FloridaFishinFool

Looking forward to see that collection one day too! Do ya do any trading?

Yep. PSI is based on the load. Tires usually say something like "max load" at 60 PSI. You could probably run them as low as 35, but 40 to 50 is fine as well, and as you said the closer to 60 you get the rougher the ride. I let my trailer tires get real low one time around 11psi and they were still doing fine. Looked low, but no damage to tire. I try and keep them above 40 now. Drive all over the state with no issues. I think you will be fine as well so long as you have good tires. Load rating is one thing. Speed rating is another. Tires that came with my trailer said max speed 55mph. I changed that out real fast. I needed highway speeds.

Always drawn to inflows and outflows from what I have seen over the years. Current is everything for inflows and outflows. The outflow photographed in this thread is little more than structure- as others noted- with no current flow.

I believe this subject deserves its own thread. I post this as an FYI. And thanks to Edwin Evers for giving up one of his fishing secrets! Some of you may already be doing this because I found this subject mentioned before buried deeper in this forum, and just wanted to bring it out into open for all to hopefully learn from and use with success: https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/252651-a-tutorial-on-available-online-water-and-lake-data/#comment-2934813 https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/231382-how-to-find-a-good-smallie-creek/#comment-2619670

A great comment right there! Key to the inflows and outflows are current! This next video shows very clearly what an experienced bass fisherman from Lakeland stumbled onto at Tenoroc mine. He says he caught a tagged bass which the state of Florida pays anyone who catches a tagged bass $100 cash for each one caught. Those fish are part of the state's bass fishing science projects out there. But listen to what old John here says about the inflow and outflow, and then watch how he fished the outflow deep in the jungle. This is a location where bass boats cannot go. The OP asked " How do bass respond to a water outlet/intake?" Situations vary, but in Florida, this shows by example. Kind of funny old John here just stumbles onto it and then tries to keep it a secret while posting video of it for the world!

Is there a source to this idea that fish are scared of fishing line? Are there any statistics on it? Because from my own personal experience I have never seen anything to support it. Years ago I was fishing in a crystal clear spring fed lake and not having much luck. But I was noticing small bass in the 6 inch to 8 inch range swimming right up to my braid line and pecking at it to see if they could eat it. There was no fear of the line at all. They could see it clearly and watch it move and were curious about it. I stopped using all clear lines decades ago. I use straight braid for everything, except backing line on spools. I no longer use any leaders and I don't miss clear lines at all. And I don't lose as many fish as some of my buddies who swear by leaders. From what I can see with my own eyes, bass are not afraid of line. And I never even think or consider these days I might be losing fish strikes because of it. It just don't seem to affect the numbers for me so I'm sticking with straight braid til I die!

The problem with our gators is that the large ones can view a kayak as another gator coming into their territory and sometimes attack the kayak itself possibly not even knowing a human is aboard. We recently had a woman killed by a gator because she and her husband canoed over top of a large gator in shallow water and when it reacted to them the gator knocked both into the water and grabbed her killing her. https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/2025/06/26/florida-gator-attack-death-details-lake-kissimmee-polk-gatorwise-website/84348869007/ https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/new-details-released-after-alligator-attacks-kayaker-in-central-florida/ A kayakers club posted an article about this subject: https://adventurepaddletours.com/kayak-with-alligators/ I can't tell you how many kayakers I have pulled back to the boat ramp over the years. Kayakers who get way out into the jungle and then get lost and turned around and the sun is going down... yeah I carry extra rope just to tow some of them back to safety from places like this video shows on the St. Johns river in central Florida. This is not the best place for a kayak for sure. But they still go out there just about every single day. Part of the problem is the river they use is listed as a canoe kayak trail: "The Little Big Econ State Forest offers a popular 19-mile paddling trail along the Econlockhatchee River, suitable for both beginners and intermediate paddlers, according to Florida Department of Environmental Protection. The river flows through diverse landscapes, including dense forests and floodplain, providing opportunities to observe wildlife." The problem arises when Kayakers and canoers go the wrong way. This 19 miles is kind of in town in Orlando area where the gator numbers are smaller. Much smaller. But quite often the kayakers go off trail and head in the wrong direction towards St. Johns river and get off the canoe route and out into the jungle where gator numbers quickly rise. We bass fishermen tend to run into them right around sundown as they are exiting the little econ river and coming out onto the St. Johns river. If they turn right they are screwed and going further into jungle. Um, the boat ramp is in the other direction! And it is right around there and sundown when panic sets in to kayakers desperate to get off the water before dark. They are miles from nearest boat ramp and safety. And they can't turn around. Kayaking and canoeing around gators can be done safely, but its always a gamble. I hope Mike, looking for a yak, is going to use it in his backyard lake which does not get many gators.

Wow! You said never get a used boat. Unfortunately for me that's all I get. And here in Florida I avoid the salty dogs if I can. Nothing but trouble and problems. Boats, motors and trailers. Long story short I was given a salty dog abandoned in Florida woods for 10 years. Free if I removed it. I wanted trailer and possible outboard if it still ran. Hull was rotten. I rebuilt wheel hubs with new bearings and tires to get it rolling. I drove it across state 200 miles at upwards of 80mph at times. I made it safely but once hull was in landfill i took trailer apart. Holding worst looking 4 leaf spring at waste high I dropped it on concrete to bust off some rust. 2 out of 4 solid steel leaf springs shattered on impact with concrete like glass. Saltwater corrosion had eaten through 3 out 8 leaf springs. Fortunately the bad ones were on bottom of stack. Axle connecting leaf spring at top was least corroded. I'm lucky axle stayed in place under old boat for that trip. Good thing I removed motor and all the weight I could ahead of time. That could have been a disaster. I wish I could buy new but used and cheap on a retiree budget is where I'm stuck at. I just need to really look more closely at doing thorough inspection myself or hire one and be more discriminating next time. In your case I'm wondering how the brake shoe was missing. Is it possible to wear it out of there? Or maybe it was not installed or installed correctly? Was there any remnants to show it had been there? Are rebuildable brakes available?

Custom rod building has 2 sides in my opinion. One is performance and the second is art. And those who try to combine both at same time. For me it is build by science. I ignore the art. Simple is better and lighter. Performance only. I agree with the Gary Loomis, Aleks Maslov rod blank choice of North Fork Composites. Best of the best right there. DOD level.

I gotta toss another monkey wrench into discussion. This entire thread and just about every word is aimed at scent. The product I use is made from a small fish. So its not a chemical like some. Its a food source derivative. When I apply the menhaden oil it is not for scent or attracting. I am more concerned about how it tastes to a bass after grabbing my lure. I want the fish to think it is real food and hold onto it longer because of taste not scent. In Florida I troll around edges of cover a lot casting all the way to shore and work it back through cover. Sometimes bass hit because its moving. Not because they smell it. No time for that as I see it sometimes. It is after the bass grabs it I want them to hold onto it because it tastes like food. My choice is sourced in natural food. So my hope is the bass thinks so as well. They may be able to create working chemical scents but how do they taste to the fish I wonder? Maybe I should give it a try and find out.

Dang that's longer than one of my comments! Would this be a good time to ask who doesn't mind catching a lot of dinks? I ask because in bass fishing is a general trend for a fisherman to go after and target catching bigger fish. And in doing so may use larger baits the dinks wont hit on as much. Just curious how some of you approach it? Is bass fishing only about the big ones?

It is a special place but with issues. One issue being researched now is how the reservoir is affecting the aquifer. Before the dam was constructed the Oklawaha river had some 22 springs pumping out water into river. After dam was built and water levels got higher this created immense water pressure on those springs. Scientists are now saying that water pressure is now reversing the water flow. So instead of springs some are now drains as polluted water is now flowing down into aquifer. This may change how high the reservoir water levels are set at. This came from a recent documentary.

Great topic! I've got several of those types of stories but there is one that haunts me. In college I fished a lake that had lowered water levels due to some interstate construction cutting off the inflow temporarily. So the lake water level was down like 15 feet and all that was left was just the deepest holes. So I was fishing this one perfectly round deep hole with no cover at all. I cast a rubber worm to the shore, like if I was standing at 12 o'clock position, I would cast to the 3 and 9 o'clock shore and bump the worm into the lake. The bass were starving. Absolutely no cover. No where to hide. So I catch this small bass about 14 inches in size, and I am reeling it to me pulling it away from shore over deeper water. That bass swam as hard as it could right back to shore. So I pulled it out over deeper water towards me a second time. It swam right back as fast and as hard as it could back to shore. On the 3rd time pulling it out over deeper water a huge bass came up from the middle bottom of that hole and ate my bass instantly- just gone. I watched my line go straight down to the center of that hole where that bass took his dinner back to his home. I was a kid really. I had cheap junk tackle. 10lb frayed old mono line. I could not even budge that fish. I tried everything until my line snapped. That fish did not even seem to know I was there. All I can do is guess at the size of that one. But how big does a bass have to be to eat a 14 inch bass? I also think that would have been my PB as well. I am sure it was well over 10 pounds. That was a lesson in learning to be prepared for the next big one. That big bass schooled me on that day some 40 years ago.

Yep. 10 years ago some of us Florida guys contacted each other through this website and started fishing together across Florida. We formed our own little Florida BR club that is still in contact and still actively fishing together to this day- and bringing in new members to join us. Bass resource is a great bass resource!

Any stats to back up this claim?

Can't wait to see you trying to get in and out of a yak! Better look for a wide one! You gonna need it! Curious, is this for that one lake you fish? The backyard honey hole no one else in Jax has? You gotta be the luckiest bass fisherman in north Florida! I gotta drive 40 miles to find clean water. All you gotta do is walk out the back door. Lucky. Long time no see Mike. Been like 10 years? I've been living in central Florida and only recently returned to Jax temporarily so let's go fishin! Didn't you have a small boat at one time? Trying to remember the last time we went fishing in it. You probably caught all the fish. Home field advantage!

If you like the rod as it now is, then keep it and use the heck out of it. Forget the replacement because you will lose this rod. If you like it you won't get it again. So keep it is my advice and go purchase the same rod again so you have the softer tip as well. Then you will have both. Like a woman's shoe closet, you can never have enough rods! I'm sitting around 70 rods myself on average on any given day. Some are in similar shape. And oddly enough, one of them is an old broken Dobyns that was headed to the dumpster is now my new shorter flipping and pitching rod. It was broken by a shop customer and abandoned with us, so I cut all the guides off it, turned it into a CHW spiral wrapped rod and now use it for up close heavy stuff due to its shorter length. My boat is so low to the surface of the water I don't have enough height off the water to use a 7'6" like I want to, but this Dobyns rod fits perfectly. Its now around 6'10 1/2". Normally I don't keep broken rods, but this one filled a need and it sounds like yours does as well. But are my eyes seeing your photo correctly? Did you leave the guide in place next to the tip you just reinstalled? If so I would remove it and just go with the tip only. But I'm not buying the "I didn't realize the ceiling fan was running" line.

Looks a little shorter than mine, and maybe a little wider. Not sure. I will look up the F-9 and see what the specs are. There is an interesting backstory to how the aluminum boat industry got started. All a result of WW2 coming to an end and DOD manufacturers left with piles of aluminum that was being used to make war planes now had nowhere to go. So guess what they did next? Your boat and mine are made from the same aluminum as the planes dropping bombs on Germany. The pontoon boat also came from WW2. You sure did a lot more interior compartment construction than I did. I wanted to keep the floor space as open as possible so two men would have some room in it. I considered building a removable rear deck for mine but never got around to it. I'm curious what you built those compartments out of? I did some research before working on mine and opted to avoid all wood, especially any treated wood because those preservation chemicals corrode aluminum. I built the front deck using framing of the same type of aluminum as hull, and then covered it with PVC foam deck board. I even used aluminum hardware to prevent galvanic corrosion. Had no issues in 10 years. The previous owner put a 60hp motor on it and busted up the transom. So I installed a 1/4" custom cut to fit aluminum plate across the back of the transom and topped it off with a solid crossbar that now has a hinge on each end so as the motor thrusts forward the transom can give a little bit if need be. The previous owner welded it all together and then broke it all with too much horse power. If that 60hp was on it now, it can take it. I'm presently running a 1987 35hp U.S. Navy Seal Evinrude/OMC MARS motor purchased at a surplus auction from I think Panama City Naval Surface Warfare Dept. for a couple hundred bucks- never used- so its nearly 40 years old and like new still. And still on original factory settings never touched. No need to. I did remove all the water pumps the navy spec'd on it for dropping it 400 feet to ocean bottom and retrieving it and pumping water out to start it up again. A really cool motor. Built like a tank and runs like a scalded dog. By myself I can get it up around 35mph. Nothing like the big bass boats for sure, but it puts me on the fish cheap, cheap, cheap for an old guy on a retiree income. This old navy seal motor has some power. It can porpoise the boat wide open even though I have all fuel and two large 31 size trolling motor batteries stored up front to weigh it down, and this motor will still over power it and I have to slow down to stop it. Sometimes with another man up front and weight of batteries and fuel and it will still porpoise sometimes. Its not the trim or weight balance. I think it is just the hull design and that the boat is rated for 20hp and I am nearly doubling it. I can't imagine what it was like with a 60hp on it busting up the transom. Its really cool to keep these old boats on the water! It would be nice to have a $100,000 boat, but I would not want all the expenses they bring with them. My next boat will be an all welded aluminum hull. No more rivets! And wider too. Glad to know there are more 50 year old boats out there still on the water! Newer fiberglass boats will never last as long. Heck I bet yours and mine will last another 50 years with little change to them. Thanks for posting the photo. Your boat and mine look similarly constructed from the top down. I just did not want all the compartments you built. I created one large space under the deck and everything fits down under with no problems. Keeps the entire boat open and free of clutter.

Wow! Some great photos in this thread and some new fishing spots to take a look at. MN fisher... your boat is a "Rebuilt 1972 Alumacraft F-9" ??? You got me beat! Mine is a 1974 AlumaCraft F-7 I think. I rebuilt mine as well. Got it for free 10 years ago dragged out of someone's backyard who was moving and could not take it with them so they said its yours for free. Been all over the SE with it since. Takes me anywhere the $100,000.00 bass boats can go- and to places those boats can never go since our AlumaCrafts draft only about 7 inches. I can get into some spots deep in the woods bass boats can never go, like this secret spot way back up in the Little Econ river in central Florida... just watch out for the 10 foot plus gators in here. https://www.wsoctv.com/news/trending-now/10foot-gator-killed-after-biting-woman-in-florida/393771676/ This is one of my springtime photos from way back up in the Deep Creek area of central Florida. This next photo was taken by a Florida FWC state fisheries biologist I repaired reels for while working at a rod and reel shop in central Florida. But do you know what fishing secrets are shown here? The state of Florida is working hard to turn Florida into a multi-billion dollar fishing tourist destination and this folks is one of their laboratory frankenfish that the biologists were on a field trip checking out at very specific locations in Florida. Here is a link to the FWC website fish stocking program that this photo is all about..... This fish is designed so that bass fishermen do not have to change anything they do to catch them, only learn where and how to find them which is quite different than Florida largemouth bass! This photo shows the secret but what is it? https://myfwc.com/fishing/freshwater/stocking/

Down here in Florida the fish seem to like the Menhaden oil. Stinks and messy, but if it makes rubber taste like dinner I'm good with it if the fish are. I've used the Berkley scents, but they are very viscous or liquidy for lack of a better word and seem to wash off faster. That menhaden oil seems to stick onto the rubber longer so I have just stuck with it until the bottle runs dry. Then I might go back to the Berkley until it runs dry then back to Menhaden oil. Added- sometimes I do put it in the bag with rubber lures. Other times just a drop on the lure and smear it around some and keep swinging away.

I don't mean to throw a monkey wrench into this discussion, but this line caught my attention. I have to disagree on confidence as a fishing factor. The fish do not know if you are confident or not. Confidence does not put fish in the boat. I've seen confident fishermen get skunked and I have seen people with zero confidence in what they are doing catch fish. As a human I am always confident in what I am doing. Confident with the boat. Confident with rods and reels and even lures. But none of this puts fish in the boat. It comes down to me learning how to trick a fish into biting a piece of rubber or plastic or metal. There have been times when I was not confident I was going to catch a fish and did, and other times I was confident and never got a bite. So I am curious how confidence is such a huge factor when fishing? Why do fishermen want or need to "feel" or think they are confident some lure is going to work? When fishing I am not throwing confidence out there. I am throwing the kitchen sink at them sometimes and hope something works is how I see myself and many fishermen really operate that way as well. If we were so confident in one lure why do we throw everything from the tackle shop at them? Lure switching over and over to me shows a lack of confidence in what we/they are throwing. Sometimes I go fishing and take only one lure. If it works then fine. If not, that is fine as well. I never saw confidence catch a fish! I do see confidence develop once someone actually does catch a fish. And maybe that compels them to try even harder? Throw it some more? Are we really fishing with confidence? I have to wonder. Back to regular programming...

I'm the opposite due to old age and stubbornness. It sounds like you have been caught up in the commercial sales gimmick fishermen preach to keep switching things up so you have to buy more. Got the bait monkey on your back! Buy this color. Buy that color. Only this works. Only that works! Heck it all works sometimes! But that's not the point. The reason bait and tackle stores are filled with every variety and every color, size and shape is NOT for the fish! Its for the fishermen to bring their wallets and buy into it. I left that train decades ago. Today I can get by with one bag of stuff. The basics. Often one rod, maybe two. And I can do just fine. Florida bass when biting will hit about anything that moves. My problem is not the urge to keep switching up baits. My problem is sitting still in one place too long. I got fishing buddies who drive me crazy with pulling up on one spot and then wanting to sit there all day long sure there is another fish in there somewhere. I move through an area faster. I work it over good, and quick to move on. I'm a new water guy. Last month I went fishing and found I forgot all my lures left at home! All I had was what was on the rods and what was laying around in the boat. Amazing what you can do with old lures when ya have to. Not gonna let not having any lures in the boat slow me down! When it comes to lures, I generally fall into light, medium dark and dark. I don't worry about blue or purple or red because quite often the waters I fish in Florida are darker than coffee and tea with bright sunlight directly overhead you can't see your hand six inches under surface of water so no way a bass is gonna determine color 4 feet down. Not physically possible. No light. So I wanna make some noise and flash and maybe some lure scent as well. But if I can, sometimes I will do an entire fishing trip on one lure. And if my buddy goes white, I go dark. And if he goes dark I might go light just because. And still out fish some of my buddies who are doing the bait monkey shuffle.

Mick, the rod showing side loading is not one of mine and not the GLoomis NRX. I would not build a rod that looks like that one! I simply posted it as an example of how a spiral wrap should NOT look- so we agree on that one!

Not long to me! I write long posts too. Oh well! Information takes words! Discussion forums are for words! Now about your reel. Sounds like something you did. If it worked fine and smooth before you took it apart and put it back together again, then that points right straight to you and what you did or did not do..... Secondly why are you buying reels from Japan? I am an old service tech on rods and reels and worked for a warranty repair shop for years on all the major brands. Shimano's are my favorites. But not JDM reels! Americans are making a huge mistake buying JDM reels. All that means is Japan domestic model. It does not mean anything special. Just different. Shimano engineers typically put advancements into JDM reels first to try it out in Japan first before putting it into U.S. reels. And U.S reels are designed for how Americans fish differently than Japanese do. I repeat there is NOTHING better about any JDM reels. Just different is all and might have an advancement a year or two sooner than U.S. whoopie. The problem with Americans buying JDM reels is that Shimano USA won't support them. And will not supply parts. Even when I was at a warranty repair shop for Shimano we could not get the parts from Shimano and no schematics either. If you want JDM reels repaired you gotta ship them to Shimano headquarters and let them do it. They will not support JDM reels in USA. So if you need parts good luck! You might be able to get a similar part from a U.S. made reel. Otherwise contact Shimano Japan and see if they will help you out. I'm an old Shimano fan going back more than 40 years and bench experience as warranty tech for Shimano reels and I won't touch JDM with a ten foot pole. Why? Nothing there I can't get in USA except for maybe different colors and a few differences. Other than that JDM is nothing more than a status symbol or hood ornament. A free spinning spool is a free spinning spool no matter what country the reel is sold within. Take Shimano DC reels for example... Shimano engineers spent a lot of time researching how Americans fish. Shimano engineers come to USA at least once a year around ICAST and visit warranty shops. I used to get those visits and loved sharing what worked and did not work about their designs. Do you have any idea how much design effort Shimano engineers put into carefully designing DC reels just for the American market? Take a read on this... Key features of these DC reels tailored for the USA market: Digital Control (DC) Braking System: This innovative system uses a microcomputer to monitor spool speed and apply the ideal amount of brake to prevent backlash, which is particularly helpful for anglers casting in challenging conditions like wind. This technology enhances casting distance and overall control. Curado DC: The Curado DC is a popular and well-established series known for its durability, dependability, and versatility. This model offers a 4-setting, externally adjustable brake dial for easy fine-tuning based on conditions and lure weight. The Curado DC 200 model specifically provides increased line capacity for heavier lines and larger lures, perfect for a wide range of fishing techniques popular in the US. Metanium DC A: The Metanium DC A is known for being the lightest Shimano DC reel to date, featuring a lightweight CoreSolid magnesium frame for durability and reduced fatigue. It boasts an upgraded I-DC5 braking system, offering enhanced fine-tuning for casting control and accuracy. This reel is designed for effortless casts and exceptional ergonomics. While the Metanium DC A is specifically sold to the US market, it is still manufactured in Japan. In summary, Shimano's DC reels designed for the USA market, like the Curado DC and Metanium DC A, integrate advanced Digital Control technology to provide enhanced casting performance and control, addressing the specific needs and preferences of anglers in the US." Specifically addressing the needs and preferences of USA anglers! And you go to Japan to buy a reel NOT made for USA? Why I can only wonder? With DC reels Shimano actually included a noise or whine feature on purpose for U.S. market. Even the level of braking coming from the microprocessor was designed for how Americans fish. So to Shimano and myself I don't understand why anyone in USA would seek out JDM reels that U.S. warranty repair shops will not take in or touch, and Shimano USA will not supply parts or schematics or anything on any JDM reels. You are on your own! Just wanted to point that out as I am assuming your purchase of these reels from a Japan auction means you bought JDM? Shimano and Shimano engineers are not keeping anything from Americans in their reels. They simply use their home market to develop their designs. If it does not work in Japan, then USA never sees it. If you want that then go for it. Otherwise avoid JDM at all costs! My .02 cents and too many words! Again.

Yes the simple spiral works fine. I agree. But I could not live with it. I did not like the line flow static or under load. I was not trying to "trash" it, only to say that on custom rod forums it should not recommended- especially as the first choice suggestion. Aim for performance. What is the point to building a custom rod? For some its all about art and how it looks. For others like myself it is all about performance only. Looks do not matter really. I have the opinion that custom rod building is primarily for building rods that fit us better and give us better performance than off the shelf rods. To me custom rod building is not art. I do not build rods for how they look with pretty colors and feathers, snake skin and stuff like that. I build strictly for performance. Weight. Balance. Guide design. Top blanks. Best performance. No exceptions. And that is from where my opinion of the simple spiral comes from. It is the lowest form of spiral wrap guide design. Worst of the worst from my perspective. That's not trashing it. That is putting it where it belongs on the list. As I said the 1909 patented idea by John Scanlan is far more advanced than the simple spiral. This is 2025. Not 1905. In my opinion custom rod building should be aiming strictly for the best performance possible. End of story. In 2025 why would anyone recommend or suggest a guide design that is less than advanced than 1909? Makes no sense to me. So yes, I absolutely do not like the simple spiral but I wasn't trying to trash it, only put it in its place among the other spiral ideas. Its on the bottom. All the way down at the bottom. I spent decades mentally improving performance. Not going in the reverse. I truly believe custom rod building is about performance only. Art be damned. Breaking the rules of custom rod building was not my game plan for decades. Adhering to them and following them strictly to develop my idea was the goal. To me the simple spiral is the opposite direction any and all custom rod builders should go in. I truly believe ALL custom rod builders should be building custom rods for improving performance and enjoyment of use. Again, what is the goal of custom rod building? 2 camps: art and performance. I am squarely in the performance camp. Art has no place in my camp. And my performance desire seems to have no place in the art camp either. I can tell you when I got my first custom spiral wrapped rod and learned its secrets, even it was far more advanced than a simple spiral, but the side loading and terrible line flow under load just bothered the heck out of me. Its why I embarked on the adventure of labor intensive and time consuming effort to fix it. To improve upon it. To make it so when the rod is in my hands I actually liked it and wanted to use it. A simple spiral makes me want to throw it away. I can't stand it really. That MHX rod shown above took 3 times of guide replacements to get it where I wanted it to be. If I saw any deviation from near perfect it got redone. My whole point was that on custom rod forums the suggestions and recommendations for any and all custom rod builders should be to recommend the best of the best first. And if they can't achieve it, then maybe help them out with a simple spiral or John Scanlan guide design or a Roberts wrap or acid wrap or any of the other methods people have come up and put a name to. I hope you understand where I am coming from on this one. I was not trying to trash the simple spiral, but put it in its place where it belongs on the list. And to anyone out there wanting a high performance hot rod of a spiral wrapped rod, consider guide designs carefully! Ask yourself why are you building it in the first place? Performance or to be a work of art? It can be both to some degree, but to me adding art weight is going in reverse again. I hope you understand I have been steadily working for nearly 30 years towards performance and away from the simple spiral. No way I'm going to have a good opinion of that one! The physics does not work for me. What I saw in my hands compelled me to create the CHW method. You could say my CHW came from the simple spiral. Step by step moving away from it. Sorry if you thought I was trashing it. I tried not to really! Now if you want to redo those simple spirals and turn them into some CHW rods... let me know and I can guide you through the process and the minute details most miss. Once you hold and use a well done CHW there is no going back. And there is nothing quite like it when a big ole bass grabs the lure and the CHW rod loads up in your hands and those guides move into most ideal alignment and the fight is on and it feels like a wizard's magic wand! The performance level works for me. And I'm sure you would like it as well if you tried it. --------------------------------------------------------------- I added this... here is a photo of a simple spiral used for saltwater. Do you notice anything? The line is NOT flowing through the top stripper guide! Imagine the load on this guide if the line were flowing through it. What you see in this image are fishermen using a simple spiral but NOT using it at the same time. They skip the stripper guide on top to do what? Straighten line flow under load. Same thing I did. What you are looking at here is a simple spiral turned into a CHW by way of skipping the first guide and letting the line flow directly into the 180's. This is how you turn a simple spiral into an instant CHW right here! I would think custom rod builders would want to avoid this in my opinion. What sort of weight would that unused top guide experience here if the line was actually flowing through it? You can see where the loaded line wants to be and it is nowhere near that stripper guide! This is what happens when rod builders impose external ideas on a static rod. Looks great on the bench. But in practical use look at truth above. I learned this about spiral wrapped rods and used it to my advantage. In the above example, a simple spiral is not working and is the problem. The physics does not lie! You can either use it to your advantage as I did, or wind up at a disadvantage like this half of a simple spiral example.