Crookedneck

I have been contemplating this as a drop shot line using spinning gear. I fish deep water in the rocks in the current. Snags, and line twist can play nasty games on mono. Reading the mixed replies I think I'll pass and find something else. Thanks for the good reading!

What portion of the Northeast. I live in Peshtigo. There are a couple options Green Bay Bass Masters runs some tournaments around the local area. There is another club in the U.P. that runs events in the U.P. and north east WI area. I can get some info to you tomorrow as I would have to talk to a buddy at work. He is a member they do round robin type of thing. You have a boat they team you up with a guy with out a boat for events. You don't have a boat they team you up with a guy with a boat. There for fishing with a different partner every event. I think they go as far north as Iron Mountain area. Let me know, you can PM me if you want more specific. Mike

The guide and epoxy will have to be removed a new guide wrapped and epoxied. Depending on how busy the builder is can take any where from two days to a couple weeks. Process doesn't actually take too long. It is the curing of the epoxy that takes the longest.

I have one in the 7.0 Burner also. I fished one all last year, blew the drag on it 2nd time out. I was running 25 # Power pro pulling a 3/8 spinner, had a muskie hit that just about ripped the rod out of my hand. I called Quantum, mailed the reel back to their warranty department. 7 days door to door. Can't ask for better service. There are better reels out there, but for the price of this reel you can't find a better one in my opinion. Bought another one last week.

I have an Alumacraft 1448. You will be hard pressed to get it on top of your car with out banging the snot out of something. I used to put it in the back of my truck with all my gear, drive to the river take the 6 hourse Evinrude and gas tank out of the back of my truck. Slide the boat out until just few inches rested on the tailgait then would put the second end down. Wasn't too big of a deal. Loaded it the same way only in reverse. The taking off and on of the motor was a pain. So one day I got a trailer and haven't looked back since. Two people it is a cinch. I'm not a smurf of a guy either. Spent 12 years of my lifeworking out for a living.

Not sure where you are from but this boat is currently listed on Minneapolis Craigslist. But says he lives in Rochester Listed 1 February.........Becareful if others have seen it, in other places, I would be sure it is a scam.

those purple craws are saweet!

I use braid for pitching and jigging. Alot better for dealing with the weeds and mat.

Pretty much spot on for must haves in your bass boat, I personally use nothing shorter than 7', but just my preferance. What some of the other guys are saying is correct too, when using crank baits a crank bait rod (a rod with medium power and a moderate action) is prefered. The moderate or slower action allows for more flex through out more of the rod blank. The intention is so that when using crank baits with treble hooks the slower more flexible action helps in keeping the treble hooks set versus pulling out, if you were to be using a fast action rod. I fish the back of the boat in tournaments so space is limited. My current line up for rods is as follows. 2- 7' medium hvy fast action baitcasters strung up with 12# floro for running bullet sinkers and rubber 2- 7' medium fast action spinning rods I use these for jig heads, drop shoting and top water 1 - 7' 3" medium hvy fast action baitcaster with 25# braid for jigging (heavy would probably be better for this application if you get into heavy cover. Most of my jigging is not in heavy cover. 1 - 7' medium fast action bait caster with braid for spinner baits 1 - 7' medium moderate set up for cranking. All my rods are custom built and built on MHX blanks. My next build is probably going to be 6' 10" medium xfast spinning rod for drop shotting. Sweet little rod. That will be built on a Rainshadow blank. All my bait casters I run Quantum reels in a mixture of gear ratios depending on what I am using them for. My spinning rods are all Pflueger reels. Not that my set ups are for every one. They work for me. My partner has the exact same set ups except just more of them...LOL!

I got the same blank a month or so ago. I have yet to build on it. But to me it feels like it holds a bunch of power. Extremely light. Good luck with the build.

This is my latest build. MXH MB843, alps aluminum reel seat and winding checks.

good job on the grips! How do you like that Lews reel? I've been thinking about getting one?

I would suggest not using the razor blade between the guide and the blank. Just to be safe. Use the hair dryer like stated above. Use the razor blade to cut thru the epoxy and thread on the top part of the guide foot. So if you go to deep the guide foot will stop the razor blade from contacting the blank. Once you get the thread cut apply a little more heat and then grab the thread and pull. The thread should pull off. I usually let the rod spin around as the thread comes unraveled. I hope you understand.... Then do as stated above. Razor blades and graphite do not mix well.

If you can find one 6' 8" to 7' medium power with an xtra fast action that would be your ticket.

Thanks for the review. I have been thinking about pulling the trigger on one of these but haven't seen any reviews yet.

Great looking baits!

Deleware Talking power. The MB843 and the SJ843 both seam on the higher end of Medium heavy. But still great blanks for the $. Do you think the sligt weight difference between the St.Croix and the MHH is due to finish?

Great looking build! THe MHX blanks are just a little on the heavy side. But still a great blank for the $. I build alot of the MB843. The SJ843 is good for the exact build you did. I throw a lot of 1/4 jigs with the same set up.

I use thread master lite for all my thread work and FC for my guides. I don't worry about bubbles too much when I mix. I put my epoxy on lite. I find that several lite coats work alot better than 1 heavy one. Which also makes for better bubble release

This is my latest rod build. It is on a Mudhole MHX MB843. With a Fuji exposed reel seat. Varigated EVA grips that I turned myself. Mike

you can buy tensioners the spring type from Cabela's, Mudhole and several other places.

build your own wrapper. It will save you $. Then buy better components. ;D

You will want to be careful when sanding. You don't want to get down into the meat of the blank, if you get too deep you can damage the blank. If it was just lite sanding you should be ok. And the scuffs should cover up with epoxy. Mike

I use Batson's blanks, but for the bass fisherman I use Mudholes MHX blanks. They are around the same price but in my opinion just a little better for your dollar. Fly rods on the other hand nothing will beat the Batson line up.

The rod dryer I use is a 9 rpm dryer.