J Francho

It might have that much force out of the box, but not after some break in. I've seen them bench test at 12-16 lbs.

I'd go with an Al framed reel. Something in the 2500 or 3000 class. One spool of 8# fluoro, and one with 20# braid. You'd be ready to rock with that.

Yep. I used the bathtub to figure out the three Mattlures Hard Bass I bought through the Flea Market here. My 11 and 3 year old boys did the job, determining the floater, slow sink, and fast sink. Nice little science project for them.

Like I said, why would a finished rod sell for less than the blank?

Look up Larry Tople.

Nevermind, that's the butt end, LOL.

I'm pretty sure you're going to find that to be nothing more than rumor. No way they are built using a blank that costs more than the finished rod, LOL.

You have 20" of ice in your bathtub?

In the top picture, it looks like the blank was cut off a few inches above the seat?

If you're going with light tackle for kayak fishing, you will need a rod long enough to clear the bow, with a bend in the rod. With heavier tackle, this isn't and issue, as you can simply turn the boat with the fish. Not so with light tackle.

I use 15# Power Pro on a 1500 series spinning reel, 4-8# leader with an Alberto knot, no issues at all. Skip the leader, and zebra mussels eat you alive. Keep that leader at least 6' long, and if you want, you can leave 1/2" of the tag end of braid, fray it, and its a great shallow water strike indicator. As with anything, match the gear to the cover.

Dead stick a paddletail on a mop jig. :-X

You guys have beard ***.

I normally wouldn't give out this type of info, but I'm pretty sick of fixing the problem, LOL. Sometimes I can't fix it, and that's a bummer.

That screw takes a #1 Phillips head, BTW. Use one with a longer shaft, for power.

This screw? (I didn't do this, BTW) Yeah, its hard to get out for a reason, it has thread lock applied to it. Use a soldering iron with a fine tip to heat it up enough to break the thread lock seal. Too much, and you'll damage the frame. The Mg framed reels seem to take more, like TD-Z and the Fuego.

Nice looking rod. For shooting shiny things, you did good by using bright, diffused, natural light. If you have enough light, you can try an old trick. Cover the front of the lens with a good polarized sunglasses lens. That'll cut the glare, if it works. Not all cameras can handle it. Be sure to clean all the goobers off the carpet, too.

Its a numbers game, though. When you're out for a big gator, you don't want to throw baits that hammer handles like to eat. Its a lot like fishing big swimbaits. A few good bites over lots of dinks. The difference with Esox is that the bite is like a light switch. Oh, if you aren't throwing BIG jigs for Esox in summer, you're missing out. :-X

Which model P-Line are you using? CXX Moss Green.

I think there are four threads in this board that answer that question, LOL. Alberto Knot http://www.stripersonline.com/Pages/Articles/article_arby_albertos_knot.shtml

Jeremiah Johnson with black hair haha. "Indian says you fish poorly" haha. Not sure if anyone gets the joke Redford is a poser.

LOL, fish for musky much? They don't call it the "fish of 1,000 casts" for nothing. To the OP, check out www.spinnerbait.org. This guy has Shab dialed in. I wish it was a fish of 1,000 casts. I think the saying is, fish of 10,000 casts. Just fish the north end of Chautauqua, for bass. You'll find plenty of muskies, LOL.

really, whatever you prefer, just less than the mainline. I use 15# P-line with 50# PowerPro for jigs and T-rigs, for example.

Its been a fun winter up here.... 8-) Frozen Machine Gun Trout

Ideally, the leader breaks.