Capt.Bob

For me I would go with a 7MF Avid, but I prefer the full cork handle,,,,, the 7'1"MF LTB would be my choice if you prefer a partial cork handle. I think there is very little difference in sensativity between the Tournament rods, and the Avids. If you have the cash and really want to feel the difference,,,,, try the Legend Elite, or Legend Extreme,,,, "Best Rod's on Earth"....

I have never found a better rod or better service,,, I have a couple, and the more I fish them, the more I think about investing in a couple more,,,

That is a great price for an Avid, and .ghoti. gave excellent advice and is spot on I have said many times the Avid series rod is the best priced rod on the planet!! From the company that builds the rods on the planet,,,,in my opinion,,,,,,

Ci4+ w/Legend Elite if using a contact technique, if fishing using a crankbait, spinnerbait, or other reaction type lures I would go with the Avid!! If you have the money go for the Stella and Legend Elite, but whatever reel I use I go with the best rods built in my opinion which are St. Croix.

.1 is pretty solid hull. I have a 27 year old 21'r that was used on all the great lakes, but mainly Lake Erie, one of the roughest Lakes in North America and as hard on hulls as any body of water. So I would not worry about thickness over that if I found a good deal. @ 5k should buy a 17 or 18'r like you want. But 6 people on any boat I would suggest you get as big as possible, it doesn't take long and if fishing 6 is crowded on a 27 footer!! Just to go for a short ride and staying seated aint bad but all day 6 people is crowded on any boat.

I've helped several on projects that were worse than this, as all my metal is good its just wood sheathing removed and reinstalled with new. I did my Thompson floor and used a vinyl flooring instead of carpet over the plywood, and will do the same here. That carpet on the gunnel I will just wire brush off,,,,under power of course and after masking off the spray rail and inside trim match it up with the similar color as the flooring with bed liner rolled on. The bow platform won't stop where it is in front of the console, I will run it clear up to the front of the console. More bow weight, and more bow space, but the main thing is More storage space. Anchor, Down rigger weights, Planer boards and portable mast w reels, and all the releases and hardware along with special tackle that you need when trolling big water for Salmon Steelhead and Walleye, raingear, all the Safety gear required for Great Lakes, extra extinguishers, tackle bags, When I used this boat for Smallmouth on Erie 20 years ago I always wanted more bow weight on long runs, and more space to stumble around on when fishing from the bow. In 2' or less waves it still is pretty rough on Erie when they come from every direction constantly, especially fishing the reefs where I will be a lot, you need stumble room. I also like big platforms for Flyfishing, and Smally's on the Fly on erie is a ball!!!!! The transom, I going with two layers of exterior grade plywood, I will epoxy it once laminated and cut to shape. Then I will install it and drill all the thru holes and take it back out, then oversize drill them, fill them with accuglass. I will put cellophane over the holes and tape em, then turn it over fill the holes and let them harden. Then remove the tape and what cellophane that will come off, and paint the entire transom with two coats of marine epoxy, this way when I reinstall it and drill the wholes for all the thru hull fasteners I will not have any that expose the wood, plus the will be filled with Marine silicone before I shove the bolts thru and tighten them up. If this thing lasted 27 years from the chity job the factory does, I will be put out to pasture by the time it fails again,,,,if ever. The best thing about this boat is the metal is 100%. and the paint is in pretty good shape also. There is probably less than a grand to put in it and that is pretty cheap for a 21 footer that has a 36" floor depth, and I believe a 44" bow depth. I know 25 years ago I could get around in less water than an 18' Ranger Bass Boat. If I can get under it, I can motor thru it. That is the other thing the motor. This is the smallest V-4 out of the the OMC line. I think it is the most durable motor they ever made, and way less trouble to keep tuned and running smoother than the inline motors,,,, This one also has power trim and tilt and before I pulled it I threw a battery in and cranked it over, with good compression, steering throttle and shift cables are operating smoothly, and the power trim and tilt are perfect. all pistons are bright and shiny, and I am figuring on a carburetor kit and I don't know that I will put a new pump in it as I can here that its still tight when I turn the engine over by hand. Well I have the transom out and the bare floor exposed, my next move is getting the gunnels stripped, the and the transom back in. Then I will get the wood for the floor and the vinyl. I already have what aluminum I need for framing the extra platform extension. Once I get all this together I hope by August. I will see what I need for new pumps, bilge, washdown, and livewell. By then I may decide to install a baitwell while everything is opened up??? Rain stopped me today but not before all the transome was removed!!

I been off the big water for about 5 years now and really miss it. With my back and neck problems I can no longer run Charters, but there are to many days that I could take it, and after nearly 40 years on the big pond, I really miss the world class Walleye Small Mouth and Yellow Perch fishing it offers. So this week I jumped head first into a new project,,,,, I got my old Lake Erie Bass Boat back, and after 10 years of neglect it needs a lot of attention. I will have to put a whole new interior in it, along with a new transom. The 88 HP 88Spcl. Is still in excellent mechanical condition. This is a great motor that most disregard as inferior. It is actually the same exact motor as the V-4 90 HP VRO,,, it just doesn't have the variable ratio oiling system on it, which in my opinion is a plus as there is less to worry about failing when navigating the long runs on big water. Anyway when I said a lot of work here a few pictures of all the damage I will have to address before it sails again. I hope to have it complete by summers end??? I have it gutted except the wood, next step is to pull the motor and get the transom stripped,,,,,fun fun fun,,,,it will be when I get done!!

The center console is in my opinion a much more versatile boat, but a bass boat when setup properly, and driven properly in rough water should be as comfortable. Most bass boats have the console near center of the boat also, but most center consoles are much deeper and heavier than the standard bass boat. The console being set farther to the rear in these boats are the primary reason for the smoother ride all else being equal.

I have mine balanced to the reel I will use on it, they're built for two in front, two behind, and balance point is set right at the line pick up on the reel, where my index finger rest. If I have to replace the reel later the same size and weight reel will be still perfectly balanced!!

Totally different reels and not compatible with the same rods. One is casting gear and one is spinning gear. Don't use grease on your gears, try lubing the gears thru the oiling port, a light oil is all that is needed on the gears

Have a schematic in front of you and as was already said, a muffin pan or something like that to keep parts in an organized order. Be sure you have the proper tools before you start!!

LTB 6'8" MXF all I use for topwater, I use it for some weightless plastics also,,, sweet rod

Everything,,,Braid 832 Suffix, the only thing the style crankbait I'm using determines is what rod I'm using!

The blue are manual brakes and are more aggressive, the white brakes are automatic, they are spring assisted to retract the brake pin quicker as it slows, giving the same breaking at full spool speed but shutting off quicker as the spool slows. I never throw under 3/8 with my BB1 but I only have one white (automatic) brake turned on, bothe blue and 3 white off. Saying that no two casters are the same, when I was young I put more heat behind my cast and may well have needed 2 white, or maybe both blue brakes, probably more than I do today. I would say if your having trouble controlling the first part of your cast more white would be your best option, but if your having more trouble at the middle or end then I would use the blue. Good Luck!!

Nice birds guy's, I quit kill'n em a few years ago, ain't no bird worth a 22 dollar tag! I call em in and shoot em with the Canons today,,,, camera.. There a ball to talk to in the spring when there hot!!!

Thanks!! good to be back! He will redo all his work If the rod fails, when he builds me a rod on a lifetime blank, he rebuilds the rod with the same materials he built it with in the beginning, so yes he can save that grip and put it back on. If I would break a handle,,,, I don't know how,,,, I would think he would charge me to fix that, but to take that handle off and put all the components back on a broken rod,,,, he covers it, and yes I have seen him remove a handle from a broken blank, after St. Croix has been contacted. He reams the rod out of the handle material, and it is just as new. I had a cork on a rod that was left in the boat over winter that he had built. I had a mouse get in it and chewed on that front grip, another builder said he would have to remove the guides and do it from the front, cost was not worth it. He removed the bad section, made a new ring, fractured it so it wasn't a cut seam to be noticeable when epoxied back together, fit it and put it back in between the two good sections and you couldn't tell it was ever broke,,,, thats with a multi color front grip made with ring sections to begin with, without removing any guides, and it looks like new and you can't find the repair!! Said it took about a half hour, cost me $15.00

St. Croix backs their custom "BLANK's" the same as their factory built rod's. the Builder you choose determines the accessories built to that blank. That's why I use the builder I do, he takes care of reinstalling everything else if there is a problem, as he does all the custom grip and cork work by hand and stands behind that, the guides are lifetime from recoil, and the fly/spin reel seats on the lighter rods, and one piece seats from fugi on the larger power rods, are easily removed and replaced, if one were damaged it would be a cost of the gripframe only, and that's pretty cheap. So I pick my builder the same way I do who I get my rods from,,,, so far I'm pretty pleased with both.

Yes I agree, and my rod builder builds more rods on RainShadow Blanks than any other. I think they offer a very good rod for the money. I have one thing no other Rod manufacturer in the world offers, and that's the warranty options available from St. Croix. After over 30 years running my own Charters and Guiding, I fish for myself, and today I want the "best for me", regardless of cost. When I find a company that over and over again deliver flawless service and products,,,,, I keep coming back till one of those things change, The way it looks, I have no reason to look elsewhere at this time. But should that change, I would be more than happy to go with a RainShadow build.

Street prices please,,,, and your time is like S Havonek said then worthless....

I don't think you could build a custom rod yourself cheaper than a factory ,,,,say Avid,,,, you would have to use some pretty cheap less than quality parts, I supply the hardware for my builds and I have as much in the guides and blank, not counting everything else, as I would buying the rod from the factory. If someone goes into a custom build thinking they are saving money over a factory rod of the same model,,,,,,they have a rude awakening!!

Maybe not but Id say my builder had 3 to 4 hours tops of personal time involved, so about 20 bucks an hour doing what you want when you want at something you enjoy beats hell outa being on a production line or braving the weather doing skilled trades work,,, these guy's thats done it for 20 years or more can do in that time what we spend 8 or 10 hours doing, and make it perfect when their done,,,,yes they are worth what you pay,,,,, and know I don't see many living off a fairway somewhere, but man do they ever seem happy,,,,

You didn't add in the 30 buck's, that paid for more than just the material, he charged that for the cork work and probably had only a few bucks in material. But regardless, yes I am blessed this guy knows me from my Guide day's, he was years ago, also a guide, call it professional courtesy maybe??? Doesn't matter he has built several over the years for me, and made many repairs to the rods I used to furnish customers. Point is it is like anything in life, when you pick a custom builder it should involve a relashionship, this will make years working together to grow and certainly there will be things that you benefit from some total stranger from any skilled custom service provider,,,,,gunsmiths, rod builders, mechanics,,,, you name it. This why it is important to start with a good one, it pays dividends in later,,,,,,

I agree A-Jay especially with a fluffy for weight spinnerbait or crankbait, a jig would be better but still much better for me on a spinning outfit,,,,

This is solid advice, you could go with an Avid blank, and go from their, but you aint buying any blank better than the Avid, for the same money,,,aint happening,,,,, and nothing is backed as well, even if custom built you keep your lifetime warranty from St. Croix!! But unless you use inferior hardware, it won't happen for less than 250 to 275 dollars. The off the shelf Avid as recommended will leave some of that 200 bucks still in your pocket!! I just picked this up 4 weeks ago,,,, It is an Avid blank $85.00, (your weight and length blank would be around $95.00 for the Avid) and had 3" of extra blank added to make it absolutely personal, with $90.00 in Recoil guides, $8.00 for the tip, $5.00 hook keeper, a fuji Skeleton reel seat $10.00 with custom hand made cork to complete it, along with a custom hand made two-tone cork reel seat precision balanced to the CI4+ 1000 reel $30.00, add. building fees of $50.00 for labor, and I have an exquisitely wrapped with black thread to mach the reel with slight twin red thread wraps at the rod label on each end w hook keeper, twin red wraps at the first rings, one red wrap on the second ring up and call it finished the rest of the rings just the black thread wraps..... $278.00 But I have it exactly the way I want it, and it is precision balanced and lighter than the factory finished rod coming in at a whopping 2.9 oz finished, I couldn't be happier. The last pic is with a Legend Elite I had built buy the same rod builder previously, in much the same manner with the same components in a heavier power and action. There is nothing better than having it your way, well worth the additional approximate 70 buck's, to me anyway's.

St Croix Premier, 5 years warranty about $90.00 tom $110.00 or Avid,, Lifetime warranty and about $180.00 to $200.00, both Made In America!! Backed by the best CS in the Industry!!