MickD

The ones we are talking about are double crested cormorants and are not an endangered species.

Michigan has had similar problems, with the birds being determined to be the main reason for the decimation of the perch population in the Les Cheneaux Islands in northern Lake Huron (and Saginaw Bay if I'm not mistaken. ) We had our own "bird islands," with the trees killed by the birds. After a few years of population control by egg oiling and other methods, the perch populations are coming back. In October one can still see many thousands of them in a group migration on Saginaw Bay.

I was just asking for more info. Nothing more.

If SCV refers to St Croix, their SCV line of blanks are very good blanks. Of course the rods made from them have to be designed correctly, the components correct, and the blank matched to the job. In what way is the SCV deficient? What model is it and what is the technique that it is not performing well?

I have encountered what I would call slots in the edges of the line spools and they do interfere with line coming off the end of the stationary spools, which is correct for spinning reels. . I've tried taping them shut which doesn't work. They are a real pain in the butt, and I have found no way of avoiding them when spooling the line. Spooling line per the Junger sketch above will result in adding twist to the line. It would be so easy for the line companies to simply eliminate the slots. I don't see how spooling a spinner with a rotating spool, whether it comes off the top or bottom, will prevent twists. Please enlighten me with the details.

Substitute the word effective in place of "better." Same answer? I don't know how one can argue that better equipment, within reason, does not make one a more effective fisherman. More so for less skilled fishermen than highly skilled fishermen, but always true. For example, even highly skilled fishermen cannot make a less durable reel more durable, and if it fails, that's time off the water.

50 people will define this question in 50 different ways. To me the issue is will more expensive equipment perform better than cheaper equipment, cheaper equipment defined as equipment that an expert could get along fairly well with. The answer to my question is yes, the more expensive equipment will let those of us who are less skilled be more effective fishermen by allowing us to cast longer, more accurately, with fewer backlashes, and with less time out for repairs. But fishing reels are a lot like just about everything else in that the advantages are not linear to price. With each added $25 in price, the incremental improvement is less, but it's still there. When you get up into the many hundreds of dollars, there is little practical advantage in spending more. To me the sweet spot is in the $200 range with Daiwa. Maybe a little higher. But for $200 one can get a really good, easy to use, durable casting reel.

Some units have settings where you can set them to either not screw around with the returns, or to make the returns look like arches, or to make the returns look like fish. Turn off the arches and fish images if you have them on and learn to interpret the raw data yourself. If both you and the fish are not moving, the fish will look like a horizontal line. If either are moving it MIGHT look like an arch. If very close to the bottom it might look like a bump. Keeping in mind how narrow the "beam" is , you might miss fish altogether. You will see marks that are unattached that may be a piece of weed, a fish, or noise if sensitivity is too high. But in time you will , if you turn off the arches and fish, get to interpret what you are seeing pretty well.

The easiest lures to cast are those with the least wind resistance, those that are most streamlined and affected the least by air resistance. Like spoons, lipless cranks, practice plugs. So do a lot of casting with them, then move on to more challenging lures. Like long stickbaits. Then spinnerbaits. Even after becoming quite proficient you will most likely avoid casting spinnerbaits up wind.

glass rod pieces are getting hard to find, and glass is the right material to use. Due to not having glass, I have used graphite, so far so good. My 8 wt fly rod shattered so badly I used a graphite spigot on the inside and graphite sleeve outside and the CCS numbers and casting quality were unchanged from original.

The issue here is that these rods are "hot shot rods," very stiff butt, soft tip, extra fast action. They are hard to describe properly, and I know that Rainshadow calls one of theirs medium light power when in fact the tip is light but the overall rod is quite powerful due to the heavy butt that goes very far out the blank. Checked on CCS it measures 525 grams, 82 degrees action angle, which is quite powerful, more powerful than what most would call medium light. More like a medium heavy when talking freshwater spin. So these rods should be very versatile rods. Because of the light tip they will cast light lures well. Because of the power of the whole rod, they should cast fairly heavy lures well, also, and should handle large fish very well. I suggest you try them at whatever you need another outfit for and see how they work. Most likely you will find them very good rods for many techniques, and they will load properly on the cast with a larger range of lure weights than most other rods. It is my opinion that most fishermen don't really understand this type of rod, but as more do understand them, they will become much more popular. Point Blank has a number of this type of rod in their premium blank lineup, I've built a couple, and they are terrific.

Big Game is listed on Berkley's web site as a mono, and does not mention it being a co-polymer. Regarding the line to leader knot, if the double uni will go through the guides cleanly, use it. It is very easy to tie and very reliable. Check it for damage caused by the guides now and then. It works very well with all pound tests of all braids and leader materials (at least the many I've used.) If using micros, learn the FG, the smallest and strongest (if tied correctly) knot, but it is easy to tie it wrong and not know it until it slips. It is usually the braid locking half hitches that fail, so some use super glue or UV curing epoxy to anchor them better.

Am Tak? Are you sure they are not titanium alloy frames? I'm interested in how they failed, care to comment? thanks,

It's light power, not action. Action is described by fast, X-fast, moderate, etc. The lighter power casting rods are ideal for casting light cranks. To cast well a rod must be loaded properly on the cast, and the heavier power rods won't load well with light lures. Moderate actions are good for surface and cranks due to their being more forgiving on the take, but less ideal for finesse techniques. Might work very well for Ned rigs if you can cast the light lure. Maybe the bigger Ned.

I think it's more about the power and action than material of the rod, so with heavier powers/faster action glass rods one might want the same mono used with graphite rods of similar power/action.

I have friends who fish Lake St Clair and Sag Bay and use nothing but greens, most likely green pumpkin. I use colors same as Nhbull, would add gold flake to his green pumpkin. I use mostly Berkley powerbait, crazy legs chigger craw, some legs trimmed if the original seems to be too much on a particular day.

The windy ends of inland lakes with smallmouths are always better than the others, assuming other things approx equal.

Seems like we should simply put one of each on the hook. I admit that in the past I've never discerned any difference between the two. Will be more careful now.

shipping. . . new rod? If so ask for a replacement. If you want to get rid of the white you can cut it off with an exacto knife, down to where you have clear epoxy. Wipe the wrap off well, no alcohol, Then fill it back in with WRAP EPOXY, not structural epoxy. Carefully! Most likely the new wrap epoxy will blend with the old and you won't notice it. You may have to coat the whole wrap.

Use a darter head jig, I use 3/16 oz most of the time in water up to about 9 feet. Snap it off the bottom or reel slowly and steadily, depending what the fish want. Without the stabilizing influence of a darter head jig or weighted hook the boot tails will spin. Tie directly to the hook or jig.

For casting rods there is absolutely no need for kits. Order the RV guide for the first one and whatever KB's and Kt's (or all KB's if a heavier power rod you want to use to teh tip. They are called micros and are available from 4 (I believe) to 6mm. I generally use the 5.5's on a casting rod. Remember the intent is that the RV be installed backwards from normal, meaning the double legs will be away from the reel, facing to the tip. For spin, go to the Anglers Resource catalog and find the section on selecting the reduction guides based on your line plans. Very easy. Then use KB's and KT's to the tip. I generally use the 20KLH, 10KLH, 5.5M reduction guides with size 5 or 5.5 runners to the tip.

My new Daiwa SV 103 TWS is the best casting reel I've ever owned. Previously my fav what Shimano Curado, but the Daiwa has it beaten by far.

I would not let any comments on this string deter you from using braid. Even if tiptops groove, they are a piece of cake to replace, and the advantages of braid will most likely get you more fish. I cannot imagine not using braid for most of my applications. MUCH better sensitivity/bite detection, smaller diameter for more line capacity for smaller reel spools, and while it is more expensive than mono, it lasts for years (many reverse it on the reel after a few years) without getting curly/kinky/brittle/or anything else. (compared to mono. Some florocarbons are more expensive than braid, and are much harder to handle).

I'm not going to argue the theory, only state my experience. And that is that I've never had a guide groove but have had to replace many tiptops due to grooving. Which is why I will build rods with many different guide ring materials with confidence, but always use SIC ringed tiptops. Which I've never had to replace.

I like the higher ratios for everything exc spinnerbaits. I use an old 5.3:1 because I find it hard to slowly retrieve them with the higher ratios.