BobP

When graphite started being used for rod blanks, the IM rating was useful. Maybe it still is on lower priced rods made with the same materials and methods used 15 years ago. But IMO, there is too much variation in how blanks are built and the materials used (graphite, resin systems, carbon fiber, etc) to rate blank quality by the graphite IM number. Most high end blank builders don't reveal graphite modulus numbers for that reason. A high quality spinnerbait or crankbait blank might be made with IM-6 graphite as the best design choice. A worm rod in the same rod series might use IM-10 graphite. The real measure of blank quality is how well it performs in the application it was designed for. I wish there was a number for that!

I fish the Staysee jerkbait in cold water quite often and catch a lot of fish on it. I've had good days with a Bevy Shad in Ghost Minnow burning it over submerged grass beds (though it's really a jerkbait).

I use Iwatas and they are the standard for quality. I trust Iwata quality enough that IF I were going to get into a lower-price airbrush, I'd seriously consider the Neo even though it's not made in Japan like all other brushes in the Iwata lineup.

JMHO. I've switched out stock (often ABEC 5) bearings for ABEC 7's and have tried ceramic bearings in a few reels. I haven't tried Boca Orange Seals. I'm sure they're good - but not lots better than other options. Personally, I never saw a big difference on the water in actual fishing conditions after switching. If you fish from a boat, does it make a difference whether the reel casts 100 ft or 105 ft? Not really. Are the ugraded bearings smoother than the factory? Not really. In fact the ceramic bearings I tried were initially louder and rougher, though they did cast a little farther. I now upgrade bearings only if/when the factory bearings need replacement - and that's not often. Open bearings are easier to clean and lube but they sling their lube out faster than shielded bearings. I don't mind open bearings where they operate at low speed and where heavier lube is better but on spool bearings that turn at very high RPMs and are lubed with light bearing oil, I think shielded bearings are a better choice.

No. And as for "bleeding" - have you seen a baitfish actually bleed red blood? It dissolves too quickly to see. If you want to push red, you might say it represents the red gill flash of a fleeing baitfish, which is why crankbaits have red gills painted on them. But I never perceived a better catch rate using red hooks in plastic baits.

When I first began painting crankbaits, I went with the cheapest stuff I could find just to see if it was for me. That was a $25 single action Badger starter kit that came with an aerosol can of compressed air, plus a few bottles of $2 hobby paint from Michael's craft store. Something like that will at least get your toes wet before you dive into the hobby. Nowadays, I use a tool compressor and have a couple of Iwata air brushes and a box with 50 different shades of airbrush paint. It's one heck of a lot easier to use and learn from than the starter kit but I know where you're coming from.

I've repaired a broken rod, but not a tip section where the internal hollow is so small. I did mine from instructions on rodbuilding org's site and it required 3 pieces: an internal graphite splint, a mid-level graphite section to maintain the rod's length, and an external fiberglass overlay, all fitted exactly from sections cut from other blanks. I guess a tip repair would have to be done differently but I would be concerned about anything that added weight to or changed the action of the tip. JMHO, critical repairs are just not gonna be cost effective on an $80 rod.

I think there are political, commercial, and social reasons why it's easier and more effective for a company to exert good quality control in a factory in one country, say Malaysia or Korea, than in another, say China. You can certainly lament that the best product is not made in the U.S.A. You can make a political statement by only buying "Made in the USA". Good luck with that! Like 99.9% of consumers, I'll buy what I perceive to be the best product that I can afford. If that's something from the All American Reel Company assembled by workers belonging to the Reel Workers Union of America - I'll be first in line.....but ONLY if the price and quality are competitive.

Lots of rods are assembled in China. I got no problem with'em. Chinese reels? Don't know of any, but plenty are made in Malaysia by Abu, Shimano, etc. and I've never been able to tell any difference from reels assembled in Japan. Lures, specifically knockoff lures are a different animal. Chinese factories turn them out for pennies from molds that mimic expensive Japanese lures from Megabass, Lucky Craft, etc. But the lure internals are never the same. So if you think a $5 Chinese knockoff of a $25 Megabass Ito Vision 110 jerkbait might be "just as good", you're deluding yourself. I build and paint crankbaits for a hobby and have tried many knockoffs over the years. If I had spent the money buying originals instead, I would have probably come out ahead because so many of the knockoffs went straight to the trash can after an aggravating trial on the water. And I would have caught more fish, which is the important thing!

I think it's toast and an $80 rod is just not worth the cost of a professional fix. A 6'4" MH/XXF jig rod? No thanks. Sometimes it better to bite the bullet and get a new rod. Strip off the guides and you'll have a nice tomato stake. Or cut off the blank at the handle, clamp on an old reel, and use it to hold the line for your lure retriever. Some Shimano rods have an over the counter replacement warranty. Don't know if that applies to Sellus line. Most warranties do not cover accident. When they do, you are usually talking very high priced rods that built the cost of "no fault replacement" claims into the retail price of their products.

Alternatives to balsa are paulownia or white cedar. Paulownia is the wood with next-higher density to balsa but it is much harder. Balsa density is 6-18 lb/cu ft (12 lb average) and paulownia averages 18 lbs. Most balsa sold in shops is lighter density balsa intended for model airplanes and such. I often use light balsa for its high buoyancy but you need to seriously reinforce it for use in crankbaits - superglue followed by epoxy makes a good undercoat, followed by paint and an epoxy topcoat.

There are many custom crankbait builders, some of whom frequent here but are not sponsors so won't reply. I'd do a search, pick a few whose work seems good, and shoot them a PM. Another good resource is tackleunderground.com, a site for the builder community (commercial and hobby).

It doesn't make sense that you would need to clean the reel after every 3 outings - and if backlashing is the problem, cleaning/relubing the gears have nothing to do with it. Only the spool bearings and the brake drum/centrifugal brake blocks, plus the copper plate under the cast control knob control spool function and castability. And they usually only need servicing every couple of months to maintain their function. Clean the drum which the brake blocks rub against with a solvent and lightly oil it with a Q-tip. A drop of oil in each spool bearing. Check the copper plate under the cast control knob and flip it over if it has been significantly dented by the spool axle. None of that requires removing the reel handle or the side cover. The hex nut that secures the handle can be over-tightened, which can distort the nut, strip its threads, and cause big problems. They are usually brass, which is fairly soft. You don't need to wrench it down like a lug nut on an automobile! Just get it on straight, mildly tighten it and its keeper cover will prevent it from backing off. If your reel is malfunctioning so regularly, I would also consider what reel oil you are using to lube the bearings. Thick viscosity oils like Abu reel oil sold at Walmart last longer but make the reel perform slower. Low viscosity lubes make the reel work faster but they also get slung out of bearings faster and need to be replenished more often. Yellow Rocket Fuel, Ardent Bearing Oil, or even Quantum Hot Sauce (ugh, I hate its red dye!) are good medium viscosity choices.

IMO, you can't judge a reel's anti-backlash performance by which brake system it has. There's more to it than just the brakes. I've fished reels with centrifugal brakes that are prone to backlash, others that work great. The same goes for magnetic brake reels. You have to consider the whole reel and judge whether the brake system works well within overall design of the reel. What you should be asking is whether a particular reel you are considering is prone to backlash compared to an alternate reel. For instance, I've fished old Curado B's for years and like them - but I think they are fairly touchy to adjust to avoid backlashing. A Shimano Skorpion has dual centrifugal brakes and is virtually impossible to backlash. The old Abu Promax reels have a very simple two post centrifugal brake system but due to the overall reel design, they are excellent in avoiding backlash. I have an Abu Revo SX with mag brakes that is very forgiving and hardly ever backlashes. So centrifugal, mag, or both, it depends on the specific reel.

Using cylinder or elongated weights helps. It also helps to use a texas rigged hook if you are fishing cover areas. I usually don't cast a dropshot out far from the boat unless I'm in an area with few snags. It works best in deep water when fished below the boat - use it with your sonar and fishing resembles a fun video game.

What eddieg said. If the drag disks are dry, continue with them dry or apply DRAG Grease because they won't perform well with regular grease. I prefer to oil the worm gear because grease tends to attract grit and trash while the reel is retrieving line, especially on later reel designs that have the opening in the worm gear cover facing toward the front of the reel. You can also use Drag Grease for the main gear if desired. I disassemble reels and soak the small pieces (including drag disks) in naphtha to degrease them, then take the frames and wash them in the sink with dish detergent and a toothbrush. I use ether-based aerosol starting fluid in a shot glass to degrease and clean bearings - it's the fastest solvent available.

Largemouth, 65 ft, jigging spoon. I regularly catch bass in 55 ft of water on jigging spoons on a deep reservoir I frequent. In the fall and winter when the bass are after threadfin shad in deep water, you either catch them there or go fishless.

If your fluoro tangled while reeling it onto the reel, that suggests to me that you wound it on in the wrong direction and you can expect disaster pretty quickly when using it on the water. You want to lay the spool of line on the floor so that it comes off the spool in a counter-clockwise direction. I would put an empty spool on an electric drill. Have someone hold the reel or lock it in a vice and use the drill to take all the line back off the spool. Then respool the line onto the reel as above and stop about 1/8" below the lip of the spool. Soak the spool in some hot water for awhile and any twists will conform to the spool versus trying to jump off the spool. Fluoro that has been kinked is weakened and is prone to break much easier. I always cut the line at the kink, wherever it is. And yes, the most controllable setup with a spinning reel is to use braided line since when it gets twists, it will not jump off the spool like mono or fluoro. If you decide to go with braid, do not forget to put a little mono or fluoro on the spool first to anchor the line, then tie it to the braid and spool it on. Braid has no stretch at all so will not grip a spool like other lines and it will slip on the spool unless you have some backing on there. Using braid is by far the most trouble-free way to go on a spinning rod. But most of us would also use a fluoro leader with the braid, especially in clear water, and the Alberto knot is the best, smallest diameter fluoro to braid knot to use.

Many pros have moved to straight shank heavy duty hooks for flipping and pitching in heavy cover, tied with a snell knot. On hook set, the snell knot makes the hook cam upwards to help hook the fish. The snell is also a little more protective of the knot. But if you are getting good results with an offset EWG hook there's really no reason to change unless it's just to experiment.

I use 3/16 oz weights, 6 lb test, and rig the hook 6" above the weight. The only time I use a longer drop length is over submerged grass beds. Dropshots are super finessy rigs. You don't want to add stuff that doesn't have to be there. Some guys like to add a swivel a couple of feet up the line to prevent line twist. I don't bother. You can fish just about anything on a dropshot but the classic is a finesse worm. I like the 6" Roboworms.

Typically, 6.5' rods have 8" handles and 7' rods have 10" handles, so the difference in operating length is about 4 inches. In my experience, those 4 inches makes a couple of yards difference in casting distance, all other things being equal (they rarely are). On the other hand, shorter rods tend to be more accurate casters. So you have to judge for yourself where the sweet spot is. Looking over the rods I own, my favorites tend to be 6'8" long. Don't really know why, they just feel right and have the combination of distance and accuracy I like for fishing plastics and shallow crankbaits. But I go with longer rods for distance, casting or flipping and shorter rods when accuracy is paramount, like fishing docks.

The best thing I've ever found to cut braid is a pair of small Gerber scissors. Straight blade, no ripples, nothing special, bought at Walmart for less than $5. My current pair have lasted more than 5 years and cut as well now as when I bought them. I hate Gerber knives because their metal is almost impossible to sharpen but in a pair of scissors, they are just the ticket.

I sharpen hooks with a Eze-Lap diamond sharpener, which works better/faster than any other I've tried. The problem you run into is that any hook point you sharpen gets its protective anti-corrosion coating removed and will quickly rust. Nowadays, I mostly avoid it by using high quality hooks like Gamakatsu, which have very good metal temper that keeps them sharp longer without re-pointing. I routinely change factory hooks out for Gamakatsu or Owner. I put the factory hooks on crankbaits that I give away to friends! They aren't bad hooks but I rather they were someone else's problem.

Black and blue, all black, black neon

Yeah, Senkos cost too much and last too short. It is what it is. They catch fish better than most so you have to decide what's important to you. When I looked around for alternatives a few years ago, I weighed 5" Senkos and they were 3/8 oz. Most alternatives weigh significantly less, around 1/4 oz, so they sink slower and are more durable but have less of that seductive Senko wiggle. The only brand I found at the same weight was from Wacky Worm - but they seem stiffer than Senkos.