MickD

Why not start her on one of yours to see if there is enough interest in getting her her own? I'm not sure what the reel size has to do with hook sets, but I'm willing to learn.

Since Marcel is excellent, it means there is more than one excellent guide on Lake St Clair. I know of two others not named Marcel.

Bass fishing on St Clair can be very good all summer. The catch and keep season doesn't open until June 15, I believe. It's pretty late, anyway. Which means the DNR is trying to avoid anglers keeping spawning fish, so it's that late. The problem in any month is finding them, but if you have a good guide they will find them. If you need a guide recommendation, message me. I know an excellent guide. Not sure how open he is, though. Later in the summer the bass go deep and for me are really hard to find. In early June they shouldn't be that deep yet. That is a good time to go there, IMHO.

Removing tiptops that were put on with any epoxy is a challenge to do without damaging the tip of the rod. It can be done, but I would leave it to a pro. The wrap over the tube for about a 1/4 inch or a little more if you can get it will be much stronger than just epoxy. Sort of like plywood- the two components work together. If you don't use color preservative the epoxy will penetrate the thread a little better and bond tighter to the tube. If you use hot melt that was designed for fishing rod building you'll have the best chance of not having a heat problem. Not all hot melts melt at the same temp, and the ones meant for rods melt high enough (usually) to stay on in a car. The interior of a car in AZ gets up to about 140 F, if I remember right.

For really clear waters ghost is very good. Subtle tan/gold back with translucent creamy lower. Hard to find.

I usually just stop at the tube, too, but if I lived in a hot climate and my rods were exposed to "hot car" temps I would wrap over the tube. The wrap with its epoxy will keep a tiptop from moving if the hot melt gets too hot.

21 pound test Hitena braid is .006 diameter. If you want a low diameter braid.

Fishing as deep as you are, braid will make a very big difference in feeling bites, no matter what lure. The length of the leader between a couple feet and 4-8 will not not diminish the sensitivity much, but will give a little stretch in the system which is good. I use 4-5 feet of leader grade FC using double uni knots if the guides will allow, FG is they don't like the unis. If you use too much leader it will end up on the reel, which often causes trouble. Better to keep the knot out of the reel. Regular line grade FC will work, but the leader grade is stiffer, tougher , and more abrasion resistant in my opinion.

One time fishing pads I had to put a leader onto 15 pound white nanofil to get LM to bite a super fluke dragged across the pads. My son was doing much better than I using the same lure, but he had a leader. Surprised me, but it seemed very clear that the leader made the difference.

I've never seen a poor review of U-40 exc one that mentioned "stained" spots. That had to be caused by something that was on the cork before it was sealed with U-40. I highly recommend it. It keeps cork looking good longer, easier to clean, and minimizes chipping if the cork has some "loose pieces." One coat only-the cork won't accept more than one.

Which means, A-Jay, that you prefer a more moderate action than the current trend toward X-fast , right? The moderate actions are also, IMHO, easier to cast accurately, just plain easier to cast. Of course for any rod to cast well it has to be used with the right weight lure or it won't be loaded properly. Plus more tolerant when fighting and landing fish.

I think you mean medium power-fast action. Many anglers prefer the moderate action to slow things down since most of us set the hook too soon on the strike when fishing surface. Also, if using braid, it would be good to slow it down a little.

The stiffer leader material FC also offers an advantage when fishing blade baits. Its stiffness minimizes tangles of the lure and leader both in casting and working the lure.

That's what I see, too. While not everyone wants to or can afford a custom rod, this is one area that custom rods with cork grips that started as individual cork rings will be far superior. Cork rings are not filled; almost all pre-formed griips are. Because really good cork is getting pretty hard to find, and when one finds it, it is very expensive. If I had this rod and it bothered me I would buy a $10 Winns grip wrap (available in many colors and designs) and wrap the grip. Will be better than new. Better grip, looks sharp.

Sorry, I think I got my companies mixed up. Sounds like you're way ahead of me.

Might be a good idea to call UC and check availability of the blank you choose and get a solid commitment on ship date.

I have no EVA because many years ago I had "black foam" grips deteriorate due to UV exposure. I have no confidence that the newer materials will be any better. They must be somewhat better since no one is mentioning UV problems. I have Winn and like them. Winn grips have EVA inside, but the surface is not. I trust Winn has done its homework relative to UV.

I should have been clearer that different steels will have different heat treatments and therefore could react differently to the hot lead. If you use many different hooks you should test a sample of them all. I expect most will be unaffected, but the only way to tell is to test.

txchaser is right, depending on the steel the transformation that will cause steel to change some of its properties can happen below the melting point of lead. I think the best approach is to test your worst case jig hook against a new one by simply pulling on a strong line with the jig attached at its eye and the hook point being pulled into soft wood. This will apply a bending force to the hook, and if the change in strength is significant you should be able to find it.

Sounds by your description that you are very close. Leave it there until you're on the water again, then when on the water move it down just a little, eighths of an inch at a time. When I used to cobble my transducer to a boat provided by the resort it would make a lot of splash if too deep, but it would read correctly. When I got it right it didn't make much splash but still read correctly. If too high, didn't read. You might have someone else drive the boat and observe if you have an obvious area of smooth water somewhere on the back of the boat while at speed. Uploading photo files is easy if the files are not too big. Set your camera or phone to low resolution to minimize file size, get the files onto your computer, then it's simply click the "choose files" and browse for the files on your computer. Select them then click on "open" or "select" or whatever command your computer uses and they will load and be sent. I can't help with sending from a phone. My phone is smarter than I.

Took my grandson fishing, he was about six. As we left the launch, about 200 yards out, he was standing behind me as I steered from the helm. "Grandpa, it's getting a little wet back here." Forgot to put the plug in. Grandson didn't think it was a big deal. Son disagreed. (we both had pfd's on) Another thing that can help is to put some of that sand coated tape onto the horizontal fins on the lower unit. It helps prevent slipping when using the lower unit to get back into the boat. How do I know that? Never mind.

Try launching your boat with the rear tie-downs still on.

To help in the future I offer this method for hook removal. In this case cut the treble off the lure so you only have one hook to deal with. I have used this method with hooks this large and it works great.

A-Jay, would you care to tell us which of those reels is your favorite, brand and model? I think I see a few Calcuttas there? I used my old Calcutta 150 the other day, still a very nice casting reel.

My experience with the same troubles on a new Humminbird Mega Imaging transducer is 1. You can make it work properly by locating it exactly right, depth and tilt, but it's hard to find that sweet spot. 2. Another transducer can be added. I'm not sure my experience translates to your transducer, but that's what I went through.