Delaware Valley Tackle

Sc III is a great blank material. Worth a look for sure.

Give me a call or email and I'll give the low down on bearing replacement and reel upgrades in general.

Those are delicate. Don't be surprised if the little ears break off and you have to replace the nut cap. They make a good looking handle but are too flimsy.

At the end of the day Professional........... Is a sales and marketing advertising business. As such sponsors get an exaggerated amount of credit for individual success. I doubt there's anything sinister going on but I'm sure there are circumstances of a non sponsor Rod, reel or bait employed at times and lots of prototypes not yet or ever available to the public get used. The mere fact that angler x used a particular product is the last reason I'd base a purchase on.

Do you use a lot of those or do you want to sell them?

Sweet. Upgrade or addition?

A momentary dunk in fairly clear water is not catastrophic. Once they lay on the bottom it's prudent to have a deep cleaning done. It's not a lost cause if you can retrieve it.

Oh mine would, guaranteed. Lol

Tighter tolerances are what makes a bearing faster and in certain circumstances longer life or better gear alignment. Tighter tolerances just for the sake of themselves just aren't cost effective. Not going to hurt anything.

A reel doesn't have high enough sustained speeds to benefit from higher than abec5 rated bearings.

It never changed its all subjective and different manufacturers use different terminology. The "action" term is often misused such as "heavy action ". In Rod building circles it's heavy power, and fast, moderate, slow etc action.

Check a schematic to be sure all the spacers are there along with the rubber ring on the threads if so equipped.

All the reel needs to do is store and retrieve line. The rod will fight the fish. A 1000 size should be more than adequate.

The problem with knock off bearings is that counterfeit ABEC specs are a real problem. Also, there are more cost effective methods to "get the most out of your reel". I say this as a Boca dealer and have been flamed by other dealers to whom I simply point out that my loyalty is to my customers and followers and not to any vendor or supplier. That said, if you're going to pop for new bearings, spend the few extra bucks and get a trusted brand that backs up their product - Boca.

Stick with the pq and carbon lite for the best value especially on sale which is frequently.

The lighter weight of the Ci4+ does not come at the expense of any durability. It depends totally upon how important the weight difference is to you.

What happened that you need new gears? Try Daves parts and southwestern

It's not a matter of babying, only correcting poor form and breaking bad habits. As suggested, avoid motions that will bend the tip beyond 90* to the butt. These include high sticking, overly aggressive hooksets, swinging fish into a boat, and lifting the tip straight up to lip a fish on a short line for a few examples. When held parallel to the water, the deadlift capacity of a rod is surprisingly strong. Protect the integrity of the fibers from dents, dings and deep scratches. C-rig weights, boat cleats and rocks are few culprits to watch.

Within reason your statement is true. In practice of course certain guides excell or are unsuitable in a given application.

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Burl and carbon skinned grips are great on a fly rod as they're a little more firm. In burl you're looking at about $12 in materials.

In practical application, any of them will work. I use Minima4 double swaged SS ring guides on some builds with no problems at all. My go-to are Fuji Alconites. They're hands down the best value for weight, harness, durability and variety. Torzite are nice because you can down size more due to the thin ring and still pass connections. They're overkill, but so is a lot, if not a majority of what we do tacklewise.

MHX's Shooter line of 6' may be what you want. They could easily be extended in the extra couple inches is critical. Trimming makes sense in some cases but with an already short blank, I'd rather extend than trim. The builder you choose should be able to make suggestions as well. That's a large part of what you're paying them for often times.

There are several systems you can use. Even a Rapid Choke setup use a stripper and two reduction guides. Three reduction guides is common with a 27x . The Microwave system is a no-brainer and works well with a variety of reel sizes should you switch up. The 5.5 runners in the kit are a compromise between "Full size" and the 4 or 4.5 "micros". When starting from scratch I pick running guide size by determining the smallest, lightest guides that will pass the line and any connections and hold up to the application. Ice, algae and anything else that may impede line flow should be factored in as well. On a bass rod, I usually end up with runners between 4 and 5.5 sizes.

X2 thank you.