Crookedneck

Pflueger President

I caught a dead dog last year. Pulled it up from the bottom...talk about disgusting....I think it was a lab or a retriever. It had been in the water a while.

I use straight braid. But, in saying this I am usually throwing into heavy cover in stained river water.

I don't think there is such a thing as a Bait Monkey. Winter is getting a little old... I'm not even close to getting every thing on my list. Just from the last couple weeks. Not pictured is the 4 LC Pointers....3 more rod builds (fiberglass cranking rod, drop shot rod, and another MH/F) ...3 more reels, and the two Plano boxes of hair jigs. LOL! I think I am set on cranks...220 finesse drop shot weights from 1/4 oz to 1/2 oz should last me a while. I paid for the wife to get her hair done today...so that makes it easier.

Last year I used Strike King trailers. 1/0. On days where the bite was strong, I would usually loose at least one trailer hook because the tubing would open up and all of a sudden no trailer. I think that may happen though no matter what brand you use. I think Strike king uses heat shrink vs. medical tubing.

Berkley Vanish........sure made my money vanish....

This might sound weird but this last summer I got a sun Buff. To protect my face and lips from the sun. It is comfortable to wear, and I don't have to worry about sun burn. Seaguar florocarbon has made a huge deal in my fishing in the last couple years.

I think the best bit of advice I can give is to make sure get good coverage with the outdoor carpet glue. Leave enough spare carpet to wrap the edges and corners. And let it cure/dry for at least 24 hours. It isn't too difficult. Good luck!

There are days when if you are moving it at all, then it is moving too fast...

Split grips vs. Full grips....comes down to preferance. Just like cork vs. Eva. There are advantages and disadvantages to each depending on the opinion of the rod user. It all comes down to finding what works for you. With the advances in todays rods there are several new grip materials that are new in the last few years. A couple of the custom builders who have replied are hitting the nail on the head when it comes to cork and it's prices. You can purchase pre made grips as low as a couple dollars for a 10" grip when they are on sale. You also spend as much as $2.50- 3.00 a 1/2" thick cork ring for top grade cork....do the math on that one. And that is before they are glued together, shaped, reamed and epoxied to the blank. Most off the shelf rods use cheap cork. When lower qualities of cork are used more filler materials are used to cover the voids. Eventually the filler materal comes out, leaving ugly gaps and voids. Lower grade corks also compress more over time with use and is more prone to breaking and falling apart. There are several top quality rods that use good quality cork. Quality cork is getting harder and harder to find.

I believe you can pay through pay pal with a credit card with out having an account.....I've never attempted it though as I have an account.

I live an hour north of GB. Where are u located.

The whole 2013 line up of Quantum reels got a make over. Some pretty cool looking reels coming out. I fish Quantums now, & was looking at moving to Revision for my next couple.

The whole 2013 line up of Quantum reels got a make over. Some pretty cool looking feels coming out. I fish Quantums now, & was looking at moving to Revision for my next couple.

Berkley Frenzy Poppers..

My brother is tying me a bunch. Can't wait to get my hands on em

It is a Lemke reel seat.....Struble has stopped producing hardware. Joel Lemke used to work for Struble he is now making his own line of hardware. Top of the line hardware at a fraction of the cost compared to Struble.

Several Megastrike Strike Back spinnerbait A couple packs of Pit bosses A bunch of finese drop shot weights A whole bunch of crank baits some heavy tungsten punching weights List of things still to get JJ's dye Megastrike shakey head jigs NS Custom baits swim jigs Senkos SK 10xd and several other things.... LOL

We all started somewhere. Keep at it.

Thanks for the compliments guys. This was a fun build. Jhoffman--the Jungle Fowl © feathers can still be bought...these are real feathers not imitation and yes they are not cheap. If you build or tie flies PM me I can send you some. I bought a full cape a couple years ago. I only use a few feathers a year, and my brother (this is his rod) ties flies and he uses them in Salmon and steel head flies. So I don't mind spreading the wealth in the name of fishing. The feather inlays believe it or not are not to difficult. You just have to do it one feather at a time. And make sure they are sealed properly with CP, as they will trap air which will play havoc on your epoxy. I might look into doing a video. I was asked this last fall to do a presentation on feather inlays at the St. Croix factory. I had to decline as it conflicted with my work.

Jig, You are correct, those are Jungle fowl feathers. 7 of them to be exact. Amherst pheasant feather (black & white), Zambisie feather (speckled), Greys pheasant, Grizzly hackle (on the back side) topped of with jungle fowl.

This is a R.B. Meiser 11'6" switch rod that I am just finishing up. Should be done by tomorrow. Stabilized box elder burl reel seat Feather inlay. There are 5 different kinds of feathers and a total of 12 feathers.

Not to hi-jack a thread but, high end rods I recommend a good cleaning a couple times a season. If you stay on top of it it can be as easy as warm water and dish soap. Most people do maintenance on their reels, do it on your rods too! Do a once over on your guides. 5 minutes of prevention can prevent failure on the water. I believe the color of the wood filler for cork is golden oak....I'll have to double check in the morning

Good, is going to fall in line with how much money you have to spend. Last year I picked up an 17.5" aluminum v-bottom bass boat with a 65 horse Merc. I paid $1700. I fished with it all last year in the local rivers. It does the job. And I even won quite a bit of money. So what is cheap.

A couple things. River smallies & lake smallies are two different animals. I tend to see more schooling in lake smallies. In the river I find that shallow structure will hold fewer fish than that same structure in 20' of water. I believe it has to do with availability & competition. A prime piece of structure in shallow current is going to be owned by the strongest fish (not always a smallmouth per say). Why? It has to do with cover & the availability of food. Single rocks in shallow current (2-5 feet) are good places for a smallmouth to ambush. That same rock in 20' may hold several fish.