back over your head it wouldn't take 24 pounds to trash it. No problem keeping it pointed directly at the fish if you want to, just lean over point it at the line, reach out if you have to. Not that I'm saying that's the correct way to fight a fish, only that the direction the rod is pointed can have a lot to do with the load on the rod, and the extreme case is pointing it directly at the fish.

I agree with all exc that you can in fact pull 24 pounds of drag on any rod without damaging it if you point that rod at the source of the pull. There is a lot in how one fights the fish, how he orients the rod to the fish. I am not saying that there are many or any times when 24 pounds of force is necessary, only that it doesn't matter how high the force is if the rod is pointed at the source of the force. The line will break with no damage to the rod.

Many new reels do not have anti reverse switches, so be sure you know what you're getting and are in agreement. I would not buy a reel without a switch.

The ring size is designated by the outer diameter of the ring in millimeters. Try to match this with the new one. Usually it will be about 6 mm. As stated above, the tube is designated in 64 ths of an inch. As long as the tube is larger than the tip you're OK, unless it gets really sloppy. You don't want to have to sand the blank to get it to fit, but you can use generous hot melt to install the a larger new one most of the time. Or wrap the tip with thread to increase its ID if you cannot find a true match. To remove the old one pull on the tip top with a string at the same time you're applying a little heat. If it is held on by hot melt it should come off with just a little heat. If it doesn't readily come off, get a pro builder to help. It's easy to damge the blank with too much heat.

There are not many people who can easily and effectively cast 1/10 oz lures on a BC. Maybe none. Better gear will not help, IMO. Don't waste your time trying to cast 1/10 on a BC. It's just not the right system for that weight. Use spin for light, BC for not so light. And be happy.