.ghoti.

I have a few Alphas, and they handle #6 mono or flouro with no problems. Haven't tried 4.

plumworm, I have somuch gear, and have been fishing for so long that not only do I not know anything; I don't suspect much.

To answer the original question: it is if you think it is.

Thanks plumworm. I'm keeping my part-time consulting job for a while. That should help ease me into this thing. By the way, my most fun job was as a musician. From the early 70's until the mid 80's, I was on the road. When they said "hex, bugs, and rock-n-roll" they weren't kidding. Some of it I don't recall all that clearly, and some does not bear remembering, but most of it was a real hoot. I've been quite a bit more civilized the last thirty years.

I'm retiring the end of this semester, about mid-May. I'm starting to get a little spooked about the whole thing. Been working two jobs for more than 25 years. It's gonna be a difficult transition.

The rod is for my brother. He's been after my Airrus Tradition spinning rod ever since he first saw it. It has a plate seat. on a large diameter blank. TT did a review on them. Look it up sometime. It's an interesting rod. I wanted to build something for him that resembled, and maybe feels, in hand, like the Airrus. Thanks.

I was once very interested in these. Not so much now.

John, I seen you post something like this before. Here's a simple conversion you can do in your head, that's easy to remember. It uses a lot of two's. Starting with a C temp, do the following times two minus point two plus 32 So -40 times two = -80 -80 - -8 = -72 -72 + 32 = -40 -40 just happens to be where the C and F scale match. Try it with +40C 40 times 2 = 80 80 - 8 = 72 72 + 32 = 104 Try 37C which equals 98.6 = body temperature Can't do decimal points in your head? no problem, round em off. You'll get close enough to have a number you can relate to, which is the point.

DVT, I take it that was a Tennessee handle? I would understand the every two inch spacing when you don't know exactly where the reel will be placed. I'm going with the smallest Fuji plate seat for this one, and planned on four arbors; one at the butt, and one placed under each seat wrap. What do you think? Handle will be around ten inches.

Precisely what I had in mind!

When I saw the title, Iwas thinking, yep, that's all about Hootie. Couldn't possibly be about me.

Yeah, just wait until you hear what he does to the King's English.

Poly for the most part, unless the gap is too small, then tape. Never used graphite, but I have spinning rod build coming up using a woven graphite tube handle. Got some graphite arbors to try with the tube.

CP is not necessary on metallic thread, but it doesn't hurt it either. It's nearly impossible to apply CP to your guide wraps without getting some on your metallic trim bands. Don't worry about that. It won't hurt anything. DVT is correct about using metallic for primary guide wrapping. It's not ideal at all. If you're going to do it, you'll need to be very precise, and very careful. The coating comes off easily.

I'm on board with the idea that the rod is the more important component most, if not all, of the time. However, I'm a reel guy. I like to take them apart, see how they work, polish and tweak, tune and upgrade. Give me a cool new reel; particularly one I haven't seen before, and I'm a happy guy. When I get a new rod, I'm also a happy guy, but not in the same way. I no longer try to rationalize, or justify, this neurosis. Like the old spinach eater said; "I yam what I yam".

Glad to hear you're enjoying this. Don't sweat the lesson plans. Nobody is good at that without on the job experience. The good news is; it gets a lot easier. Being a good teacher is all about adjusting on the fly. If you enjoy that aspect of it, you will be just fine. Relax, and enjoy yourself.

Ed, sounds like you really should try some Rage Tail baits, eh?

1/8oz Gammy Skipgap jighead, 9" Netbait T-Mac worm, PB&J a hair under 6

I have a Viento. Not something I would have bought myself. My wife got it for me for a birthday. I have it on my jerkbait/twitchbait rod. It's just the thing for those early spring jerkbait days when you need to get the bait down and let it sit. The twitch bar allows me to make very small moves, leaving the rod in hookset position. It's also good for small poppers and original floating rapalas. I didn't think I would like it, but I do, for those limited applications.

I had a friend whose children were not vaccinated for anything. His wife was/is a vegan. One of those obnoxious types who can't wait to tell you what an evil bastage you are for eating meat. she believed a meat free diet would put her kids in harmony with nature and render vaccination unnecessary. I said I HAD a friend. He stopped considering me a friend after I told him his wife was a %@#^ing moron who should be chained up and not allowed out into the real world. I also offered to take him to a local clinic for vaccinations for his kids. All he had to do was find his testicles, get his kids, and get in the car.

Adam, any conventionally wrapped casting rod will twist under a load. It's just more noticeable in lighter powers. The load pulling the tip down, then to the side, and ultimately to the bottom, is the reason for the twist. I don't see how adding more guides would negate this effect, although I could be missing something. Test this some time. Tie your line off to something solid, back off about thirty feet and start putting a bend in your rod. If you want to see this very easily, use an ultra-light spinning rod turned upside down. Put a bend in the UL rod with the reel on top. It won't take much force until you see the tip guide at 180 degrees around from the stripper guide. It will take more force with a medium power casting rod, and even more with a heavy.

Think about how you hold the rod while fishing, and consider two basic scenario. One; you're fishing a "horizontal" bait, like a crankbait, jerkbait, spinnerbait, etc. You can't possibly "balance" the rod against the pull of a big spinnerbait or deep crank, and, even if you could, it would be out of "balance" as soon as you changed baits. Two; you're fishing a vertical bait, such as jig, t-rig, etc. You hold the rod pointing close to straight up. If you're holding the rod exactly vertical, it can't possibly be tip heavy. The only force on your wrist will be the weight of the rod and reel, pulling straight down. If you hold the rod tilted a bit from perpendicular with the ground, the forces on your wrist will be the weight of the rod and reel, plus a tiny bit of torque. The closer to horizontal you hold the rod the higher the torque against your wrist. The weight of the rod and reel remain the same no matter how you hold the combo. I also say that because I perfectly balanced a rod one time. I mounted the reel, and started taping weights to the butt end of the rod until it would balance perfectly on my finger right at the front of the reel. I then removed the butt cap from the rod. I turned down two brass c-rig weights to achieve the correct weight, and to fit inside the rod blank , and epoxied them in place before gluing on a new butt cap. I then proudly took my perfectly balanced rod fishing. I gave it away the next day.

Hey Lee, my fav fugly hat is at the bottom of a strip mine pit in Missouri. If you had made it to the RoadTrip last year, I would have stolen yours. You're making some fine lookin fish sticks, amigo.

try an unweighted bunny strip sometime. The fish don't have to be lethargic. It works any time.

I'm convinced that the worst thing you do to a rod, outside of breaking it, is to add weight to "balance" it.