S Hovanec

I think there is a bigger difference going from a Premier to an Avid than going from an Avid to a LTB. LTB to LE or LX is pretty much unmeasurable. basically, pick what color blank or guides or grip you want and go with that series. there is that little difference between them. Just because the Rage is rolled with the same graphite does not mean it's the same blank as the Avid. I have compared Rage rods to equivalent SCIII blanks and while they may share the mandrel design, SCIII graphite and the St. Croix name, they are NOT the same blank. Even if they were the same blank, the Avid would be worth the extra $50 to not have to deal with those Minima guides!

I don't know about cheaper, but you get a nicer product IMO.

1. Jerkbait 2. Crankbait 3. Tube 4. Dropshot 5. Dropshot 6. Dropshot 7. Dropshot

6#13oz. on a tube.

I get my needles at Tractor Supply.

Right now, 6'9" is my shortest rod. I really don't like rods less than that. I have a couple 6'10" blanks on the rack that will end up being 7' when I build them and a 7' that will wind up being 7'2". A couple years ago, I fell in love with a 7'6" MLXF SCIII. Plan on selling that one and building it again in the SCV series.

Broke my PB smallie 3 times in the summer of 2007. Think it was 2011 before breaking it again. Now I won't get excited til the scale reads 7#. I might get a replica, and might not. I know there's an 8 out there with my name on it!

I test cast rods in the yard, so yea, I guess I yard fish. You should have seen Lucky Craft Man heaving 30 oz. of lead in my yard after I did a mod on one of his musky rods. It was leaving craters. The dogs were scared!

Used Floroclear for years before switching to Halo. Now I use Powerpro with a Halo leader.

Those Hus Lures don't work. Especially not in 1/4oz gold on gold trolling downstream in the Yough River a mile from my house for stupid pelletheads!

Really can't say from their description. It doesn't say if the rings are SS or ceramic. The guides on the Abu are Ti frames with SS rings.

I've never seen a ceramic insert groove. I've see bunches crack and pieces fall out. I've seen guides with the plastic shock rings loose the ceramic insert and people not know, thus grooving the plastic ring.

and on a tangent, here's that Kistler I mentioned a couple pages ago.

Just to show that this isn't just an isolated incident, here is a ML Fenwick that came in last week. I had previously replaced the tip a few years ago on this rod due to grooving. Now the stripper and a running guide are grooved. Probably one other was too, but it was missing, which is why it was in for repair. Running guide. There are 8 grooves on this one, only 5 are visible in the pic. Stripper. Only 4 grooves here. The line isn't harder than the guide, but the sediment it picks up is. Braid isn't the only culprit. I've had tip grooves from floro come in too.

Croix and Loomis haven't had any grooving issues because they're using SiC tips. If they used the Recoil tips, i bet they would also groove. As for the running guides grooving, I feel this is caused by the guide getting nicked by a harder material. It then creates a place for the line to catch, thus making it run in the same spot over and over.

So they can just add a different tip section to achieve a different model.

I find all kinds of interesting stuff working on rods. Put split EVA grips on a bunch of Kistlers for a guy this spring. When stripping the cork, I could see the remants of a blank label. On one rod, the cork came off clean enough to make out that it was a Rainshadow blank. I've heard rumors they were built on all kinds of different blanks, but I confirmed one of them.

65# Powerpro. This is his frog rod. Makes sense....lots of dirt to get deposited in the pores of the braid.

My guess is really heavy braid. I bet it is really fuzzy and frayed, judging from the extent of the damage.

The damage is 360° around the tip. Probably from tip down, tip up and left and right reeling.

I had a Diawa spinning rod of some sorts in for a guide repair years ago. The stripper guide needed replaced. I cut the wrap off and there was a splice hidden under the wrap. Abu isn't the only one doing it. At least this one isn't in the middle of the rod like the Diawa.

Got an Abu Villain in for repair today. The repair wasn't guide related, so I'll get to that later. Upon inspection, I noticed the tip was severely grooved from the line. Upon further inspection, all of the guides were grooved to some degree. Here are the best pics I could come up with showing the damage. I replace a few grooved tips every year, but this is the worst one I've ever seen. This rod is less than 2 years old. Now to the reason it was brought in for repair. It seems the handle section is built on a separate piece of blank than the rest of the rod. This joint came un-bonded. Guess it's a 2 piece rod, kinda? From the description on TW : "Titanium alloy guides with Ti inserts help reduce weight further and provide excellent durability, while a C6 Total Exposure reel seat puts you in complete contact with the rod blank and delivers maximum sensitivity transfer" I call BS on the durability of the guides. Also BS on the complete contact with the blank thing, unless they mean through a sloppy fitting and poorly glued splice.

Depends on the spool diameter. For a 2500 shimano, 8# Fluoro is the heaviest that is manageable. 10 is doable, kinda. You will have some problems with it. I'd say a size 4000 reel could handle 10# just fine. Any heavier and you're better off going to casting gear or braid on the spinning rod.

Had a 165 Sea Nymph with a 20 Johnson on it. Fantastic little boat for the limited lake.

The last few years, I just drain my tank and not worry about it. I run the old boat gas in my truck and snowblower. I do run blue StaBil all season tho.