.ghoti.

A MH Avid is equivalent to most other heavy power rods. If you live in an area with a lot of heavy vegetation in the water, that would be a good choice, except for crankbaits. Otherwise, a medium Avid would be a better choice.

I haven't used my yak as much as I would like so far. When I first got it, I used whatever rods I thought right for the day. I now tend use the rods I have with shorter handles. They're easier for me to use, probably due to my dickey-do disease.

I've heard some say an ultra-light rod is more sensitive. I've heard others say the heaviest power rods are more sensitive. They're probably both correct, and I don't believe either one. Sensitivity is the most over-hyped, over-marketed, over-propagandized term in this industry. and we've all drunk that koolaid to a certain extent. Being a completely subjective property; it is virtually meaningless. For every person who claims "this" rod is most sensitive, there are some who will claim "that" rod is the one,, and some more who go for the "other" rod. Again, they're probably all correct, and I don't believe any of them. I do believe that all other things being equal, a lighter rod is more sensitive. Starting with the same blank, build one to match a factory rod, and build the second with a lighter reel seat / handle assembly, and smaller, lighter and fewer guides(most rods have too many guides), and the second rod will out-perform the first. I believe that because I've done that. And last, I think part of the differences of opinions on which is the most sensitive, other than fanboy adoration, is the way each person holds the rod while fishing. Which is in part a personal preference, to some extent dictated by the reel mounted at that time. to the OP, these dyas, if you spend $100+ you're going to get a rod that will do the job nicely. Buy waht feels good to you, with the reel mounted. Then it's up to you to get the most out of it. Sorry folks, I don't know what happened with that post. I had sectioned out in paragraphs, and it posted as one block. weird

Outstanding post, Clayton.

My SOP is to ride a new reel like I stole it. I want any warranty issues to show up quickly. As soon as I'm satisfied the reel is OK, I will do a complete tear down, and lube to my specs. A positive improvement is almost always obvious.

Go with the YZ you have on hand. 6lb YZ is actually about 12lb strength so 8 would be around 14 or 15 pounds breaking strength. More than enough for bass fishing, and a lot easier to learn on, not to mention a lot cheaper when you backlash bad enough to require a knife.

If you need to spend that much, and want your name on it, why not contact Mike at Delaware Valley Tackle, and have him build you precisely what you want? Look to right of the page at the list of sponsors. DVT is who you want.

The only question I have is: once you've figured out which knot to use, learned how to tie it, and actually have such a setup on your rod; how do you fish a senko?

I vaguely remember the owner telling us to not use cotton when spooling line though a wet rag. Use a synthetic material instead. I do not remember why. He gave an explanation; I just don't recall what it was. If you're applying it and not getting any benefit from it, you used cotton, or you probably did not let it dry and bond to the line. This is essential. You can't just spray it on and go fishing. If you ever try it, you'll quit using real magic. But don't throw the reel magic away. It's great to spray on the weather stripping around you car doors. Keeps them easy to open in icy weather.

I hear you, brother. I have some stories; which shall never be told.

There are three kinds of lies; lies, damned lies, and statistics. - Mark Twain

I always say in the water when asked that question. Depending on who is asking there may or may not be another word before water.

You're a kind man for saying so. LOL

Raider, I learned PLC programming 30+ years ago. Haven't been out of job since. Never been fired, laid off, or let go. The only time I changed jobs was when I wanted to. I'm not breaking my arm patting myself on the back. I'm telling you there is job security in this skill set. You've said more than once you like heavy industrial. That's cool.You're a big, strong, young guy. So was I. The operative word being "was". You want some advice? Well, I'm gonna give you some anyway. Find a community college near you that offers PLC programming courses. Sign up, and make the time commitment required to learn the subject matter. You will thank yourself. This is a very portable skill set. You've been around industry in your area. See what's being used in your area. I covered a large portion of the middle of the country, and in that area Allen-Bradley is king. They have about 95% of the market. I suspect your area is no different. RSLOGIX5, RSLOGIX500, and RSLOGIX5000. Learn those, and you can go anywhere. And you can make a lot more money. And, what the flip are working for? Fame? Go for the cash, amigo.

A couple of years back I was on the way to Trophy Country for a four day trip. Got most of the way there when I realized I had forgotten something. I had more fishing tackle than i was going to use or need because,,, well just because. Had a cooler stocked with enough food for four guys for four days; another cooler full of adult beverages; rain gear, portable depth finder, spare trolling motor, first aid kit,, etc, etc, etc. everyhting except clothing had to backtrack to Hannibal to buy clothes and toiletries.

Growing up, the men in my family fished; so I did. I still do. Genetically predisposed? Beats me. You have however opened an entirely new version of the old nature vs nurture debate.

I thought you were gonna say you'd caught a screaming eagle. LOL

I went out on my dock a few days ago to test out a new rod, newly tuned reel and some new line. I posted about this previously, so i won't go into detail. Realized today that I do not have a current fishing license. In Illinois, our fishing lecense expires at the end of March. For at least 50 years I've bought a new license sometime in March. Not this year for some dumb reason. Besides being scatter-brained, this tells you how much I've been able to fish this year. to date, this year has been my poorest year of fishing. Had too much other stuff going on. And, I just retired at the end of 2015. What's up with that?

If you use a rotary tool often, a Foredom is worth it. The flex hose alone is worth it; for the precision. It's so much easier to control than a Dremel, and so smooth.

Dey be saying to yall that yall needs to be leavin da tension thing alone, n let da dc thing do all the work. In German; relaxen keepen das fingersoffen.

Just go easy indeed. It's not at all difficult to get carried away with a Dremel in your hands. You don't have to ask how I know this. LOL By the way Mike, if you use a Dremel a lot, you should take a look at a Foredom. A Dremel is a Ford. The Foredom is a Benz.

I'm with John on this. If you spend $200 and up, you're gonna get a good piece of gear, that with regular maintenance, will give you years of fine sevice; no matter who made it, or where. In terms of gear quality, these are the good old days. Our rods, reels, lines, baits, electronics, etc, are all so much better than what we were all using 20 years ago. I'd like to see what's in store 20 yeras from now. Or 50 years. One of these days soembody will make a baitcaster that will cast a 1/32oz bait, never backlash, hold 300 yards of whatever line you want, have 82 pounds of drag, weigh less than 3 ounces and cost 50 bucks. And you know what will happen? Somebody will complain about it.

A couple of years ago, I put up a post detailing my mistake experience with Tatsu. I won't get into the whole story, just say that the line frayed very very badly fished in rocks and brush, while the mono on two other rods showed no signs of similar wear fishing in the same places. I chalked it up to experience, and said to myself, self, don't buy any more of that stuff. I recently got a sample of this line to try again. Yesterday I decided to do some testing with a new BFS rod I built on an Immortal blank, an SS SV reel which I had just deep cleaned and polished, and a fresh spool of 10lb test Tatsu. Walked out on my dock and started casting. To my right is a large downed tree, and to my left is an even larger one. I spent about 90 minutes trying to screw up the line. I drug it over every piece of those trees I could cast into. Was throwing a fluke for a while, and then a jigworm. I even tossed the jigworm over a branch on purpose, then jigged it up and down a while trying to damage the line. It held up very well during all of this; showing no signs of the problems I had seen during my previous experience with this line. I use two knots to tie on baits; a SD jam knot for baits with treble hooks, and a palomar for everything else. I tried both, and both seem to hold well. I got the jigworm hung up good with both knots. The palomar broke when I tried to pull it loose. The SD knot held, and I broke off a decent sized piece of branch. This line is stronger than it's rated 10lb test. And, it holds a knot better than other fluoro lines I've tried. I put another reel in my vest pocket before going out. I wanted to try a slightly heavier reel, with a different profile, on this new rod, so I had an Alphas with 10lb mono. I decided I like the SS SV better for this rod. And I decided I like Tatsu better than mono for these contact baits. It has a little better feel for what's on the end of your line than mono. Not a night and day difference, but a real improvement. So, I have to eat my earlier words. I'm going to try this on more of my contact combos. I see no point in buying line this expensive for moving baits, but I can see myself using this line more for the feel techniques. Now is good time for me to try this. They are running a buy two, get one free promotion, which I will be taking advantage of. A spool each of 8, *** will let me rig up about half of my contact combos. I'm not going all in just yet, but i'm gonna give it a good long try this year.

Megastrike works too. I always have a bait rigged up, with it applied, so it's easy to rub a little bit on the line before tying the knot.

Thanks smokinal, you just made my day.