.ghoti.

No problems at all. As long as the reel you're using has a drag smooth enough to protect 2lb line, that is.

You're correct. You truly are less photogenic.

Well, bluebasser, I may to give the rig another trial. Nice fish!

Scott, in addition to doing top-shelf work building rods, you take excellent pictures. My best pics are no where near as clear as this one.

You have over $100 worth of components listed. You're not likely to find a good builder who will build that for $200, not to mention $30+ for shipping.

I know some folks used to call this the turd rig. The original "Ned" (can't remember his last name, it started with a K) had a sidebar in In-Fisherman several years ago about this rig. At that time I bought some Gopher jigheads and Zeros to try it out. I caught a lot of small fish on it. Bass, crappie, bluegill, walleye and white bass. Nothing of any size, except for a few really nice crappie. I agree, Elaztech, or 3X baits are what makes it work. I tried it with a half Senko, and it was not the same. Same thing with the shakeyhead rig. If you're not using a 3X or Elaztech bait, you're not fishing a shakeyhead, you're fishing a jigworm. I stopped using the Ned rig not too long after I first tried it. It just caught a lot of small fish. But, I did start using a larger version of it. A 3/16oz Shakey2 jighead with a 4" Swim Senko, rigged the same way, with the hook exposed. Now that rig is deadly, and not limited to small fish. I've caught a lot of nice fish over the last few years with my version.

Been there, done that, cussed the results. No danged T-shirt.

I haven't seen the fight yet. But I've read a lot of stupid comments about it. I'll reserve judgement until I see it myself, but it went pretty much the way I expected. The only real surprise for me was the fact that Mayweather threw more punches than Pacman. I don't not expect that. Don't think anybody did.

OK, I'll ask; What's a TRD?

I've tried cross wraps, and decided I don't have the patience required to do such work. And weaves just look to be totally beyond me. I did do a lot of experimenting with scraps to get a decent looking holo wrap. I like to have something in the area of the hook-keeper to provide some extra protection, and a holo wrap fits the bill for me. The first one I did on a customer rod turned out just the way I wanted it to. The second one has been a comedy of errors. All the problems have been on the top wrap. On the first try I forgot to add CP, and the top gunmetal thread almost disappeared. I stripped it off, sanded down the finish, applied another thin coat and started again. Second attempt failed. When I pulled out the sacrificial thread, I managed to move the remaining gunmetal thread, screwing up the pattern. Stripped, sanded and recoated again. This time I increased the tension, and the heating to soften the epoxy, to help insure the remaining thread would remain in place. After a coat of CP, I discovered most of the gaps were almost filled with fuzzies. I used a medium brown thread for the sacrificial because I could see it better against the gunmetal and the darker blue/gunmetal underwrap. The fuzzies were not brown, they were the same color as the remaining gunmetal thread. So, I've stripped it, sanded it down, and recoated with epoxy one more time. I've used that spool of gunmetal thread several times with no problems. But maybe there is a bad run in the middle of the spool. That spool went into File 13. I also speculated that the increase in tension, and the extra heat I applied caused the fuzzies. I put a post about the fuzzy problem on the rodbuilder forum. To date there have been 190 views and no replies.

Beautiful wrap man. One day I hope to do some half as good looking as that one. The gap you mentioned is why I asked. I'm ok with the the way mine look on the smaller guides, but just could never get one to look good to me on a large guide. Thanks for the answer.

I have a 7" what they call natural color lying in wait for a personal rod. With the matching butt cap in place, it weighs 0.68oz. A similar 7" cork grip, with composite butt cap weighs 0.81oz. The Winn grip is a bit more sculpted out, to a slightly narrower diameter in the middle, than the cork, so some, if not most, of the weight difference is there.

Excellent looking wrap! A quick question. Do you ever use a locking wrap on those larger spinning guides? Not questioning your work, just your thoughts on the matter.

I like Poor Boys tubes; watermelon rose, golby amd rufus poop colors. internal weighting, 1/16 to 1/8oz; either a bell sinker or a drop shot weight with the wire spread open, and a 4/0 Owner Rig-n hook. This will catch fish just about anywhere, almost any time. I fish this rig on casting gear. I also carry some 2.5" tubes to be fished on spinning gear, with 1/32 - 1/16oz jigheads inside. when I need to down-size, this is a good first choice. I want either realistic craw colors, or bairfish colors for those times.

I used those hooks back in the day. Until one fish, firmly hooked, sent the bait flying off. When I lipped that fish, the first thrashing headshake buried that small barb in the side of my thumb. All the way in. The hook point was jammed into the side of my thumb knuckle. Took a trip to the emergency room to have it removed. Needless to say, I do not use those hooks.

I have five Fuegos. All have the original spool. They all will cast 3/16oz with no problem, mounted on a rod that will load properly at that weight. Unless you feel the need to go down to 1/8oz or less don't waste your money on a spool upgrade.

I guess you won't be answering your phone tonight, eh?

You may want to take a look at the Avid X series. It has a much more comfortable reel seat/grip setup than the regular Avid. I have several St Croix rods; Avids, LTBs, and one LE. As far as sensitivity goes, there isn't that much difference between them. How they feel in hand is a different story. The Avid spinning grip is too small for me. I have two of those rods; which I do not use. My wife uses them when she makes a rare trip to fish. Otherwise I leave them at my cabin for whoever to use. The current LTB spinning rods have what may be the worst spinning reel seat ever designed; the Fuji SK. I suggest you mount a reel to one of those, and see what it feels like to you before a purchase. The Avid X has a VSS reel seat. The last three spinning rods I've built have that seat, and it is very nice in hand.

You think we've fished this spot long enough now?

Outside of a dog, a man's best friend is book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.

Flyfisher stated the most important piece of advice you're going to receive regarding online courses. It takes more discipline than most can bring to the task. If you define success as a passing grade, the failure rate is around 90% for online courses.

Being a professor, I have to say you need to go to college. It really comes down to what you're willing to do to stay fed and out of the rain. What you need, if you're planning to take a shot at fishing professionally, is a back up plan. Unless you happen to be that one-in-a-million, fishing is not going to be your path to prosperity.

Nice job with the olive branch. Looks a heck of a lot better than my first attempt.

Nah, give your wife a set of color sharpies, and let her put her imagination to work. We need to see some pics.

Every time I hear somebody claim fluorocarbon line has less stretch than mono, one thought comes to mind. Behold the power of propaganda. Uh, excuse me, I meant to say marketing.