Delaware Valley Tackle

Josh, PM Sent

One brake is fine. If using more than 1 spread them evenly around the spool for best performance. Nothing catastrophic will result either way.

A-Jay, Those look very cool and worth a try. I fish the Kietech baits on a plain ball head and slow roll across the bottom and they are killer. The tail swims with so little action or current required. I use a fair number of weighted hooks and "Rage" rig a lot of different plastics, not just boot tail/paddle tail swimmers.

Great deal. That's the retail price of the President +/-.

A 1mm guide with an insert would have trouble passing sewing thread. lol

What are the specs on the rod? True punching in the slop requires a very stout rod. The reel is much less critical. Any quality, general use reel should work. A good drag is important but I discourage locking them down. Their whole idea is protect the rod and reel from over load.

The balance you don't like is directly related to the shorter butt / longer "effective rod length" that you do like. It will fish just fine.

The "new" Lew's doesn't post their schematics that I've found, but they have emailed them on request. You can also look at a Revo or Pflueger schematic and get really close.

X2. Alternatively, measure the dimensions IDxODxW and I may have one or I can check with Boca.

He may have one in his library. This is 2 yrs old.

The PQ had an awesome sale but I think it's over for now. Always a good value though along with the Citica, Lexa, Tatula, Revo S or Lew's

Not to sound like a broken record, but keep in mind that Hvy/MH/4 power 5power etc are all subjective. There is no industry standard for rod specs. Deep cranking is one of the few applications where casting distance is a real benefit and longer rods aid in distance casting. I'd look for a 7'6"> with the tip and power to cast the bait. Unfortunately the labeled specs will likely vary from rod to rod even though they may be close in actual use.

Peel off 100' of line and run a strip of electrical tape around the spool. This is a safety net that will keep any backlash from getting too deep. Keep your casting stroke smooth letting the rod do the work. Horsing or muscling a cast is the quickest way to get in trouble. Just like throwing, the release point is critical: Too early = sky launch too late = dirt. Keep some thumb pressure on the spool and you'll get a feel for how much. Stop the spool before the bait hits the water.

I have very little luck around wood cover in our local river. It's all about deeper current breaks, rocks and steep banks.

I've looked at the Bushido blanks but haven't tried one yet. What's your take? How do they compare?

What do you like about the Eternity over MHX-HM?

The less weight added to a blank (especially in the tip section), the more it retains it's inherent qualities, chief among them- speed, as in recovery time / resonant frequency often referred to as crispness. Weight savings aid in balance as well. At the end of the day maximizing casting performance and sensitivity are the goals and one piece of the equation is weight. Weight savings in the form of guide material as well as size have a definite impact. Using the smallest, lightest guides that will do the job may or may not result in the use of "Micro" guides which by the way cover a significant range. The guide needs to hold up the stress applied and pass necessary leaders / knots / connections. Icing, cotton wood and filamentous algae are some conditions that may contra-indicate small guides. Remember, when we talk about weight savings in this context we are talking grams, not a lot of weight in hand but meaningful as a percentage of added weight.

You can use CP (Color Preserver) or NCP (No Color Preserver needed) thread to counteract the darkening and translucent look, but I prefer it in most cases.

The MHX-HM in MH or the Rainshadow Immortal in M are hard to beat at any price. At $100 +/- even more so.

Looks pretty good. If I may, pack your wraps every 10 turns or so and burnish to close any gaps, especially with light colored line on a dark blank. It's not going to take a lot of epoxy to cover those few wraps, but mix at least 2.5-3 cc of each part and measure accurately & mix thoroughly to ensure proper curing. In the grand scheme of thing epoxy is cheap and a little waste is to be expected.

The rough ring guide will fray your line. The guide needs to be replaced. This is a $10 job for a local builder or you can attempt to DIY. Any work around is a waste of time. You'd be better off pawning it off and use the money toward a usable rod.

An exposed blank seat is fitted to the blank diameter where it will be installed. It's attached with the same epoxy as other components. Wipe off the exposed section with alcohol. You can epoxy directly to the arbors without worrying about encapsulating them the way you do tape. Thinner layers of epoxy actually have stronger bonds than thick layers.

Basically you find 0 and put evenly spaced marks equal to the blank dia. Go to 180 and do the same starting half way between the first mark. Wrap up and down crossing at the marks. It's more involved than a post here can do justice. Look for a tutorial and let me know if you need direction.

If you mean a carbon or texalium tube then no don't fill it with epoxy it will weigh a ton. 3-4 on a 10" will hold fine. By arbor less reel seat do you mean exposed blank seat like acsm? You'll need an arbor/shim between the seat and tube.

Weaving is extremely time consuming and tedious imp. There are so many other decorative techniques that I don't get into thread art too much. Read the tutorials on rod building sites. A chevron or simple cross wrap is manageable to start.