MickD

Anti reverse allows one to give line to a fish without back-reeling, which can with the right fish be a problem since it's hard to keep up with a really fast fish. Also, line can be given without getting knuckles busted by spinning handles. I almost always fish with it engaged, but it's nice to have the switch so it can be turned off to give a little line when I've reeled up too far between casts. Or turned off if I want to back-reel on occasion. I've never had a problem with "water getting in." Never had any problem with any one-way clutch on a reel. As long as I can find a good reel with the switch, I won't buy one without the switch.

Where did SNK go?

I think the current Stradics don't have an anti-reverse switch, which is a problem for me. I'll stick with switches as long as I can find a good reel with them. Bad trend, in my opinion.

You're in the Stradic range, so there is your answer.

while Stradics are fine reels, they are a little pricey, IMO, to answer this question. I'd say right now that the Pflueger Supreme for $105 is the answer. Or any Daiwa in the $100-150 range.

I still don't know for sure this is a casting rod. If spin, split would make it much easier since one doesn't really need any grip at the rear of the seat anyway. If cast, one still has to fit a rear grip on, even though it would be be much shorter.

https://www.mudhole.com/Composite-Cork-Butt-Caps https://www.mudhole.com/Straight-Cork-Rear-Grip-Two-Tenons-Super-Grade These parts should work fairly well. But reaming is still an issue. The grip has a tenon that matches the hole in the butt caps, if you choose the right combination of sizes. If your current rod has 10 inches from the butt to the seat, then go with the 9 inch grip. And add the butt cap. Which should get you very close to original dimensions. I think EVA will ream easier than cork, although I don't know how you could ream without the proper tools. A local machine shop might be able to help without an exorbitant fee. What is the outer diameter of the blank at the butt? It is probably about .5, which should allow these parts to work, so you will have some tenon left after reaming. We had a chewing dog one time and I used hot sauce on the stuff he was interested in to cure him. He was actually chewing on our deck at one time. Hot sauce did it.

Yes, reaming a 10 grip is not easy, even if you have the reamers designed for this work. See if you can find a builder in your area; he could do the whole repair or just the reaming. You'll need to establish the diameter you need. After setting up the tape arbors. One way to finish the end would be to add a knob after reaming and gluing the grip on. It could be larger than the grip, and could be sanded down to match the grip. If you do this, leave about 3/8 in of the blank sticking out to be a pilot for the butt knob. If you end up with an open ended grip which would then leave you with an ugly hole, you can finish it off with a rubber bumper like Mudhole sells or that are available at O Reilly Auto in the interior trim fastener display. I'll do some looking for parts that might work fairly well. This is a casting rod, right?

Cut the cork off, clean it up best you can so you have a solid base to work on. Now you have a tapered blank, fairly clean, at least no loose pieces. Now using masking tape wrap a few shims along the blank making the end of the blank and and 2 or 3 shims into a cylindrical surface. Ream a new cork grip to a slip fit on that cylindrical surface formed by the butt of the blank and the shims. Use a good quality adhesive epoxy, totally encapsulate the shims, and liberally apply epoxy all along the blank. Have paper towels and alcohol ready for clean-up of epoxy that gets out. If your new grip has a closed end it's difficult to ream it, so you may choose an open ended grip, then cover the end with a slipover type butt knob/sleeve, or finish it with cork. Not as easy as it sounds, but can be done. I would be tempted to fill in the damage to provide a good surface then add Winn grip tape. Probably cheaper and one heck of a lot easier.

Rage tails for largemouths, but tubes for smallies. Interestingly testing done by a bait company (Berkely I believe) indicated that the best imitation for crawfish was not lures with appendages, but simply tubes. My theory is that it is the action/movement, size, and color that trigger the fish a lot more than the details of sight/appearance. It could be that these requirements are better matched by the simple tube. I'm not saying that tubes don't work well with other species, just that they are better than the appendage lures for smallies. Tubes take pike, walleyes, drum, catfish, rock bass, LMB, and my fav, SMB.

that rod was a rod I made for a local educational foundation fund raiser. MSU sells well here, so that's why the theme. I do one every year. Rodgeeks blank, nice blank. I have an identical one I made for me, and it's a great tube rod. C4 med power, fast action. A little more powerful than the St Croix SCV, 7 foot, med power, fast action. IMHO, carbon fiber is cool, but isn't a compelling advantage over cork or Winn. Winn is actually lighter than most cork, and light = sensitivity. Even though it feels soft, Winn does fine for sensitivity. Just keep DEET away from your Winn grips. As you should do with anything other than steel. DEET attacks just about everything. One thing that a lot of builders seem to miss is that with spin, the grips/handles mean almost nothing. You grip by the seat, with the stem between your fingers, and the stuff in front of and behind the seat is just along for the ride. Or for style. To make the design look symmetric. So if you have a comfortable butt knob, and a smooth surface in front of the seat, like a nice little ramp to the blank, everything's cool. And as effective as it's going to get.

The knob is exotic burl cork, not sure where I got it, but I think Mudhole. It is the green color. The color is subtle, but quite nice. Since cork itself doesn't take dyes well the color is in the adhesive. Not all burl cork is the same. what's neat about this burl is that the pieces are not all the same size. Some burls look like particle board, vey uniform, with no character. The finish is wrap epoxy. Others have used varnish and some polyurethanes with varying degrees of build and gloss. The wrap epoxy is probably the highest build and gloss. Some polys look really good, more of a semi gloss finish with less build, but from what I can tell they are not UV protected, so may break down. I don't really know, have no experience with them. Cork 4 US is a good source of quality burl. I wanted you to see this so you could see that the rubber checks can look very classy, but you have to encapsulate them to get the good look. You don't have to go any farther with the epoxy than just over the check. It will look great, but the cork will remain uncoated. If I don't coat the cork with epoxy I use U40 cork sealer on it. Then it will stay nice longer and clean up easier. And I don't think it even gets as dirty as untreated cork. Seems to shed it to some degree.

Here is an example of encapsulating the flexible checks.

You don't need a Palomar with this stuff, a simple 4 or 5 twists and the tag through the loop will do. With that it won't slip. My preference is with titanium leaders with heavy duty components, like solid rings, cross lock snaps. About 12 inches. Shorter is too short, longer makes it cumbersome for casting as you always seem to be worrying about reeling it in too far.

I totally encapsulate them in wrap epoxy. Use it liberally over the check and you'll get a nicely shaped filet and you'll not have to worry about any failure of the flexible check. Seems like everything flexible will crack sooner or later if exposed. I've never had this happen by totally encapsulating them. Looks very classy.

If you build your own the Rainshadow Revelation Inshore Popping series (a bunch of mod-fast action blanks) are good candidates. One I love is REV IP 70 ML. One of my favorite blanks, and I think just what the ML-MF advocates are looking for.

I fish smallies in mostly open water as many others, but I prefer Med power/fast action for tubes-better hook sets than lighter powers. I like a ML power, Mod/fast action for snapping 4 in swim baits off the bottom due to the better "follow" of the rod tip on the drop. Too much power when snap jigging gives too sharp of a snap and a loose line dump on the drop. ML power with the more moderate action works much better on this. (5/16 and 1/4 oz max) But for most bottom finesse, I like more power for the hook sets. Often very long casts and fish contact.

I have tied the FG by fixing the braid to my belt loops with the flexible 'twist ties' and it is far easier than the "braid in the teeth" method because of two things-it is secure and doesn't slip half way through the knot as often happens with the teeth, and second, it gets the knot weaving farther from the eyes so it's easier to control what's going on. THE METHOD IN THIS VIDEO should be better than my method in that it is all feel and the tension is held by your pinky finger (easy to control and feel). The guy in the video is right, in my opinion, in his position that tension MUST be maintained in order to tie a reliable knot. I have tried many times to tie this knot without tensioning and every knot was a failure. I know some can do it; I cannot. I note that he does sixteen weaves, more than the earlier versions of the FG. Relative to the slippery braid issue, it might not be a problem with 16 properly tensioned weaves, but some people scuff the braid to give more traction for this knot. It is a good idea to take one of your knots and cut the braid off the leader to see what condition the leader is in after you tie the knot. If your leader has not taken a set in what I'll call a "distressed" curly permanent shape then you are not getting a properly tensioned and set knot. The knot works not only from friction but from deforming the leader to give a "mechanical" lock of the braid to the leader.

If longer rods don't cast farther then why are surf rods so long? I really don't think there is any doubt about it. My 8 1/2 foot salmon casting rod casts a mile while my 6' 8" pike rod only casts 3/4 mile. :-) Surely in many cases we don't need longer casts than a shorter rod will give, but when you want max distance you will get it with length.

Casting distance, for one. For tip up techniques, go longer. For tip down, go shorter.

Torzites are the ultimate in guides, but Fuji slim SIC titaniums are pretty nice at much less $$. Either one will make a great rod. They will weigh almost nothing if the runners are small. I use size 4 on spin rods. With braid less than 15 pounds you can go with the KLH reduction train in size 16KLH, 8KLH, 5.5M, then a couple KB4's, the rest KT4's and it will be about as good as it gets for sensitivity. I have a Point Blank 701MF with this setup and it's a wonderful rod, but it's fast action. It comes in MLF, too. I have no trouble keeping smallies hooked up. I am building a Phx now, and it seems like a very nice blank. It's the M series at about half the price of the K. I think you are going to have a hard time keeping this under $400 (parts only, no labor) if you stick with the K blank and torzites. Whatever way you go with what you're discussing will yield a fine rod. With a Point Blank and slim SIC's you surely can keep it well under $400 for parts. For the next couple days suppliers are having their Black Friday sales, too. Good luck!

Yes, would help as you say. I have a 7 foot ML power mod-fast action Rainshadow Rx7 that I use for smallies, mostly for snapping 4 inch swim baits off the bottom, but also have used it for tubes, and it works OK. The power loads well with 3/16-1/4 oz jigs with the swim baits or tubes.

Sorry, cannot help on finished rods exc to comment again that what you are planning to use it for is best suited to a fast action. Look for a full grip rod, the length you want, (I like 7 feet for this), the recommended lure weight in your range, and with a full grip. Don't worry about the recommended line pound test; that's just noise in the system. And don't worry about a few inches in length, IMO, anything from about 6-9 to 7-3 will work fine.

"Custom" means $$, any budget restraints? In my opinion, if you make the decision to go custom, a few 20's to go first class are not a problem.

Looking for a blank to build on or a rod? Sounds like looking for a blank for a custom build. For your stated use, I would not go slower than Fast action. But please clarify, there are a ton of great blanks on which to build a finesse rod. I have one in mind, but not mod-fast.