Tywithay

If you're fishing heavy cover with 8lb line, it's not the line. It has better abrasion resistance, in relation to diameter, than mono or braid.

I remember when my friend's were jealous because I got a brand new Zebco 33 for my birthday. I also remember when a Beetle Spin could catch anything. Didn't need realistic crankbaits and "wacky" rigs, just a jighead and spinner with some kind of small plastic.

TW carries a pretty good variety

Were you using it on a spinning reel?

I really like the Symetre FL. Very nice reel for under $100.

Without looking too hard, you can still find parts for the original Stella. Shimano will have parts for several years after it's discontinued as well.

It only stinks if you're using the wrong line. The cheap stuff is unmanageable.

Unless you want slack line sensitivity and abrasion resistance. That will be present, regardless of water clarity.

I have a couple, but the added cost is quite a bit higher than the factory builds. It's just not economical.

The new 7'3" med-xfast Crucial is going to be a fantastic senko rod. Good length for casting and hook sets.

Did you flip the switch?

The problem with saving weight (it's not much weight at all) is where they're cutting the weight. If you're removing weight from the bottom portion of the rod, you're hurting the balance of the rod. Doesn't matter for all techniques, but for tip-up applications, a proper balance makes it much more comfortable over the course of several hours.

Edge Mag Bass 705 is the closest I've ever found. I've used every Loomis line and hated most all of them. Tried all the St Croix lineup and love the blanks, hate the execution. The Edge just brings the best of everything into one.

The *** is more sensitive and better balanced.

The Chronarch CI4+ and Curado I are the two best sub-$300 Shimano's I've used to this point.

Being "invisible" has never really shown a huge improvement over clear mono, as far I've seen. The biggest advantages to fluorocarbon are the sensitivity and abrasion resistance. A high quality fluorocarbon is unmatched in those two areas. Keywords: high quality fluorocarbon; the cheap stuff offers little to no advantage.

It would take an hour to type them all out. Which rods are you curious about?

Is there a small screw on the back of the handle? I've seen a Shimano with a similar design that had one.

It's to save them money, not you.

The graphite prepreg we use to build our parts comes from Hexcel and Toray. It's essentially the same stuff used on rods, except it's a lower modulus and slightly thicker. The graphite used on fishing rods is a higher quality than what we use, in most cases.

Much of this is false. I am a production operations specialist in composites for a major aircraft manufacturer. I've seen numerous stress tests on carbon composites that lead me to believe otherwise. If you don't take the rod past the stress point, it will keep bouncing back and will not wear out. The threads, epoxy, handle, etc. will fail before the blank; under normal conditions.

I don't think he wants a custom rod, just wants to change the handle. It depends on the materials used and the builder, but you're looking at $50-$100 most likely.

I've got reels that hold 12/120, or similar capacities, and I can spool a couple of them with 15lb fluoro a 5/8oz lipless crank. Just depends on the reel.

If you're casting very large baits, the added weight makes the spool spin faster. This equates to added distance. Doesn't have much use in bass fishing though.

Then buy something else, I guess. Even if you don't use them much, they'll break within the first couple hours if there's a true manufacturing defect in the blank.