Angry John

So step one is to trim the legs. I pull them to the head loosely and trim them to the length of the frog. This reduces the drag and the amount of misses. Some people trim one leg a little shorter. I dont. I have both styles but I trim the same. The popping are easier imo.

It's a money game at that point. Expensive gear is very lite. Not a swimbait game either as they would get like two rods and like 5 baits. Intresting idea like to see how it works out. You may limit some people by boat specs as me and my partner fis a 17' aluminum and could not afford to buy another for this competition. Do aluminum get a diffrent limit than glass???

How about a cranking setup. The dobyns 764rm is very nice. I use a daiwa zillion hlc on mine. I like a larger spool for longer casts. A lot of the megabass rods are medium fast to moderate and might fit your style well. I love square bills so maybe a shorter rod may fit your application better.

Best advice in hoping for your next win is to do a ton of homework. If your boater gets lost and asks having a workable plan may be that edge that you need for that new boat. Good luck and tight lines

Two good options I like the owner welded snap. You can also add an owner solid ring and tie to that. I don't do it on crank baits but I do on large swimbaits

I feel color always matters but what is best is changed by the conditions. When the water is very clear then a natural presentation is critical. If the water is stained or muddy then having something that can be seen is the ticket. This means that one color is not always the answer. Matching the current food item also helps. It is just one piece of the puzzle like depth sound and action. The time you get them all right will be the day you will always remember....

I had a first gen smallmouth rod and i liked it a lot. It was only like a 6"3 inch and great for running smaller rivers. I now have one of the brown largemouth 610mlxf and the rod is perfect for drop shot and flick shake along with regular flukes. I have had a qa problem with the reel seat which i fixed myself. I have seen one other with this same problem on the board. With only two issues out of all the rods out there i would consider it a win... The failure was also easily repaired if that counts for anything...

I catch the most walking it. Sweet looking baits

Its a Shimano so i dont have the answer but if it was a daiwa i would just recommend getting a 2004 spool for doing that. The jdm market has a lot of shallower spools for doing exactly what your talking about. In your case i would leave the line on you have now and just add a cast worth of the new line on top of what is already there. With 2lb it will take almost no space. https://www.ebay.com/i/132341204237?chn=ps&dispItem=1

Rod tip glue is what you want. If you epoxy it on and have a problem then it's a major pita. If you use a heat gun it may work better. It's a ballance trying to get the glue to melt and not overheat the blank. If the blank is overheated the tip will just snap off and now your starting over again.

The line makes a huge diffrence to me. I like x fast on rods with copolymer or flouro and fast for those using braid as a main line. I use the standard avid or le line in casting and I just got my son a avidx which I have yet to put any real miles on. The rod blank and guides on an avidx casting are good but I hate split handles in most cases. If your good with the handle I would grab the avid x

I don't think my daiwa baitcasters are all that complicated. I only own one brand for that reason. If you only have one brand almost everything is the same. My alphas, zillions and steez are all basically the same. The only reel part that sucks are the little c-clips and all reels seem to have them. I started wrenching on the advantage htsl and still own my original two and they still work good. Major brands are easy to get replacement parts for. Most of us tear down our reel during the winer so if your stuck needing a part your not missing any water time. Dont be afraid to go all in, just plan a good time.

The longer shank hangs down and has a better chance at grabbing a fish. Short shanks are for cranks like squarebills running threw cover

Yes the factory sometimes adds to much lubrication and in the case of the AR bearing it is oiled not greased. If you clean the shaft off or use a q-tip to get some of the oil out of the bearing it may stop slipping. The AR bearing in in line with the drag system and adding load to the drag compresses the AR bearing.

One time out with a lure is not a make or break for me. A certain sound or action is what is called for on any given day and that will kill it. Might be something to toss into a rotation and check back later on.

I would not use a short shank on a topwater bait. Normally i would recommend some sort of round bend but my best holding hook on poppers is the owner st-41. Everyone has a favorite but a good hook lasts a long time on a popper.

You may be moving the shaft position in the ar bearing a little or adding a little load to the bearing cage reducing a little of the free play. I am not saying for certain but that would make the most sense. There may be a little buildup on the shaft or a little to much oil that you can clean out with a q-tip to help it lock up better.

I had this happen to my rod. Mine was the 610mlxf. I had a small set of two part epoxy and I fixed it myself no big deal. The warranty is not worth the effort. My one tip is to clean the blank with a razor and then glue the threads down not locked to the top nut. Use rubber bands or zip ties to hold it in place while it dries so they don't get stuck together.

I have and use a dobyns champion 764 rm for most of my cranking and like it a lot for what you mention up to the 6xd. I would step up the 805rm for dd22 and 8xd baits. Never thrown a 10xd so i cant comment there.

Congratulations joining the dark side. Having a custom rod built is quite the experience. There are lots of greet builders around and they vary as much as any group can. The most important part is knowing exactly what you want. That may seem simple but in practice is way more complicated. Choosing the blank is just step one and were the thousands of options really start. Guide size will do a lot to impact the final build and the style of spiral you choose. I would ask you to heavily consider the handle your after. I am very different than most people being very tall and i love a long rod handle. I went 12" on my heavy rod for frogs and heavy punching. I hit them like i am teaching them to fly. The length of the handle is so critical to how the rod is being used. Short handles are great for jerk baits and top waters but suck for swim bait rods. I would spend a long time working out what the task ahead will require. If you know someone with a slantbridge i would try and use it for a bit and see if its your bag of fish or not!!!!

I never owned anything below an avid. Picked a used 66mf and that began my hoarding. I now own over 15 and now have customs built on their blanks. They make a great product for a good price right here in the usa. Need I say more.

My choice for what you describe is a medium light extra fast spinning rod. At 5" worms I go casting. Mlxf is great for a lot of baits shakey head dropshot flick shake flukes. I use mine a ton and one of the three rods on my yak every trip.

If you look at tw where the owner hooks are listed they recommend you upsize. I ordered a pack to fix a problemishes with a bait that the treble alway hung up the rear blade. It fixed the problem but the fish always seem to target the front hook which is a treble. Fixed my issue with that bait which was nice but don't have feedback on how well the work as they are never hooked on the back.

I am looking at building a bfs rod on the st Croix Le sc5 mlxf. I don't have the ccs data but I plan on building a board and testing all the rods I own. I wish there was a shared database for this info but I can completely understand it being trade craft and keeping it close

I almost never use a senko I favor the dean rojas worms. The fall is a lot slower and they have a lot of good movement