Jrob78

The KVD rods have aluminum oxide ceramic inserts and should be perfectly safe for braid.

x5 As far as brand, you are going to get a different recommendation for every post. There are tons of "$100-$150 rod" threads. A search should turn up all the recommendations you can handle.

I wouldn't use what I consider to be MH M for swim jigs but there is no industry standard. What one company labels as a MH M swim jig rod might not be anything close to what they would label as MH M crankbait rod.

I like 10-11"

Falcon Cara and Lowrider

When I was researching my swimbait rod, I dug up an old post on Swimbait Nation from the guy who designed the Okuma Swimbait rods. I don't remember the guy's name, Mark something I believe. Anyway, he said that the 7'11"H was designed to be a hard bait rod for treble hooked baits. He said it was more moderate than the other swimbait rods in that lineup and not a good match for 8" Hudds and the like. He recommended the 7'6"H or the 7'11"XH for heavy soft baits and the 7'11"H for hard baits. Not sure if any of that applies to this thread but I thought I would throw it out there.

Dick's is the only place I've seen Excalibur baits and they are usually really cheap.

The baits you bought are Excalibur, not XCalibur, there is a difference. They are all owned by the same parent company, Pradco. I don't believe Matzuo is a Pradco company, they just make inexpensive baits. I don't know what the difference is between Bomber and Excalibur.

I use the standard, with the orange handle. I have a pair of the large ones, with the green handle also. I bought the large ones to change hooks on big swimbaits with giant split rings. They wouldn't work well on regular size baits. I think the Executive pliers are the same size as the regular but are stainless steel and a little fancier. I'm not 100% sure on that though. Get the standard pliers with the orange handle and you will be set.

I disagree with a lot of those hook sizes. If I'm going to put short shank hooks on baits, I like to go up a size, otherwise, what's the point? There are plenty of better regular shank hooks that I would use over the short shank KVD's if I didn't want to go up a size.

Great choices, both are awesome jerkbaits and one of my favorite colors.

What baits did you get?

The more weight you can take off of a blank, especially toward the tip, the better it will perform. When you get used to fishing rods with single footed, size 4 or smaller guides and very short wraps with minimal epoxy, rods with traditional guides feel sluggish. Micro guides allow the blank to be more crisp, responsive and recover more quickly. These are things that are really hard to quantify though. Rods with smaller guides are also less likely to get tangled up with other rods in a rod locker.

Agree, a slight curve is completely normal and you shouldn't worry about it. I've seen way more crooked blanks than I have perfectly straight ones. Most builders build with the curve in line with the guides so you don't notice that it isn't straight.

Budget reels with graphite frames are what get a bad rap, (deservedly so, IMO.) I've never seen too many people get up in arms over graphite side plates.

While not the most elaborate paint schemes I've ever seen, they all look great. I would throw any of those baits with confidence. I especially like the middle gill pattern.

Your thread title is hilarious

Different bait entirely.

Sorry for delay in posting these pictures but these are the 2 clamps I use for gluing up cork rings. One is a squeeze clamp from the hardware store and the other is a piece of all thread with knobs I can tighten down. The key for the threaded clamp is using plumbers teflon tape on the threads to keep the rings from sticking. I use Titebond III for gluing rings. The squeeze clamp has a hole drilled in both sides of the clamp and a 1/4" piece of aluminum bar through everything to keep the rings lined up.

The weight of a jig doesn't really make the size of the jig any larger anyway.

I like CXX for some techniques but I never found it to be terribly sensitive. I go to fluoro or braid when I want sensitivity. I fish jigs on fluoro.

Try the "show and tell" section

I have a micro Bucoo that is 7' and just labeled "medium action." I don't know if it's the same rod you have but it makes a great jerkbait rod.

As stated, I don't use clips. I tie direct to oval split rings. If I did use snaps I would first remove the split rings. I'm sure some people snap to the split ring but I don't think that's the right way to do it. Also, if you use snaps you need to be extra aware of your line. It's much easier to become complacent if you don't have to retie to change baits. Check your line often and retie when necessary.

Zell Pops at $2.99 is a even better deal. That warrants a trip to Dick's for me.