S Hovanec

I've stripped and rebuilt 2 and assembled one from a new bare hull. NEVER AGAIN!! That is a nice looking setup. CC boats have always intrigued me and I wonder why you don't see more of them on Erie.

Mine was already installed on my power wrapper when I got it! I wouldn't want to remove mine as it looks like there isn't much clearance to get my fat fingers in there.

Gear lube doesn't flow too good when its 30° or colder. Takes hours to drain completely.

Kigan XLA.Here's a better pic on another rod.

It is for a SCV 610MLXF that will be extended to 7'. Fuji Torzite guides and a Split Tennessee grip. Currently, that rod is in pieces in my shop. The grip has been glued together but not turned yet.

I apologize for derailing the original topic earlier. The only one that can say if its worth it is you. Some people drive an Acura and some drive a Honda. They both get you to work, one just gets you there a little smoother. I will own a Stella someday, but until then, I'm happy with my Sustains, Stradics and Twinpowers.

That new Stradic may have just bumped the CI4 off of my new tube rod and make me change the wraps from red to blue. If they were available, one of these would be on a plane bound for the US tomorrow!

Little off topic, but this rod was designed around the reel.

You most certainly did. Life's too short to fish with ugly equipment, especially when you're putting that much money in it. A CI4 looks like ass on a blue/green SCV. I actually build my rods to complement the intended reels. NFC with charcoal wraps and red trim to match a CI4. SCV with Ti guides and steel blue trim to match a Stradic MG. I have a silver rodgeeks that will be wrapped to match my other CI4. Had I not found the old Sustain in my reel box, I would have bought something with gold accents to go with my Spybait build.

Correct. And that's why I went with the Twinpower HG, because the HG is a 6.0 gear ratio. I don't know which ratio would be more desirable for shakeyhead as I don't fish it.

To me, maximum drag means nothing on a spinning rod that light. you're never going to have a drag setting over 3 or 4 pounds and more likely less than 2.5 for your 7# leader. If you lock it down, you'll probably snap the leader on the hookset.

I chose the HGS because I dropshot in deep water and wanted a fast retrieve to get the lure up quick a d the shallow spool because I only put 50 yards of braid on my reel. Don't need much backing with the shallow spool. The 2500s is rated to hold 100 or so yards of 4# mono.

Once I fish mine, I'll post a review. It may be a while as the intended rod is still in pieces.

Not a bad question. There are a few different answers to it too. 1. I already have 2 USDM CI4s and wanted to try something different. 2. The black and red of the CI4 wouldn't match the new rod. 3. I wanted a metal framed reel. 4. Wanted a reel with a shallow spool. 5. Quite possibly the biggest reason, I wanted something that was different! I could have got the Rarenium CI4 to achieve 1, 2, 4 and 5 and almost did that too, but the size/gear/spool configuration I wanted wasn't offered in the Rarenium.

S is shallow spool M is medium spool HG is high gear The C prefix is compact body. Meaning a c3000, is a 2500 body.

I was real close to pulling this trigger on a Stella for my new DS rod, then the new Twinpowers were released. That's where I threw my money. Plus, the Stella wouldn't have matched the new rod as well!

In a perfect world, I'd change it in the fall. That never seems to happen though and by the,time I get around to fall boat maintenance, it's too cold to drain the oil. So, spring has been it for a,while.

One of the nicest looking big smallies I've caught. This one was only 6#3oz.

My buddy is a guide on Ontario. He has something similar on the boat he swaps out to different rods when a salmon is hooked. Really helps when fighting big fish.

I've wrapped one rod and a few repairs with it. I really liked it, just wish it was availabvle in more colors. That's what Lumberjack Barbie was wrapped with. No gaps, and it would be very visible with it being black over pink. Just got a spool of neon orange ProWrap NCP. HATE IT. I was gonna wrap that surf rod with it to match the grip. Scrapped that idea for charcoal and will use the neon for the trim bands.

My sure fire method was to buy a Honda! Started every time I turned the key since 2005!

Its true. However it did snow!

He has one of my creatitons unwrapped. It's his 7wt Sage. Wait til you see what I have in mind for his 11wt. I hope it all works out and doesn't end up in the drawer of 'grips I'm not proud of'!

I had to quit tonight. I broke too much stuff in the shop. After I bored the foregrip, I needed to change chucks to turn the grip. The chuck was stuck on the threaded adapter. In my attempt to get the chuck off, I managed to mess up the chuck, those jaws, the threaded adapter and my 1/2" x18" mandrel. To say it was an expensive night is an understatement. Fortunately the insert was good enough to put my other chuck on to turn the grip. Here's what I ended up doing after my little mishap. Rough turned. Finished grip. All glued up. Tomorrow, I'll chuck it up in the power wrapper and finish shaping the grips. I'll blend the rear grip into the butt cap and taper it to the back of the reel seat. I'll also taper the foregrip to the front of the reel seat.