MickD

Great minds. . .

SMB fishing with tubes in clear water (Sag Bay/St Clair) less than 8 feet depth often requires very long casts, IMHO. But yes, often they hit close. Some get spooked by the boat, some do not. One time I had a SMB at the boat, my cousin was getting the net, and I saw another bass. I told him to drop his tube over the side, he did, and immediately had another on. Both over four pounds. I remember times having the boat anchored and fan casting very long distances downwind after having covered the water in close, and catching more fish. If I had moved the boat down, would I have caught them anyway? I don't know, but why move if you don't have to. I think there is a place for very long casts.

If you are not using braid, give it a try. Might help with strike detection. Also, try to keep the line taut (sort of) so that if the fish moves the bait you might see the line move. Maybe move the bait a little more often to detect if a fish is there. If the fish are biting well, try a crank or something else that's easier to detect strikes with.

I have two Humminbirds. On one I forgot to take off the screen protector. It's very easy to keep clean and to clean. The other had the protector taken off. It's a pain in the you know what. New buyers, try leaving the protectors on and see if you like it that way. I've fished mine for over two years and everything is fine with the protector on.

You didn't really spend "hours" on a bedding fish did you?

Would a screw eye or two not be an option? These devices shown work great to wrap the braid around them, fasten them to your belt loop, and the line for tying the FG knot is secure without biting the line. and in a better position for tying than out front of your eyes.

I like braid for the simple reason that I love that strike feel. Even when the fish just bump it without biting, I feel it and know something isn't quite right, so I change blade color, type, or skirt color.

Not at all. The most important thing about any rod, any action, is for it to be properly matched for power to the weight of the lures you'll be casting most of the time, or centered in the range. Rods can go either up or down from the range by changing your casting style, but for ease of casting try to match it pretty well. Moderate is what is generally considered correct for cranks, but it is not "written on a rock."

DBN in gel craw finish. It's a SMB killer, has been for probably 20 years since I discovered it. It's a little different than the DLN, a little slimmer, and I think it catches SMB better than the DLN.

While I have no reel with a higher ratio than 7 +, ***3, I see no disadvantage to the higher ratios and see some advantages (as above post says). I keep an old 5.4 for my spinnerbait rod when I want to slow roll. That is difficult for me with the higher ratios. The 5.4 is much better for that job.

Things, mostly bad, happen way too fast at 70 mph. Very easy to miss something in the water at that speed. Not being a tournament fisherman, I'm cool with my 32 mph max of my 60 Merc on a 16.5 foot boat. I often throttle back to an easy-plane speed of about 25, no stress, reasonable safety, better fuel economy. I'll bet many 70mph drivers are basically unqualified for doing that. If I see a very fast boat approaching, I move well out of the way, too.

I could be wrong, but I believe that if they are selling me an extended warranty it must be in their interest. Which means it most likely is not in mine. I used to buy extended warranties on stuff like TV's and really lost $$ because what I put the warranty on never failed. I turned down the 2017 Merc 60 4 stroke offer. My last engine was a Suzuki 50 4 stroke and it is still going strong in another's hands after 19 years with no need for any warranty work. Just plugs, water pump impeller and engine and lower unit oil changes annually. I believe that with proper maintenance and care in its use, the engine should last indefinitely. They probably won't cover hitting rocks anyway. I think most electronics devices like the engine computer, if they are going to fail, will do it sooner rather than later. My 2017 boat has had two issues, one a cable routing problem and one a cowl adhesive failure. Both happened early so were covered. Things like leaks should show up early as well. But, these are my opinions based on my engineering background and auto and marine experience, and not hard data. What I do may not be right for others, especially those who consider peace of mind more important than economics.

Might not be for your partners. :-) They wash nicely, use gentle cycle, either dry in the machine or hang to dry.

My glacier gloves have worked fine for a number of years, washed dozens of times. Everything Simms makes has never disappointed but they are a little more pricey. You can find Glacier Gloves on sale at times. Don't forget the face, best buff I've found is the Simms with the vent holes.

Pretty overwhelming for a forum to handle. I'd hook up (good pun, right?) with an experienced fisherman and go over your stuff with him. Generally the longer the rod the longer it will cast. Short ultra lights are notorious for trouble with casting distance and hook sets. I started my young grandkids with 7 foot rods instead of the short "toys." You mention lending, that first rod is the only one I'd lend until I sorted out the keepers from the slugs. Then lend the slugs only. Many have been disappointed in how their "friends" have handled their rods/reels. Without being able to handle the sets it's hard to recommend anything, at least for me.

I've considered drones, but I would use them to fly over hundreds of acres of a bonefish flat so I don't have to walk it to find there are no bonefish there.

??? If you're asking about taking a handle off one rod and putting it onto another, I think it is impractical. I don't know how to remove a handle (grip?) in one piece so it could be put onto another rod. If you try I think you'll have two "broken" rods. Pick a new rod that meets your expectations.

But you have no objective data on action and power, right? Just feel. If you are right then it is a phenom I've never encountered with any of the usual name blank makers, like Loomis, St. Croix, Rainshadow, Point Blank, American Tackle. I'm curious as to how I'm going to be able to inspect and buy a rod that is not "visibly more likely to break?"

Both processes mentioned above will work, but the most reliable one is the Dremel. It is so easy to snag a fiber on these blanks that going with the system which operates at very high speed with very low feed rate will be the best chance of getting a clean cut. I've used both, and highly recommend the Dremel.

ONLY the butt, not the tip. She and you will not like it if you cut off the tip.

If you're not going warranty this can be repaired by doing an external sleeve, preferably from a scrap glass rod piece. https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/repair-oquinn.html Follow the directions-don't add an internal sleeve, just the external sleeve. Rods fixed in this way are very close to the action/power that they were before repair. Just replacing the tiptop, as mentioned above, is not an acceptable option. You will not like the results.

Seems like this video on preventing line twist is more about fixing than preventing.

I respectfully believe you are not really understanding what is going on. If you start from putting the line on the reel, and let the line off the source spool by taking it off the edge, with the source spool turning to let out line, you will be putting one "twist" onto the line for every bail rotation. If you then tie the line to something, then walk away, letting out line with the bail open, when you have let all the line off the reel, the line will have no twist. All the "twists" put on by reeling it on will be relieved by taking line off with the bail open. If you take the line off the reel by "taking drag," then you will be removing no "twists." You can see what is going on by taking a long electrical cord, laying it out on the lawn, no twists, make sure the twists are gone, and then start looping it into coils by just laying them onto your hand. This is what a spinning reel does. What is the condition of the long electrical cord by the time you get it all into coils? Same for garden hoses.

Yes, but for every loop of line that goes out with the cast, or by letting the bail move as in letting line out while trolling or back reeling when fighting a fish, a full twist will be taken out. If you reel while the spool is moving, as with a fish taking drag, that will put lots of twist on fast. Even if you don't reel while a fish it taking drag, it will put twist on because the bail is not moving but the spool is. My first example is the worst, of course. Using spinners like in-line spinners will twist the line , even if swivels are used. Regular swivels, IMHO, do not prevent line twist. I even doubt if ball bearing swivels, except for the very finest (and really expensive), will prevent line twist from aggressive spinning lures like in-line spinners. I do believe that how the line is put onto the reel affects initial twist. I put it on so that it comes off the end of the source spool opposite of how it goes onto the reel spool. i.e. if the bail is putting it on clockwise (looking at the end of the reel spool) it should come off the source spool counterclockwise. But. . . some twist is inevitable, and as reported above, braid is less affected by it, the heavier monos and FC's are affected the most by it, dragging the line will get rid of it. Bottom line is there is a lot going on that can affect twist, and if you do most of it right, twist should not be a horror.

I didn't detail why two coats makes sense for a lot of us. If you get a dust bump, or leave a thread nubbin on the pull thru, those can be carefully cut off with a sharp tool-the epoxy captures the imperfection making it rigid enough to cut it cleanly- and the next coat covers the tiny scar perfectly.