Delaware Valley Tackle

Custom rod building is fun and rewarding if you do it for the right reasons. Saving money isn't one of them as a rule. There is a learning curve. How steep the curve is depends on the individual. Your first rod will likely be functional and something to be proud of but the detail will improve with practice. Kits are fine to learn on but on some level defeat the purpose a custom rod in that the components are somewhat generic. Muhole is a good supplier. I've had good luck with the MHX blanks but some are turned off by them being imports. Do some research here and on rod building forums and you'll get a feel for what to expect.

The size 5 & 7 are 3/16 & 5/16 respectively and would be thrown on spinning gear if it were me. the 3/8 and 9/16 should be ok on a Med/mod rod that will load properly with them.

IMO: The main advantage to braid as far as bass fishing goes is sensitivity due to the lack of stretch. It also saws through grass and is good in heavy cover situations. The con is poor abbrasion resistance. That's when you would use a leader. Fluoro has good abbrasion resitance. Fluoro has low visibility and good abrassion resistance. Some find it to have less stretch than mono but tests don't really prove that out to a large degree. Fluoro is stiff making some like it for slack line presentations. The con here is knot strength. Poorly tied knots or kinks from backlashes can weaken the line. The stiffness makes it harder to handle as well. The importance of line visibility for bass fishing is debatable. Personally I believe line diameter it more important but will use fluoro in super clear open water for spooky fish. Mono is inexpensive and works fine if the right weight is used. The stretch of mono can be a con where sensitivity is concerned and the strength to line diameter is obviously way below braid. Co-poly lines blend the characteristics of mono and fluoro with varying degrees of success. I'm looking into trying few of these. I run braid on almost all of my setups with a leader where necessary. The exception is dedicated cranking reels which have 10# smoke color mono.

At a price point above $100 you'd have to almost try to wrong in selecting a good baitcast reel. Whether or not the type R is worth the extra is totally personal preference. The point of diminishing returns is at about $250 IMO. The Daiwa brake system is a unique blend of centrifugal and magnetic braking that is very effective and adjustable. Cheap throw away reels cause more frustration than the $ they save. Match whatever reel you choose to a MH/F 7' rod for a good all around setup. Choose a manageable line like a 15# mono. Fill the spool to about 1/8 inch from the rim. peel off 150' feet of line and run a strip of electrical tape across the spool. This will limit the severity of the inevitable backlash. Practice with a relatively heavy weight (3/4 oz or so) and make nice easy lob casts concentrating on spool control and accuracy. Distance will come later and is way over rated anyway. Let the rod load and do the work. Getting over zealous and bombing one out there is when you get in trouble. When you do need to pick out a backlash look up the "Thumb Trick". Do not tug on the end of the line or you'll end up cutting it out. If you're used to casting right and reeling left I suggest sticking with that. There is no advantage to changing hands. There is no right or wrong either. You catch fish using all spinning or all casting but matsering both gives you more options and enhances the overall experience. Don't get frustrated. This is supposed to be fun, not life or death! Post you progress and questions as you go and you'll get plenty of assistance. Good luck

You got several replies in your other post on this: If you're just excited about your custom build, go fot it and enjoy. If you're unsure of the advice of the builder you've chosen, then you haven't done your homework.

IMO, the ML-XF is the way to go. The St Croix is a great blank. If you want to save a few bucks the MHX is really close. A Tennessee grip uses slip rings so the VSS wouldn't work it'd be one or the other. I'd pass on the Wave Spin guides for this build since casting distance shouldn't be a concern. I'm not sure what you mean by, " Spinning handle attached to the butt ferrule" but for a minimalist build skip anything that adds weight without purpose. I prefer a ceramic ring in the tip but I've used Minima4 guides (SS insert) with good success. They are super light and inexpensive. I have a 6'10" MHX w/ Minima 4 guides, micro top and Carbon Tennessee handle that weights 3.2 oz complete. I pair it with a CI4 and 20# braid.

In the case I mentioned the culprit was the thumbar spacers which is a little plastic shim with a slot for the lever. It shouldn't be a wear item but if it's a little off from production it would probably have been a problem latter.

I recently repaired a Revo with a binding thumbar (previous gen but same design) It's an easy fix but if it's warrantied just swap it

If it's under warranty go ahead and exchange it. If the new one is no better I'll be happy to go through it and get the most out of it.

My discount to BassResource.com members is 10% off labor and after market parts (drags, bearings etc) I do not have various level of service, every reel gets the same thorough and complete attention. I do not add handling, return postage is equal to inbound. Visit my site, PM me here,email or call any time if I can answer any questions.

That rubber ring is a friction ring and its purpose is to keep the rotor from spinng during a cast.

x2 good point

The cost to repair an AMP rod will likely exceed replacement cost. Even sliding a repalcement seat on from the butt end is about $20 in labor plus materials and you wouldn't get the window seat. Those are fit to the blank and are slid on from the tip which would require stripping the whole rod of the guides and rewrapping which is closer to a $100 job. I could build a budget custom from scratch for a few bucks more.

It's not a bad idea to babysit the first couple rods and turn them by hand just to get a real feel for how epoxy behaves.

In-line spinners and swimming twist-tail grubs are two lures that might benefit from a swivel along with flukes. As mentioned, closing the bail by hand and pulling the line snug prior to retrieve help with line twist. Another tip is to be sure the line roller is maintained properly and working smoothly. KVD L&L helps with line management too but some line twist is inevitable with spinning tackle. Before it gets too bad, cut off the bait and troll the bare line out behind a boat or down stream to remove most of the twist accumulated. Braid is very manageable on a spinning reel as well.

Thank you for the referral. A deep cleaning and lube costs $22 less 10% for members here. Return shipping is equal to outbound. A reel in the price range noted should be well worth maintaining and using.

Check your PM

To some degree bearing upgrades fall into an "Enthusiast" category. If you're looking for on the water performance improvement a good cleaning and some polishing is a place to start and I'd spin test bearings and make recommendations at that time.

Those reels are pretty good casting especially the newer (XT 2010) version. The drag is probably the weakest link. An older version reel with some hours on it might benefit slightly from Tuning, but if they've never been deep cleaned you'd be pleaseantly surprised by the results.

What's Kid Rock say? "It aint cocky if you back it up" lol Nice fish

Spinning reels benefit from regular maintenance which too mant neglect. There is nothing to tune in a spinningreel since no moving parts affect the cast. Super Tuning for any eligible reel is $34 plus parts if any.

The Quantums have 3 bearings supporting the spool so the cost there would be another $14.95. I'd have to see the reel to properly evaluate, but based on my experience with quantums Super Tuning for $34 and using the stock bearings properly flushed and lubed would get good results.

Yup I see very few rod breaks that were not at some level user error.

A couple of things. First keep in mind that Fast & XFast are subjective terms and may be very similar especially when crossing brands. Second, there is no strict right or wrong in applications for tackle. Getting a consensus among several opinions is the best you can hope for. IMO, If having one finesse rod fits your budget and needs, stick with the higher quality rod over one with a slightly different action. The higher end rod it probably lighter, more sensitive and has better components. Also, the slightly slower rod tip should load & cast light baits better and it sounds like you do more of that.

Parts are an extra cost and are installed during a cleaning & lube if they are requested. Since the reel is already stripped there is no extra installation cost. Bearings and drag kits can be ordered individually and installed yourself as well. Example: Clean & Lube = $22 Boca Orange Seal Bearings (pair) = $29.95 Return shipping (est. actual is equal to in-bound) = $7 Less BassResource.com discount (10% off after market parts & labor) = -$5.20 Total= $53.75