flechero

Well I can't help you in the $100-$150 range but if you want to try your hand at building a rod, Batson has a couple 2 and 3 pc. blanks that will handle up to 2 and 4oz ratings. (and from 6'2" up to 8') For only mattlures size baits, you could buy a rack rod in 2 pc.

David, Another great looking rod! I like the grip. Give the Mrs. a pat on the back, and tell her that I'm always impressed with her marbeling jobs! You two make a great team!! -keith

Texas is considering allowing CC anywhere, includin schools, post office, courthouses, etc. I really hope it passes because I have to disarm several times a day going to court and post office, etc. for work and I HATE worrying about a weapon left in a car. (not to mention it breaks the concealed part of the rules when you draw and re-holster to put the gun in the car)

I'm a stickbow guy. Recurves, longbows and selfbows. Made several of my hunting bows and make my arrows... thus the nickname flechero.

I use Owner 7/0 with the 7" senkos. And if you aren't using heavy gear, texpose them.

If you have a solid hookset at fairly close range, then yes the drag may slip a little... if it's set correctly this is a good thing and prevents breakage. Check your settings against your line ratings, if you are set right don't worry about it. (check with a known weight or scale)

San Diego Jam Knot shown here with several others. http://www.netknots.com/html/fishing_knots.html

In that case, I would follow the rules and "let it go." Although I disagree with them, the rules are there for a reason and people woud start thrashing the gills when unhooking or letting fish swallow before hooksets so they could keep a fish if there were a dead fish exception (seen that happen on a private lake) A dead fish on occasion sure beats a fished out pond. As I see it, there was only one choice... anything else would have been criminal.

I would have had to say something before he got in between you and the shore.... at least something like hey we've got lines out that you are about to run over. Or if it was a bad day, people usually get the point when you bounce a lure off the side of their boat and then say "Gosh you are way closer than i thought, mind giving me some space in this 25,000 acre lake?"

I did check the link out... I like to see what others are doing with rods. His prices seem very low... unless there is a different price structure for custom work. I am just glad to see "regular" guys making a living building rods.

memphis, Although I do carry a spinning rod in the rod locker, it rarely comes out. I do 99% of my finesse with BC also. (and I hate the lack of comfort that spinning seats offer) The biggest reason people use spinning gear with those techniques is so they can cast the light weight trouble free.

Justfishin, I have no idea what blanks they use, I hadn't heard of them before reading your post. Maybe Gator Glass blanks?? ...lol Sorry, just going with the name.

Can anyone here tell me the difference in a pre vs. post sale All Star blank, for any model except the "Classic" which is now an import? I have been to the blank plant in Houston, know several of the people who work there... most of the employees in the blank plant have been there over 10 years, some over 20yrs... making the same blanks and models as always. If the design and production staff can't tell a difference, how can all of you?

I thought the stories were going to be of bank fisherman on rivers where it can appear that you are tresspassing but actually withing the law and riverbed... I carry almost daily anyway so if I go fishing, I don't remove my weapon when I go fish. I've never had to, or even come close to an on-water confrontation, but have had several close calls at out of the way boat ramps in the early morning/late night. Had I not been carrying at those times, I would surely been robbed or worse. Sadly this world has become a place which I feel a need to carry a weapon. Thinking back, there was a thread last year asking if anyone carried while on the water, the responses were interesting and there were several pages of posts if I remember correctly.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1168537530/20 page 2 of that thread has ramp info. A tip to remember when rampining is to elevate 1 side of your dryer so the rod is NOT level... keep the tip end high and that will help the epoxy (whether it's adhesive or finish) from leveling itself out down the blank. It doesn't need to be real high, I just used a few books on that end...maybe 15-20 degrees of angle was all. Any gel epoxy will be easier to work with for a ramp since it will stay put better and build higher. Good luck! Post pics when you are done...

Catt, Salty!! Well done!

Avid, Don't underestimate the 50 MG and it's 10+ Lbs of drag. I have one on a 7' H St. Croix(4C70HF) frog/hvy grass rod and a 7' H (5C70HF) St.Croix which is my small swimbait/c-rig/big jig rod. These are customs and balace well with the MG's but the MG's are every bit as strong and capable as 90% of the round reels out there... they just hold a lot less line. And as a braid user, you might like that. Just don't fear the 50 MG, it's a lot more reel than it appears. We'll just pretend you didn't make the "gay" comment.

And that's exactly how I meant it. Although I still have a couple factory built All Star rods and use them as loaners. I do however, continue to carry several rods that I built on All Star blanks. Much appreciated, thank you.

I've used them for close to 20 years... dollar for dollar they are some of the best values to be had.

Avid, You'll be satisfied! On another note, it cracks me up that everytime the Xpeditor service is brought up, some non Loomis owner says something like dodgeguy's comment. (no offense, DG, you just happened to be the one today) Always a non Loomis owner. What they fail to realize in the whole "cost so much you should get a free replacement" mentality is that Loomis Prices have remained almost stagnant for the last 15 years. My first IMX MBR784 (bought in '94) had a msrp of $225... the current price $235 The $225 price DID NOT include the Xpeditor service. SO to all you Loomis haters out there, the price of their product have adjusted slower than the rate of inflation so it's actually less expensive now and now has a no questions asked warranty... can your favorit brand say that? Loomis rods were a good deal back then and a better deal now. As long as we have car doors and clumbsy people, no questions asked warranties are a good thing. Rant over.

njfishinguy and s_self, You guys are proof that age and maturity are completely independent of one another.

Dodgeguy, You keep saying that... so why don't you use an ugly stick with braid? You'd save a bunch of money. ;D My next question would be this: you said in another thread, your own logs showed that you catch fewer fish on braid than mono and I know you use JM rods, so how do you keep coming to the conclusion that braided line and johnny morris rods are so great? I asked the second question in complete sencerity and hope you take a minute to answer...

Thanks for the clarification, ReelMech!

For the sake of discussion, I'll throw some gas on the coals... I have also always heard to do this but NEVER did. I have a handfull of reels that I bought in the early 80's and 90's that are still set exactly where I set them. (only minor changes like when I switch # ratings on line). So here is my question- I sent ReelMech about 8 of those reels last spring and he said they all looked very good internally and only had to clean and relube them. Seems like the drag washer fears are overrated to me I mean a couple of these reels have had drags tightened pretty tight (since I use mostly 14# and 17# XT) for 20 years or more with NO DAMAGE and no excess wear. To go one step further, my fishing partner does back them off after every trip and what ends up happening is that he miss one of them when we go out the next time and misses a fish because his drag slips on the first hookset... and sometimes gets a nice backlash since the drag was so loose. ...lol I don't doubt that there could be merit in doing this but I wonder if it's specific to one type of drag washer or system and people just mistook that to mean all reels over time. Mine also.

I started using elite on my spinning gear last year and I love it. My regular fishing partner was impressed by my results and tried it on his BC gear, now he's made the switch on all his rods to elite. It's about as good a combination of tough and managable as I have seen in line.