Delaware Valley Tackle

The gear material is not the problem. Those are all suitable grease choices. My general preference is either a marine grease or Cals/Shimano drag grease. The Hot sauce oil is ok if the red dye on everything doesn't bother you, but the grease gums up too much for me to use or recommend.

In actual use, no. Just another way to skin a cat.

There are as many fee structures as there are clubs. I paid $200 +/- yr but that included club dues and entry for 8-10 tournaments. They have since changed to a separate dues/entry system because not everyone could make every tourney. It's well within reason to ask the club officers about costs and what the club's income covers.

You'll be fine .ghoti. The one I referred was indeed a TN handle and consciously erred on the overkill side. Even then, the finished rod weighed only 3.3 oz. I've never fooled with a plate seat but was looking at them the other day. Let me know what you think.

The nail weight rig you're thinking of is referred to as Neko rig.

If you're gaining confidence in diy service try just flushing and oiling the stock bearings. Fly fisher, email or call and see if I can help you trouble shoot.

The only manufacturers using hybrid bearings in a stock reel are the most expensive 13 reel I believe. The quantum reel bearings may have a polymer cage but that's something else entirely.

The chances of a level wind pawl going bad with zero impact on the worm gear is low. The pair isn't that expensive so I'd recommend changing both if there's a problem.

That's such BS on their part. Some grease additives do react to one another but worst case scenario the grease would just pool or gunk up and even then it would take months of dry use to wear anything out. It's not like a catastrophic event will occur and the mixed greases themselves will damage anything.

Was it because of the grease or the fact that you opened a relatively new reel?

The clicking is from the redundant AR. Adjustment and greasing will correct it. If that's become dry the whole reel can likely benefit from a deep cleaning. Removal is an option but it's a nice added feature when maintained.

If using a large reel that sits high I'll use a little larger stripper to get some ring height, but in general you don't need anything larger than the level wind line guide opening. Multiple size transition guides don't do much for performance, but some like the aesthetic effect.

Good start. In the future though, put your arbors closer together leaving about 1/8" gap or so filling the gaps with epoxy, making solid contact points between the blank and components.

I think you're on the right track. Chatter baits, spinnerbaits, and swim jigs should all fish equally well on the same rig whatever your preference.

Common tournament rules limit length to 8'. Anything much longer will be two pieces to fit in a locker but I can see too long being cumbersome with two in the boat. As for fatigue I spend 10 hr days wading steelhead rivers with a 13 footer and I'm admittedly not in my prime conditioning wise. Working on changing that though. lol

The rod is by far the most important part of casting. Don't worry so much about power rating (M vs. MH) and look at the lure weight range keeping in mind that the sweet spot usually lies near the mid-range. So called weightless plastics are anything but in a lot of cases. Check some of your favorites and pick a rod accordingly.

I don't like the terms micro or macro or standard for that matter. A guide is a guide and they come in various ring sizes and frame heights. Pick the lightest guides that will withstand the load and pass any needed connections. A 4.5 will pass an Albright connecting 50# braid with a 15# leader. If pitching a lot maybe step it up a size. Match the tip top to the runners, no smaller.

The blanks action and tip stiffness are separate attributes. A "popping" blank may have a very fast yet action with a soft tip. I use these for jerkbbaits. A slop Rod will be powerful with an expectedly stiff tip but still have a moderate or mod/fast action. I wouldn't use dual taper as a term to describe either. Rod actions can be achieved through blends of various modulus graphite, wall thickness and other things in conjunction with mandrel taper. I also look at action and taper as slightly different terms. Some rods are lower in casting power then transition into beefy butt sections with relatively high lifting power. I consider this type of blank as having a fast taper. A high end light weight blank can have a fast action and surprisingly powerful backbone without an exceptionally large diameter butt thus not as fast a taper but still a fast action. Most of the blank makers with robust lineups will contain examples of each type. It's true though that the only way to know for sure is to experiment which is fun but can get expensive.

I'll use tape if the gap can be filled with 10 or fewer wraps. Other than that either the poly or graphite arbors. Cork works to if you have a way to turn them and boring too thin they will collapse.

They're pushing the envelope if not outright breaking law. GM tried this in the 90s and got in trouble. Of course no one is going to court over a $100 reel. I don't blame you for having a bad taste in your mouth over that. There's too much good competition in the tackle business to alienate customers.

Yes it's perfectly safe to add oil of another brand as far as interaction between them. It's still best to flush regularly.

That's pinion / spool pin noise. If it's new enough exchange it, if not send it in and I'll service and do the needed repairs.

I was a lube oil distributor for years and have never heard of a lubricant breaking down from simply sitting in the original container. The Bantam oil is not a bad product, but you can use whatever appropriate oil you have. If you used a lubricant in the wrong application, say putting motor oil in a transmission obviously that will void a warranty but equipment manufacturers can not require you to buy oil from them in order to honor warranty. Rem Oil, 3in1 or even sewing machine oil will work fine.

Nice build and worthy cause. They have a saltwater version of the Microwave guides.