Delaware Valley Tackle

A little alcohol on a swab will clean the brake cone and shoes. A very thin film of light oil applied to the cone should quiet them. You can also put a light film inside the frame where the spool rides.

Lol. Sometimes I forget which I post as myself.

I thought the Tiger thread was NCP. Ya, you don't want that orange going brown you and lose the whole effect. Be sure to epoxy over CP on the blank or the finish may lift and allow moisture underneath.

Brian is A1712. My name is Mike Lawson. I look forward to talking later.

Consider fishing the rig under a slip-float pegged to just tick bottom. You'll get a natural presentation and fewer hang-ups.

No need for CP on black or metalic thread. You can save a step going forward.

They are nice rods no two ways about it, but they aren't light years ahead of the pack like when Gary L was there.

They're both Pure Fishing products so the basic quality and much of the tooling will be the same. The Pflueger offerings are usually less expensive on a feature for feature basis than the ABU brand. The President is a good bang for the buck.

It depends on what the goal is for the build and what you consider decent. I've sold a few at that price but that doesn't refute the main point the others are making. Sometimes a client is looking for a unique gift for an angler not as concerned with absolute top end performance (which doesn't mean junk either). For example I just shipped a Mother's Day / Birthday gift on a mid modulus Purple blank that was for a regular customer. Even though it was a "budget" build. It will fish very well and be one of a kind. When it comes to say, St Croix blanks, Scott is dead-on accurate that a custom build will not be at or less than a production rod on the same blank. As for the Gloomis analogy, a better custom can be built on NFC or other blanks and may cost a little less because the Gloomis are over priced. I don't quote based what I think the person is capable of paying. I charge for components, materials and my time and it is what it is for the most part. It makes me a little nuts when mass produced rods are sold as "Custom" or custom is defined as choosing your wrap colors on a cookie cutter build. There are all kinds of business models out there and too each their own, I'm not knocking anyone but it gets more difficult to explain the benefits of "Custom Rods" when the definition is not static.

Couple things. Eva should be reamed to fit several inches ahead of the final placement. Butter the blank and and push it into place. It will stretch. No acetone. Clean up the excess with denatured alcohol.

Plus, a well built rod from a reputable builder should command a decent resale price over a "home brewed" build just slapped together.

Line ratings on a fresh water rod are next to meaningless. They are just a recommendation as to what the rod is good for. Underlining a rod within reason, is no problem at all.

Try fine sanding the finger slot instead of down in the hole itself. Also, is it reamed enough to fit? A few swipes on the inside might clean it up some too.

Beefing up the grip diameter will do more for you ergomically than treating the surface of the cork. The pistol grip is a little more challenging due to the irregular shape. Layers of rod/racket tape are probably your best bet.

They're ok at the $79 sale price coming up but the PQ is a much better bang for the buck.

A lite build epoxy or permagloss should cover the spot well. A simple wax job may be all it needs. If it has a painted finish you can't match maybe a wrap over the spot is in order. It's hard to say without seeing it.

In a perfect world I would rather not fish all on the same rod but it's not out of the question. Generally speaking longer rods cast further and shorter are better for accuracy. Special circumstances such as shoreline brush and comfort from the kayak are reasonable considerations also. As for choosinga power the terms are subjective. I'd start by looking for lure weight range that encompasses the weight you want to cast bearing in mind that the sweet spot usually lies near the middle of the posted range and that different rods are more or less forgiving on the extreme ends than others. Only experience can tell for sure. The other piece to consider is cover being fished. Heavier cover deserves a more powerful rod but there are some rods that cast a realively light weight but have massive power in the butt section. When you say big spinnerbaits are you talking 3/4oz>? Do you have a brand(s) of rod in mind? I'd be looking at a M & MH in a St Croix Avid or MH & H from a line that fishes lighter.

It depends what finish is on the rod and what you've done to it so far.

The love of fishing multi-species and curiosity about techniques drew me to baitcating reels more than one specific model. About the only thing I don't have reel wise right now is a line counter reel. lol

X2 if it's 2 1/2" fron the butt. 2 1/2', send it back. BTW are they covering shipping? I agree it should never have left the shipper's.

I like the Kigan clip style hook keeper. Hyrda seems to have a good rep with custom builders. I'm sure they're fine. The total build determines how it will fish and there's only one way to find out and that's to try one.

Of course the client has final say, but design and component recommendation are a big part of what you pay a good rod builder for. If you've done due diligence and/or know through experience exactly what you want that makes it easy for me. However, I encourage novice's to custom rods to keep an open mind and consider the builder's advice in decision making.

Line management on spinning tackle is way less work and expense than finesse casting imo. The actual Ned Rig, I don't believe uses the heavy salted worms like the senko. I've experimented with the tail end of a trick worm and the results were good enough that I may look more into the specialized components.

Beat me to it. There are also products known as varigated, burnt, composite and rubberized cork but they're all along the same lines.

The leather analogy doesn't quite work. Cork is tree bark and has varying natural imperfections (pits). It's not processed like leather. Right now good cork retails for about $5/in. which equates to $50 plus labor on a 10" handle goes to $3.50-$1.20/in. as the grade changes. There is no industry standard for grading cork either so it's all arbitrary to top it all off. I'm liking alternative materials like burl cork, EVA and carbon skinned foam more and more.