S Hovanec

I LOVE Tennessee grips!! My spybait rod and last 2 DS rods have them and my upcoming build will also!

Static test. Tie a piece of line to the tip and attach it to the bench to apply load to the rod. Run another line through the guides and attach near the reel seat. Tie a 1/2 oz weight to that one to take up the slack. Apply load using the first string and look at the line path with the second. Light load. Medium load. Heavy load. Path should follow the blank without too much of an angular deviation. If angle is too great, adjust guides or add one if necessary.

I understand that. Dropshot rods are my kryptonite! I can't get enough of them! I gave my wife my 6'9" SCIII when I built my 6'9" SCIV. Then I gave her my SCIV when I built the SCV. Now I gave her the 6'9" MLXF SCV when I built the 6'10" (extended to 7') MLXF SCV in the fall of '15. Now I have one of the green 6'10" MLXF SCVs to build cause, well, I really like the green color! I also have a 6'10" Mag-Lite/XF NFC, a 7'6" MLXF SCIII, and 2 ISB822.5 Rainshadows. Have I mentioned I like dropshot rods?!?! Forgot about the other ISB822.5 that I'm extending to 8'.

To be honest, the only reason I use the Titanium frames is I like the color! The weight difference between SS and Titanium in the running guides is almost immeasurable. You have to weigh them in lots of 10 to get a grip on how light they are. The big difference is in the reduction guides, and it's not all that much either.

Go with K frame Alconite then. The Recoils aren't tall enough to get a proper layout, IMO. The Alconites will be cheaper and are a good guide too. Best bang for the buck.

No. It'll just do the same thing......and it'll add weight and look ugly too.

My personal rods get the titanium treatment. Current DS rod has Torzite. Prior DS rod had Y frame TiSiC. One prior to that had black Alconites. I'm not a fan of Recoils. Yea, they're light, but I have a problem with metal touching my line. Plus, they're too short for and they cost as much as TiSic Fuji's.

You will know if moisture gets under the wrap. The wrap will turn cloudy. On the rare occasion, rust will ooze out of the end of the guide where the crack is.

The 2 setups I use on my dropshot rods are: KL16H, KL8H, KL5.5M, 4 or 4.5 running guides KL20H, KL10H, KL5.5M, 4 or 4.5 running guides.

For $4k you should be able to find a good used 16' tin with possibly a 20 or 25.

That is far from a blemish, its tip adhesive. It happens to me every time I use hot melt tip adhesive. Someone just forgot to remove it after it hardened. Just poke the glue out and enjoy the rod.

Huh? what did I do now? Lol

That is odd. Every set of Microwaves or Airwaves I've used or sold had an instruction sheet and MW decal.

Yes, there are a few ways to add weight to the butt. The simplest is stainless washers in a crutch tip. I prefer to add weight inside the blank or to use a weighted butt cap.

It's not about what is popular, it's what will fit the blank in the location you want to place the reel. Measure the blank and order the appropriate size. If it's in between sizes, orderived the smaller and ream to fit your location.

I found that if I put all of my weight on the seat, my butt and back take a pounding and I assume the seat does too. If I lean forward a bit and keep my feet under me and allow my legs/knees to take some of the shock, it's a much nicer ride. I'm upwards of 350# and have not broke a seat in the 12 seasons I've been running my boat.....and I fish Lake Erie almost exclusively.

Just remember a XH in a freshwater series ≠ a XH in an inshore or saltwater series. Match line and lure ratings to select the right rod.

No, not at all. I loved converting my theater room in to a rod shop! Lol

Don't do it. You'll end up with a shop full of cool tools and no time to build yourself any rods!! Lol!

I catch too many fish directly under my transducer to buy in to the theory of sonar scaring the fish.

How big is the tank? I can't imagine what I'd do if I only got 30 miles out of a tank.

When I remodeled my last 2 tins, I just used short 1/4" stainless bolts, flat washers and nylon lock nuts to attach things like that. There were no leaking issues either.

Trim the threads back or you won't like it. Acrylic. Aluminum

Mine doesn't change, it just keeps getting longer! This is my que, off the top of my head. 2 ISB822.5 spinning (guest rods) ISB822.5 spinning extended to 8' 7'6" 4wt built as spinning Those 4 have the grips and reelseats glued up. One was actually wrapped and fished for 2 years but no finish applied. It needs rewrapped! XSW68MX casting for topwater 2 Bushido SJ7'2" 4-8# for panfish Seeker 705 crankbait rod Rodgeeks C473MHXS spinning for tubes 4SW70MLF as BFS 5S610MXF-G casting for jerkbait 5SW70MLF spinning cause..... pearl white St. Croix. 'nuff said! 5S76MLXF-2 G spinning to replace my 1pc Avid model. 5S610MLXF-G spinning for dropshot cause you can never have enough DS rods on deck. And I wanted a green one!

Once you start building, you'll never get all the ones you want built. I think i have a dozen in the que right now.