islandbass

Cost I suppose. On the other side of the coin there might be a market for buying rods with presealed cork. The market forces will likely dictate this

I wouldn’t put this one on dobyns. It is hopefully a sign of your usage and if it is, consider those battle scars and added character. As already suggested, get it cleaned and sealed. Even I, who love certain battle scars, have a threshold I won’t go passed, lol.

I wonder if inline spinners would be a decent alternative, particularly ones built for muskies and pike. Another plus is that they are easy to build and relatively cheap. This size of spinners are heavy enough to throw with casting gear too. Else I would second the walmart ones. At only $1 a pop, you can get more for your money and they work surprisingly well.

Awesome! You got a fishing partner, until he discovers girls, lol.

Casting or spinning? Also, are you getting them for free?

We don’t have a DVR but my wife watches those shows too and I really “hate” that channel. Can you guess who has to carry out those projects, even if I know nothing? Yup, ‘lil old me, lol. Every time I see her watching, I tell her not to get any new ideas. Building a Wooden fence, laying hardwood, tile, hang a huge chandelier on a church high ceiling, painting, etc. That channel has been a steady source of keeping my honey do list full, lol. Honey do this and honey do that.

Unfreakinbelieveable! Thanks, Glenn.

That is nice. I forgot to mention that the legs I would have added are very similar!

I call it my rod quiver. Based on the shape you choose, you can hold as many rods as you need. I chose a triangle and it's hard to believe my first one is over 10 years old! I built another one last year for an oldtimer, when I saw him struggling with 3 rods and a large tackle bag and made it beefier. To make things easy, I used a drafter's triangle. Cutting the triangles out. One triangle on the bottom and the other on the top, connected by dowels. This is my first one, still employed to this day. When I am fishing, I simply prop it on my bag. I came up with a way to give it "legs" to prop on the ground but never got around to doing this since I have my bag with me almost all the time. Gravity holds the rods in place, while your hand holds the middle dowel. An acquaintance from another forum improved my design to do away with the velcro, and it is a great idea. With that said, the industrial strength velcro has never ever failed. Ever. The orange material is from a soda pop insulator under which the other half of the velcro is glued to. The black circles on the bottom is pipe insulation to provide cushion for the rod butt. It also covers the screw that attaches the pvc to the bottom triangle. Perhaps a trapazoid shaped one to hold 4-6 (2 rods on top and 1 rod on each angled side for 4 and 1 or 2 on the bottom of the trapezoid for 5 or 6 rods) but honestly, from the shore, that borders ridiculousness, lol.

From your question, I gather you mean when fishing. I used to bring up to 5, and I am a shorebound angler. After getting tired of carrying so many rods, and I even constructed an apparatus to assist me, I realized, I never used more than 3 of the 5 rods most of the time. So it is now three and possibly a fourth if I know I will get to fish for a long time. My apparatus allows me to carry 3 rods in one hand conveniently and I carry the 4th in the other hand. I simply haven't had the time to construct one to hold 4 or 5 rods. Rather be fishing instead. Rod #1 is usually a M casting rod Rod #2 is usually a MH spinning rod Rod #3 is usually a UL or ML spinning #4 can be a MH casting #5? whatever is clever I don't have a heavy action rod in my arsenal yet, lol.

...and on the couch when come home later that night, lol. True on the candles!!

Indeed! Yup. The personal glory gained from its success is incentive enough. Sent you a pm.

I am having a little picturing what you are describing. So you’re trying to drill a hole through the poppers body lengthwise? That would be a be a order. I think your plan is alright but if you were really wanting to go with through wire construction, what about using a saw to cut into the belly as deep as you need. You can then fill it with epoxy and if desired, maybe some wood dough. the popper is probably going to be painted and coated so most if not all of the evidence of the cut won’t show. Keep us posted. That’s what I do with crankbaits made from balsa Another option could be screw eyes, if your target species.aren't monsters,

Easy fix. Hold the hook so the point is facing up toward the sky. Insert the line into the hook eye from the sky side to the ground. Yeah, the dropper is great. If your weight has a loop like a bass casting weight, you can do throw if you run out of dedicated drop shot weights.

I forgot to mention I had a crucial. I freezing conditions with fingers so numb that I couldn’t bend them to grab the reel handle, I felt a fish take my lure 54’ down. I set the hook by placing my forearm under the rod to take the place of my hand, lol. I also had to use my palm to crank the handle. I lost the fish because I could use my hands, but to have felt a fish take that deep in those conditions that to me is a testament to the sensitivity of a crucial. Unfortunately, I donated it for a good cause, as painful as it was which is probably why I forgot about it. As I mentioned before, I am still blown away at how underrated Shimano’s lower end rods are in terms of performance and bang for the buck. Also, a one year warranty is more than enough for any rod to capture manufacturing defects. Anything beyond that would be more akin to a replacement program which in essence could be what many anglers like to have as a comfort, and as a result they’re willing to pay more to have it. I’m not against it in any way and there is definitely something to it because the need and demand for it there.

I had a Clarus 2-piece casting rod, M power. Performed well. Forced to leave it in Mexico. Never saw it again. I have an MH spinning Compre rod. Love this rod. Honestly don’t know if other companies provide better bang for the buck at their price levels. I think Shimano’s lower end rods like the clarus, compare and convergence are severely underrated.

Yes! I can only speak for the Pacific Northwest puget sound area. We have inland water that is salt water. Orcas and sea lions reside here. The squid come into the sound. People shine high beam lights into the water in piers and they come like moths to a flame. There are special “squid” jigs they use and the have needle like spikes and no hooks. This is a winter activity. Let me tell you. When you catch them this fresh, they aren’t fishy at all. You can make calamari or kick it up another notch and make this Asian dish called salt and pepper chile (substitute your meat of choice but it’s usually pork chops) squid. The use of squid is just my take on this. Go ahead. Make your calamari and then sauté onions, garlic, Serrano (or your choice of chile- jalapeño for the weak or scotch bonnet or Thai Chile for the pain enthusiast). Throw in your calamari, mix everything up well, coating the calamari in the sautéed items and salt and pepper to taste. This is the bomb. I kid you not. Works great with rice, but applications with a taquito sized tortilla would be an excellent alternative and blend of Asian/Mexican. I called it here. You can thank me later, lol.

$100 can buy you a lot of spinning reel performance. All you need next is to find the right spinning rod for the typing of fishing you plan to use it for. Ive been eyeing that ugly stik to be my saltwater squid rod. ?

Indeed!

That is awesome!!! You are well one your way to improving your fishing experience because you now have more tools at your disposal. None of my friends fish. So when I took on learning the baitcaster, all I had was awesome advice given on forums as a guide. As good as the advice is and was, nothing can replace actual hands on experience. However, what do you do when you run into a problem you can’t yet figure out ? Like, 1) why in the H-E-double hockey sticks is my lure slamming into the ground right in front me? 2) What in the... why does my overhand cast keep rainbowing? 3) Why does my sidearm cast keep going to the left instead of straight out? 1-3 are mostly timing issues 4) Why didn’t anyone tell me I should not have spooled 10# braid, lol. Understanding the limitations of reel and line type. Braid is thinner relative to its mono equivalent. And generally speaking, when you use braid of less than 30# strength, you increase the likelihood of encountering line dig. or that 5) I shouldn’t expect a baitcaster to throw 1/16oz lures, lol? Another limitations. Baitcasters have a lower limit under which they will not fare well. This can vary from reel to reel, but going less than 3/16oz can make things a bit more challenging. Line diameter and rod power are also factors. Some H rods might not even bend back with so light a weight and so you would be forced to manipulate your mechanics to compensate. To your question, yes. You can feel it on the cast. You can now take that new found knowledge and apply to how you cast with your spinning gear. After you get this down, your next thing to learn is the pitch, or basically an underhanded cast. ? Incidentally, pitching can also be done with spinning gear.

That definitely a prime candidate as a culprit. You see, failure to properly load a rod by the weight of the has zero consequence with a spinning set up...... ZERO. As a result, many anglers coming from a spinning background can go decades keeping a habit of failing to properly load the rod anyway. If you can ever recall performing what I call the “whipped cast,” it is a cast you see a spinning angler makes that is so quick that the rod makes that whipping sound as it is flung forward so fast that the lure doesn’t even get a chance to OR inadequately load the rod. The lure will still be launched out, with zero consequence. Try that with a casting setup and you might as well have crochet hook and scissors undo or cut off the newly formed backlash where it is probably better to replace the line because of all of the kinks, seen and unseen. In addition, it won’t mater how excellent your reel settings are. The next time you practice casting, use at least 1/2 oz piece of lead. Go through the motion of an overhand cast but keep you thumb on the spool. Do this gently. The weight of lure will bend your rod behind you and then it will catapulted by the rod forward. Use enough pressure with you thumb to prevent th weight from sailing forward. Congratulations. You just felt the weight load the rod. Repeat this multiple times. As amany times as it takes for you get familiar and acquanted with this process. Now, repeat again but this time let your thumb off of the spool. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! The timing of the release is NOT the same as with spinning setup. This might take sometime to get accustomed to. Unfortunately, the release time on a casting setup is ever so slightly sooner than with a spinning setup. Picture a clock with 12:00 directly overhead and 9:00 directly ahead of you. You need to make sure your thumb comes off the spool around 1:00. Yes, that early. If you let go after 12:00, you will be awarded with the weight slamming into the ground and if your thumb isn’t fast enough to stop the spool cold, a glorified birds nest. If you let go before 2:00, you might get a rainbow cast that goes higher than it does forward. If you get this right, you will be amazed at how far you can cast with minimal effort from you. You will also be able to use this same principle of properly loading the rod with your spinning setups. During this period of learning here is another tip. If you suspect/feel you made a mistake in your mechanics, stop the spool dead cold with your thumb if you already let go or if you haven’t, don’t let your thumb off of the spool. Then start over. I reckon you can gather that I came from a spinning background and that I am a nerdy analyzer, lol. All the other recommendations given are spot on, but since you mentioned your challenge was with the rod loading, this is my attempt to lay it out as I see it and gained from personal experience. Laslty, I might have quit on the baitcaster if I didn’t do this. I liken it to golfers who mindlessly whack 100 balls without even once thinking what they can do to improve their swing. So 100 mindless casts is far less valuable than 20 quality, well thought out, focused, casts. Now go and get it done. ??

If you’re using 8# braid on a baitcaster, the could be why you’re having a difficult time. Switch to 12# mono at least and practice with. 8# braid is too thin for a baitcaster in the hands of a newbie. If you need to use braid, then don’t go any lighter than 30# braid. Its 8# mono equivalent will give you a fair chance and mastering the bc fundamentals.

I second the zebco because of the handle’s interchability. I believe there ought to be a way to use the lawn mower knob. My approach would be to find a way to get it to “fit” over the current handle. That way, you won’t need to deal any problems attaching it to the handle and it would spin freely. Hope it works out. Sorry to hear that. Brain tumors are no joke. It claimed my mom’s life over 30 years ago. I hope he lives well passed the doctor’s best estimates. Update I made my post immediately after reading yours and didn’t yet read jrob’s post. It appears he basically suggested the same thing. Great minds think alike.? ?

Keep the rod. I’d drop shot with it for sure. I’ve used the bed rig with my 7’ light rod (essentially it’s a UL) and I caught a bass on my first cast as soon as the jig hit the bottom. It was awesome. I did did realize that the 7’ length moved the jig a heck of a lot more than I anticipated which I found surprising that I was able to realize first hand why a shorter rod might be preferred. No worries, however. Just a slight and conscious adjustment on my part and all is well and workable. It could also be your trout/pan fish rod and the rod for small treble lures like the smaller jerk and crank baits, in-line spinners and the like. Personally, I love rods in this class, but I’m not prejudice... I love all types of rods, lol. Btw, this rod is responsible for catching the most fish in my arsenal of rods.