Delaware Valley Tackle

The type of miles is more important than the number. My commuter car has 225,000 miles ona V6 and doesn't miss a beat. The catch is that a majority of those miles are interstate cruise control miles. In the minds of some people a truck is a "work" vehicle and gets little TLC. Check for loose door hinges and worn foot pedals. These can be signs of wear that are overlooked when a vehicle is buttered up fot sale.

I believe this is a graphite frame reel. If that's the case, it's one more argument for one of the other on-sale reels.

Batson makes a fine blank. Gary's NFC blanks are good of course but very pricy. Batson has a very robust line of blanks with something to fit just about every application. Let me know what blank is recommended and what the application will be and I'll throw in my $.02 if you want.

Or you could use my secret weapon for light baits: a $70 spinning reel. Just sayin'

Not to say it can't be done, but the Shimano spool is not designed with disassembly in mind. If I were you I'd keep looking for the spool you really want.

I'd lean toward the MH if fishing cover and ripping weeds

Take a look at your knot and be sure the tag ends are trimmed off closely. I have had mono tag ends catch if not trimmed since they point toward the guide when casting. A size 4 guide should pass your connections without too much problem. Unless abbrasion is a concern like when fishing zebra mussel beds tying direct is your best bet.

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You can try scraping gently with a razor. Don't saw back and forth with it. A little heat (no more than your bare hand can tolerate should soften the epoxy enough to peel the excess off with a thumb nail. More than an insert coming out, I'd be careful about peeling back the epoxy off the guide wrap. Denatured alcohol is about as strong a solvent as I'd use.

I'm with you Bill. Just couldn't swing the big trip this year. Nate Follmer pulled a few together for a PA meeting last yr but I had a scheduling conflict and couldn't make that either. I'd be in and pitch in whatever it'd takes to put together.

As a rule, the smallest, lightest guides suitable for an application will allow the blank to reatin as much of it's design elements as possible. The main consideration as far as a bass rod is concerned is passing any necessary leaders or knots. An Albright knot joining 65# braid and 17# fluoro will pass #4 guides no problem. If icing is a concern, that should be factored as well. All the bass rods I build for personal use have micros and I recommend them regularly to clients.

Bet bet is to call ABU ask them. In the mean time you can compare schematics on their site looking for similar part numbers. I'll ckeck around and pm you if I get any feedback.

My guess is that rod was subjected to some extreme in temperature or handling of some sort. This is not common at all for Fuji guides or micros in general. Have the whole rod replaced as suggested.

Let me throw in one more thing. If you have not develped the habit of casting then switching hands to crank don't. Get what is sold as a lefty reel if you are right handed. This lets you cast with your power hand and be ready to set the hook or begin the retrieve immediately.

The numbers you're talking about are gear ratios (7.1:1, 6.4:1, 5.1:1,....) This a gauge of how fast the reel takes up line when cranking. It tells you that for every full turn of the handle the spool revolves x times. A more true measurement is IPT (inches per turn) because spool diameter is taken into account. As far as applications go, 6.x:1 is the basic all purpose ratio. 7:1 is faster and preferred by some for burning baits and taking up slack quickly when jig fishing. 5:1 is preferred by many for deep running crankbaits due to increased torque hence less effort to crank. And you right that this like 90% of what we discuss boils down to personal preference.

I have a 6' custom spinnerbait rod, a 6' pistol grip mod/fast action rod I throw shallow square bills with sometimes and a 6'6" spinning rod I throw small jerk baits with. 7' is a good middle of the road length and I work up or down from there to suit a particular application.

I don't know Mr Cusano personally but from all accounts and the resume above the honor is well deserved. Congratulate him for me and thank him for his contributions.

Epoxy is the best choice for wet/underwater adhesive. Super Glue themselves recommend epoxy for this application.

"Micro" covers a range of guide sizes and used properly are the way to go. Properly used in as far as a bass rod goes is making sure the guides will pass necessary leaders and knots. A size 4 guide will pass 65# braid to 17# fluoro joined with a good Albright knot without a problem. Ice build up and filimentous algae can clog them so consider that too.

To remove it completely heat the epoxy with a hair drier or heat gun holding your hand behind the rod to avoid over heating. Use a razor blade and carefully cut throug the finish and thread where the foot of the keeper lies under the thread. This keeps you from cuttinginto the blank. The thread and finish will peel off fairly easily. Reheating any left over finish should allow you to scrape it off with a thumbnail.

TT's review reafirms my initial take on this which is that the G series is not a dog as much as the E series set the bar really high by encroaching on the previous Chronarch. At the end of the day Shimano fans still have a line of quality reels at various price point ot choose from.

Technique specific labels are largely marketing but can help the uninitiated make choices. My suggestions is to start with Eddie Weavers "Rod Charachteristics" article in the library here. It will give you a good idea what rod features to look for and how to interpret and apply mfg ratings.

Your experience with the Sahara isn't typical. I suggest looking into a warraty replacement as RW said. Failing that, the cost of a service is only $16.20 for members (plus shipping and parts if needed) so you may not want to just junk the reel. If and when the time comes I also like the bang for your buck the Pflueger spinning reels provide.

The cast control cap on the side is not technically a brake but does affect casting. Tightening puts light pressure on the spool shaft ends. A centifugal brake (tabs on the inside)are activated when the spool starts spinning, the centrifugal force deploys the brake pads that rub on a brake drum. This style of brake prevents backlash by keeping the spool from feeding line faster than the bait pulls it out. The magnetic brake applies constant resistance on the spool. This helps prevent over run as the bait looses momemtum. This is adjusted by the palm side dial which moves the magnets closer to or further from the spool. Of the two, I prefer that my reels have cent brakes and I can take or leave the mag brake. Casting distance is affected by rod length, action and power, line choice, weight and profile of the bait and the freespool and setup of the reel. FWIW casting distance is way over rated as opposed to accuracy. Kinda like the drive for show, putt for dough saying in golf.

OK. Just double check that the grease says Drag Grease on the container. The Carbontex drag can be run dry for raw power or lightly greased for smooth activation.