S Hovanec

That shouldn't be an issue. I can get a 8'er (1pc) in the cabin my wife's Malibu and probably a 10'er if I'd flip half of the seat down and put it in thru the trunk.

I agree with the above. The 6'8" MXF is a great senko rod. It's also my go-to tube rod.

Too many variables. Get what you can afford, tow and manage. As for the great motor debate that's taking place above.......There's only one motor that you WON'T see on a guide's boat on a a particular river I fish and that's a Merc. Majority are running Yamaha, there's a couple Evinriudes and Honda is making a pretty good surge now.

No, they're not sterile. It's just the drainage ditches that the PFBC stocks them in aren't fit for natural reproduction.

Great feature if you have a 'bird. Hopefully they'll offer it for other brands eventually.

I've had one on my boat since 2005 and one on the boat prior to that. Next motor will be one with the I-Pilot. The spot-lock feature will be fantastic for the off-shore fishing I do.

and I don't buy that ALL rods made in USA are of the best craftsmanship. Last week I got a rod in for a tip replacement and I was SHOCKED how poorly it was assembled and finished. This was not a St. Croix, but another USA made brand that I've never heard of until about a month ago. I snapped pics to show another builder cause I couldn't believe what I just saw. Even went to their website and the pics there look just like the ones I took. Here's a quote cut directly from their website: "xxxxxx Rods takes a scientific approach to fishing rod building and pays close attention to every tiny aspect of the manufacturing process to ensure our fishing rods meet the demands of enthusiastic anglers. Bottom line, we build the best fishing rods available today."

If you have Triumphs that are 10 years old, they weren't made in Mexico. Chances are they were made USA made right before they started making them in China (which FAILED MISERABLY). Same goes with the Mojo. There were a handful that were USA made because the NEW plant in Mexico was just starting up and not running at full capacity. St. Croix puts these lower priced rods out to be able to compete with all the other imports that are flooding the market. They need their presence known at every level.

Back before I built my own, I would buy directly from St. Croix for just that reason. You can't believe the way rods are handled in stores. I'm not as concerned with bare blanks as there are fewer people handling them before I get them.

IMO, it does nothing for sensitivity. Cork weighs so little, that removing it from the back of the rod does nothing but save the manufacturer $. That being said, I prefer full grips, but have built myself some split grip rods and I do like them. I like them because the handle design was aesthetically pleasing AND it saved me quite a bit of money......about $6/inch.

IMO, no knot known to man will make a good connection with Vanish. Disclaimer: This is MY opinion about vanish from 3 previous experiences. Guess I didn't learn the first 2 times!

I've only been using braid/leaders for 2 years, but I have NEVER broke a line at the connection knot. and I'm not fishing heavy line either.....10/2 braid to 6# and 8# leaders. I wouldn't worry about the connection knot being the weak point.

No, I meant 18'. I tie them that long on my dropshot rods and tube rods and I'm able to fish all day without the need to re-tie a leader, even after several re-ties and break-offs.

Thank you guys. This was an interesting build. Fitting the 7th piece was the most challenging. I had a SCIV crankbait rod in my bone pile, and the action was really close to that of the fly blank. After cutting a chunk out of the middle and removing the paint, I was able to sand the extra piece to fit perfectly into the end of the Cabelas blank. A bit of poor planning on my part led me to design a decal that wouldn't fit on the handle section. It worked out fine though because the bottom 4" of the fly blank was unpainted and needed to be covered. I absolutely despise double foot guides, so motivation to wrap this rod was quite low. As for the alignment dots, I've never done them before, so that was a learning experience. I wiped off quite a few that didn't turn out right. Handles and reelseats are where I accel and I wasn't given much creative freedom on this rod. He likes to rod-wrap all of his grips, so there was no reason to do anything cool with them. I said that he HAD to let me do a reelseat then since the grips would be covered. I picked up this TiCh colored window seat and turned a blue big leaf maple insert for it. I don't think he was expecting that! Here's a few better pics of the seat. BTW, the parts are on their way for a 10.5' 2pc musky rod capable of casting 36oz lures!

I did a little experiment during my vacation in June while fishing on Erie. 2 set-ups, almost identical (both custom St. Croix spinning rods). A 5S69MLXF with 10/2 PowerPro and a 18' fluoro leader and a 4C69MLXF with straight 10/2 PowerPro. The PowerPro only rod didn't get a bite but the leadered PowerPro saw much action.

They don't get any more real than this: https://www.huddbaits.com/index.php?p=21&cat=1

Sounds like a chipped or cracked insert to me.

When I was fishing straight fluoro, I would do this. Saves lots of $ in the long run. I would put 50yds of Halo on at a time blood-knotted to whatever junk I had laying around for backer. Usually it would be 8# backer and 6# & 8# fluoro.

The big joke about Vanish is that the only thing that vanishes is the lures and fish at the end of your line. If your drag was set at 19# and the line has a break strength of 14#, the line is gonna break, no matter what brand it is. Your 30# main to 14# leader sounds fine. just back off on the drag a little. Typical drag setting is 25-30% of line break strength.

There's your problem, the weakest link broke. (and I'll keep the Vanish jokes to myself)

Braid and leader. Did that 2 years ago and will NEVER fish straight fluro on my DS rods again.

Largemouth aren't my thing, but I pick Lake Fork anyway cause I fish Erie whenever I want. It's pretty sad that my PB smallie is more than 2# bigger than my PB largie!

I'd hardly call it frankentackle, but that's the closest option to what I have. All of my reels are Shimano and all of my rods are customs. Most being St. Croix, but there's a few North Forks and Rainshadows in the mix.

Only thing I've ever found ugly sticks to be good for are tomato stakes and inner plugs for repairing broken rods.

Since both rods broke in just about the same place, id take note as to how you store/transport the rods. I have a friend that broke 4 rods in one summer, all in the exact same spot. That spot happened to be where the rods rested on the top-cap of his boat when he ran from spot to spot. The rods bounced on there, fracturing the fibers in the rod. Set the hook or snap-cast and poof.....splinters.