S Hovanec

Ahhh, never cared for those cause its a real PITA to make cork to fit.

I don't remember what seat was on the prior LE models.

I hate the seats on the LX. The new seats on the LE intrigue me. I have one I'm going to use on a RodGeeks to test them out. They feel nice and the exposed blank is never a bad thing.

I'm building one of those in 2pc for myself.

I'm with A-Jay on this one. I bought new because I wanted the piece if mind knowing the motor was properly broke-in. I was able to rig everything exactly how I wanted. I didn't have to settle for something that was less than ideal. Plus, the boat/motor combo I wanted didn't exist in the used boat market.

I look at upgrade boats all the time. Then I remember how nice it is to have a boat that's paid off and the newboatitis subsides. It may not be fast, but it floats and does the job and all I have to pay for is insurance and gas!

I knew I had a pic of one of those seats trimmed down somewhere. You probably could have taken a bit more of the threads off.

Now when you glue that part of the seat to the blank, make sure its where it needs to be to fit the reel.

Yep.

When they say match it to the blank, they are referring to the blank exposed style of seat like a Fuji ACS or ECS. Either 16mm or 17 mm will work for you. It's a matter of preference and what is comfortable to you.

Lol. I missed that the first time!

No such thing as a surplus of Shikari or USA Rainshadows, you have a gold mine. Well, not quite, but maybe a silver mine!

Wife picked up a pack on sale at Field and Stream. They sure look good in the water, but she didn't get a single bite. Crosstails and Yamamoto Shad Shape Worms were killing it that day.

It's not hard. Screw the hood til it almost completely covers the threads, maybe within 1/8" or so. Mark the threaded barrel in front of the locking nut. That will be where you will cut. Remove the nut/hood from the threads. Put a wrap of tape around the threads where you placed the mark. This will give you a guide to follow. Cut with a dremel and cutoff wheel or hacksaw. My preferred method is spinning it on a lathe and cutting with a parting tool.

You need to trim the excess threads off so none are exposed when the reel is locked down.

If he had a surplus of Shikari or Cascade rolled Rainshadows, he'd be marketing as such and selling for a premium!

Rod Power: The “power” of a rod refers to how much pressure it takes to flex the rod. Different rod powers are engineered to efficiently handle a certain range of lure weights and line sizes. Rod Action: The “action” of a rod is determined by where a rod flexes along the blank. Faster action rods flex mostly near the tip. Moderate action rods flex more near the middle of the blank. Slower action rods flex down into the butt section.

No question what it would be if it were me. TwinPower 2500HGS

Yea. I made a baitcaster guy look silly and convert him to dropshot spinning all in one trip. Lake Erie in 50' of water. I was hooked up and my fish was jumping before his bait was even near the bottom......on several occasions.

$120 might get you a decent rod, if you build it yourself. That $120 won't even cover the labor on most of what I build. Either he's using really low end components or he's not charging labor. Sounds like he's trying to cater to the Walmart crowd, and he won't be in business long if he doesn't get away from that. Once you're known for building cheap customs, you'll never be able to raise the prices.

Exactly what he said. making split grips, extending and lengthening rear grips and removing foregrips is easy. reel seats, not so much. It can be done though. The reason LC Man has his Loomis rods modified is because Loomis no longer sells blanks, otherwise, I would have built him those rods instead of modifying them.

Nothing wrong with that winding check. After you become more comfortable building, you may find that you want to shorten the length of the threads so that none are exposed when the reel is locked down.

No lie there. Good will towards man my fat fanny. Holiday shoppers are the nastiest of the bunch. Come in 3 days before christmas and tear in to you because you don't have xxx from the ad 2 weeks ago!

I only consume when I'm home, at camp or wherever I'm gonna stay for the night. There's too much of that on the road.