rubba bubba

My latest endeavor - decided to go with a black/gold theme: (before applying the rod finish)

I meant to ask, do you prefer the Albright over the uni to uni and if so, why?

Ok, that's been my experience as well so I agree with you in that is the way you need to work the Spot.

I never cared for the Spot remover as because it had the flat bottom it would fall over on anything but a sandy bottom. And because of that you couldn't drag it (otherwise the worm would fall over), forcing you to hop it (only). Am I the only one with this experience? Less with floating worms but it still would happen.

Roadwarrior - FYI, but you linked the Bloodknot in your Albright knot link as well (both links are the bloodknot).

Fireline Crystal for superlines (I prefer fusions over braids like Suffix/Spiderwire). Mono - no preference.

One other suggestion is to go to Mudhole's site and watch the rodbuilding 101 videos by Kevin Brotz they have posted. He goes through most of the individual items and they're pretty decent. After that, post questions here and we can help. It's actually not that complicated.

x2

A question on your Bpro Stickos - do they have a slot cut in them or is it just a solid bait? I have some older ones that don't have the slot (for the hook).

I recommend the Baby Paca Craw on a 1/4 football jig. When you hit the rocks, it'll swivel up like a real crawfish, and 1/4 is light enough to have plenty of action. I use a brush guard on the football jigs (no skirt) but it's important the brush guard color matches the craw color. Not just the football head, but the brush guard as well.

If it's new, exchange it. If it's not, send it to the Reel Mechanic or Pure Fishing to have it serviced right.

3C70MM is the very blank, ordered from Mudhole, that I have built and I'd be more than happy to post pics. All those fish I've caught on Senkos and plastic worms (without gut hooking them) must be my imagination then. There might be NO WAY you consider this rod to be an all around rod, but that is precisely how I use it; with great success. And as for open water or heavy timber (no offense taken), there is a wide gamut of cover in between that this rod works just fine for. Would I recommend using this rod for heavy cover? No. Would I recommend a heavy cover rod as an all around rod? No. To the OP - is this rod the ideal rod for "all around"? Depends on angler preferences. I'm not sure I'd consider it "ideal", even for me but it is has performed very well and I've yet to throw a crank with it. Try not to get caught up with other people's absolutes as it's all subjective and you're only dealing with people's opinions. Mine included.

Not really sure what everyone is talking about but I built myself a 7' MM Avid rod and although it is much lighter (thinner in diameter) action than the 7'MF and 7'MHF that I'm also building, it is fine as an all purpose rod. I have used it exclusively for plastics (weightless Senkos and toads, and very lightly weighted TR rigged worms) and it has plenty of backbone to set the hook, and it makes for a much more lively battle than faster/heavier rods. To be honest, I think the majority of the people on this forum have bought into the heavy rod/line approach used by the pros on Tour, greatly reducing the "art" in fishing. I am exceedingly fond of this rod and if you could score it for $90, I would commend you for your good fortune. Note - I'm used to using medium light action rods for my plastic fishing for many reasons, so I'm sure I'm well into the minority for this board.

You ought to be able to find some 20% off coupons out there to sweeten the deal for you even more.

That looks very sharp - can you take a close-up pic of the winding check work you did? From this distance it looks like you matched the label decoration very well. Now you just need to convert the handle to a split grip.

This is the route I'd recommend. Or even better you can get the Revo S for $85 shipped from reputable ebay dealers.

Nope, I saw his latest question; I was just clarifying in response to Retired's statement about people not recommending a baitcaster (i.e. concerning why several people had responded with "spinning gear is fine" posts). Not pointing out anyone's stupidity/blindness. I probably should have quoted Retired so as not to be confusing.

Apparently you missed his initial question - allow me to highlight the pertinent item being discussed:

Spinning gear will catch fish just fine. Baitcasters are great and there are many reasons for one, but you don't *need* one to catch lots of fish. I'd venture to guess there are countless spinning only fishermen that would wipe the floor with many of the baitcaster fishermen out there. It's not the reel. One of the reasons I like baitcasters so much is it's like getting a car with stick instead of automatic - makes driving that much more interesting. I love messing around with the flexibility of a baitcaster.

The Citica will be a superb starter reel; and even for experts it is an outstanding reel.

I have to back Muddy wholeheartedly. First, dollar for dollar, nothing is going to beat the Extreme at $39. Yes, the Citica is better, but it's not 3x better. I learned on an Extreme and still use it to this day. Second, I'll put the Revo S against the Citica any day - slightly less $$ and as good or better. The Shimano is a great reel, but it's not the absolute bargain the $39 Extreme is. For anyone on a budget, this is THE ideal starter baitcaster. IMO.

Very sharp - the wraps are super clean and the rod finish is excellent (very even; very nice). I commend you on getting a reel with the handle on the correct side.

I used to use it but learned the hard way it won't hold a knot anywhere close to the rated line strength. Using it as a leader was a complete fail as it wouldn't hold the uni knot for crap; for tying lures, the palomar was better but not by much. I switched to XPS that I had and all those problems went away.

Nice list but return the Vanish ASAP. Get the Trilene Fluoro - Vanish is terrible. Search here for Vanish and you'll see.

Bpro does indeed have Extreme 5.4 lefties for only $39 - a solid reel and for this price they are a steal: http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10151_-1_10001_90338____SearchResults?ordProd=Y&CMID=BOTTOM_selectitems#itemDetail