MickD

It doesn't matter with a baitcaster being filled from a rotating spool whether it comes off the top or bottom. just not the edge of a stationary spool.

Where is it breaking? If at the knot, it could be your knot. If not at the knot, it may be a cracked guide or tiptop ring is damaging the line. Use a Qtip and twist it in the ringss-if one is cracked it will catch the fuzz on the Qtip. So many on this forum have used Big Game successfully, I don't go along with the "bad spool" theory, although mono doesn't age as well as braid, so should be changed more often depending on how often it's used. If new Big Game is breaking, it's more likely something about your equipment or techniques in handling it.

My son always said that the Neds take the smaller fish. I argued that the Neds take all the fish. A Ned won the biggest bass in a Lake St Clair tourney a few years ago. My PB smallmouth came on a Ned. My son has caught some really nice ones on Neds, and now admits I was right. Up here they take smb, lmb, walleyes, pike, rock bass. . . We do fish them on what are probably cleaner bottoms than others farther south do. Mostly rocks and gravel. Some sand.

I guess I havn't noticed wrap or epoxy problems on KB's and KT's down to 4 mm. Now that you mention it I probably will. :-)

I would also make sure the level wind pawl is properly engaging the worm gear. This and excessive end play, which is adjusted by the knob on the side of the reel, are my best bets. It is hard to believe a new reel will have problems with the gears. I wouldn't return it without having a knowledgeable person look it over and check it out. There is probably nothing wrong other than the possibilities mentioned, which are not defects. Let us know how it is resolved. As LoganS's first comment-

I use locking wraps on all my single foot guides, the little ones because their feet are so small and the high ones because they are easily snagged on stuff. They really do provide extra resistance to damage. And when you get practiced, they are a piece of cake.

I didn't describe the next to last process correctly. What you do is to start your wrap on the blank without the guide in place exactly where you would start it if the guide were there. When you get the wrap to the point where you want to start wrapping the foot, you place the guide so that your next wraps will be well up the foot of the guide. After you get about 5-10 wraps, carefully slide the guide into its final, desired position. It's a little tricky, but with practice and the right shaped guide foot it works fairly well.

All the really small guides are a challenge. Different builders use different techniques. One is the stretchy thread, tie the foot to the blank with a square knot. Another is to use the tiny O rings. Another is a dab of the hot melt cement designed for setting guides (problem with this is that it doesn't allow easy guide movement during a stress test, and might leave a little residue on the blank), rubber bands designed for dental braces. Another is, after you know exactly where the guide will be located, is to start wrapping up the foot a ways, then slide the guide carefully into its final positon with the first 20 or so wraps being slid off the foot leaving enough wraps on the foot to hold the guide for final wraps. Another is tiny strips of masking tape.

Nope, I don't own a Lowrance product any more, so. . .

I haven't gotten two of my newspapers since March 6, took me almost a week to contact the national one, have not yet been able to contact the local one, still not getting either. It was really nice to be in contact within a couple minutes with a real Humminbird person who could make things happen . And she did. So while not perfect possibly, so much better than anything else I've experienced lately.

U40 does not make the cork slippery. In fact it makes cleaning easier so the fish slime comes off leaving the cork in a very nice condition. And not slippery. I submit while you cannot get really nice quality cork on factory rods, you can get cork rings of fine quality if you make your own grips.

How are you modifying actions?

Kudos again for Humminbird phone customer service, fast access to knowledgeable agents who can make decisions on their own and make things happen.

No experience with components off Ebay. But my experience with other purchases is that you want to buy only from companies that have OVER 99 % satisfaction ratings. I personally don't think it's a great idea, preferring to deal with reputable companies and known brands. "I know they are probably junk. . ." Then why would you even consider it?

Not too much, unless you happen to be fishing extremely clear water, then you might want to go lower. But, FC is fragile, and I would not go much lower unless I was striking out and thinking the fish might be seeing the leader. I fish pretty clear water in Sag Bay MI and Lake St Clair with 15 and have caught one big bunch of fish in the last year.

If they chipped their guides the sharp edges would cut their line. Grooving of modern guides by braid is a myth. Grooving of modern tiptops is not a myth, which is why I always use premium ring tiptops, like SIC.

Wait until closing time. All the girls get prettier at closing time.

I don' think that seat is any bigger than others, and don't think there is much to be gained from a different seat. Additionally, replacing a seat with another is a major tear-up of the rod. I certainly would spend a lot more time with them before I would consider tearing them up. It seems that with palming, the biggest factor for comfort/ergonomics would be the reel, not the seat? Is that upper reel bigger than the lower,or just a photography distortion?

I assure you, a properly tied FG will not fail by slipping or unraveling. I think the failure will be in the FC leader.

Would not a hair jig fished with little or no motion be a good idea? I think one of my first choices would be a blade bait.

You just have to experiment to find the right weight jig, size of tube, color of tube, for what the fish want. Even in still water smallies sometimes want a fast fall rate, sometimes slow. Start with 2.75 as suggested , in green with red flake, the darker the water, the darker the green. Some fishermen around here fish only greens. I would think eddies in addition to the cover suggested already. Smallies like the edges/current breaks, on the slow side.

The Alberto is definitely a smaller knot than the double uni which has 5 thicknesses of the the FC, which is usually very much thicker than the braid. I don't believe the FG is bigger than the Alberto even with the half hitches. They are tied onto the braid, not the FC. Regardless, it goes through the guides cleaner than any other knot I've found. And it doesn't unravel like the Albertos sometimes do (with me) . I know the Alberto works fine for most, but not for me when snapping small swimbaits off the bottom.

For those having trouble with the FG, the biggest issue I had with tying it was that the braid would slip out of my teeth before I got the knot done. I solved it with one of those little brightly colored reformable ties, sort of like a thick twist tie. Sit in a chair, fasten the tie to your belt loop, wrap the braid around it many times with the tension on it, then make the knot basically in your lap. Far enough from the old eyes to focus well, no slipping from the teeth, and with every weave you can feel it snap into position. About 20 weaves. Finish it as you prefer, but make sure to pull it really tight to set it. A well tied FG, taken apart, will display the FC deformed by the braid seriously. If you don't see that, you're not setting it well enough, or not tying it tightly enough to allow you to set it. I admit, not a piece of cake, but this method is the best way I've found to tie a reliable FG.

Then you did not in fact put a 50-50 mix onto the wraps. One possible cause of this is, of course, doubling one component by mistake, or not mixing thoroughly enough, (many mix for 3 minutes), but also by taking the epoxy from the edge of the mix where it's most likely not to actually be mixed well enough. I'm presuming you are using an epoxy that calls for 50-50 by volume AND using syringes. Some are specified by weight. Rarely. If you mix epoxy correctly, it will not fail to cure.

If you have a PC open the picture in MS Paint. There is a "resize" button, click on it. Then, making sure the "maintain aspect ratio" box is checked, and the reduce by percentage is checked, fill in the reduction box with something like 20. The pic will be reduced to 20% size and you then, under the file drop down, save it under a new title. If the original is "BigBass," then save it as BigBassResize" That file should fit under the guidelines. If it doesn't, go to 10 %. I'm sure Apple has a similar app right on the computer that will easily resize pics.