MickD

The SCIENTISTS from I believe three states who testified in the MI DNR hearings regarding THE PROPOSAL TO ALLOW TOURNAMENTS WHICH WOULD TAKE SMALLMOUTH BASS OFF THE BEDS TO BE WEIGHED AT A LATER TIME were unanimous in the position that this would be disastrous to the population, providing scientific studies to support their arguments. With respect for your opinion, the other factors you mention have not caused the "disastrous" decline in the smallmouth population that the scientists were predicting if tournaments were allowed while the bass were on the beds and the taking of bass to remote weighing was done. My opinion is that the proposal was so ridiculous that it could have been denied based on common sense.

A-Jay, are you aware we have an idiot here in MI who has in the past advocated, and probably will again, for tournaments on the spawning beds? Catch and immediate release is not as benign as most think, as a significant number of fish die, but to do a tournament that removes fish from the beds is suicide for the beds' young bass. If you are not aware, and would like more info, PM me. My son testified before the DNR when the last proposal was made, and he and others prevailed in getting the proposal denied. But it will come up again.

Custom doesn't save much money unless you're building your own AND building on top quality blanks. In your price range you are better off simply waiting for sales to get the best you can get for your money. I also would not recommend building your first rod on an expensive blank. Most of us custom builders didn't reach a really high quality build until we had built a few. There are exceptions, but the odds are. . .

Hydrotherapists

All of the above is true, and you need to use most all of the tips for a reliable FG. My only reservation with the tips would be to note that if you don't have a sound knot with the mono getting deformed by the braid, super glue isn't going to cure it, You have to accomplish that first. Then the super glue can help by keeping the half hitches from loosening. If they loosen, all it lost. It's such a temperamental knot that I only use it when I have to have its small size.

The Ulterra comes with remote deploy and stow, it "anchors" onto a spot very effectively, and can be operated from anywhere in the boat. (or from shore!) While it is pricey, it is very effective and will allow you to fish longer than a retrokit that requires to you go to the bow. Often I anchor mine in a position so I can hang from the wind and fish off the stern, not having to go to the bow to stow it or navigate to another position. When stopping at a new spot, especially in rough water, it's nice to have it in the water and controlling the boat before I even leave the helm. It is liberating. People with physical problems, like you and I have, can make our fishing lives longer and much easier with this technology. I would seriously consider it. No retrokit can match it. You only go around once.

Yes, I built my own many years ago, and I really like using them. One thing that most custom builders try to avoid is the "football" shape of a guide wrap. You see these on many store rods. It is probably done because using excess epoxy is probably cheaper than using less and having to do more coats. It is possible because they are using drying machines; if they didn't use drying machines they would have the solidified drip. If you want to avoid them, one thing you can do is to apply your epoxy, turn the rod for a few minutes, then stop it. If drips form along the bottoms of the wraps when the rod is stopped for a couple minutes, take them off and restart the turning. I invariably need two coats due to imperfections, nubbins, or thin epoxy along the guide feet, so I just count on doing two coats with fairly thin application of Flex Coat Lite, and my wraps do not look like footballs. Some builders are so good at epoxy that they can get good looking wraps without footballs in one application. Keep in mind that most epoxy problems are due to one or both of these issues: insufficient mix time, and excessive epoxy (causes wavy appearance, not the glass smooth appearance we all want).

For hand drying you rotate it 90 degrees or so every fifteen minutes approx until you are sure the epoxy will not run all to one side and harden into a big drop on the bottom. Biggest mistake most people make on epoxy is putting too much on. If you notice that at the end of the fifteen minutes that a drop is forming on the bottom, blot it off with a brush or paper towel, just a touch to get the drip, then go on with the drying. By the way, it is not drying, the epoxy is a chemical reaction of the two parts, cannot be reversed, cannot be heated up and adjusted, the reaction goes faster the higher the temperature. Make sure you mix your epoxy for two minutes; do not compromise or you will have tacky finish. Mix it thoroughly for two minutes and it will harden properly. Period. Take short cuts and you will pay. I always use at least two thin coats. After the first coat, if there are rough spots or thread nubbins that create a bump, just cut them off with a new razor blade or exacto knife, then apply the next coat. If you put too much on you will get football shaped wraps on the guides and waves on the long stretches at the butt, over the decals. It will get better with practice. best not to do your first rod on an expensive blank. I have built very many rods and have never had a power wrapper. I don't know if I can keep up with the speed of a power wrapper. I doubt if a newbie could either. No one can tell you all you need to know on a forum like this, so best to buy a good book, and if you have questions search the internet for videos ( tons of them out there), and if you like it, keep building and you will get better and better with experience. One last comment, if you frequent forums like this you will find that not all builders agree on all details of techniques. You will find different opinions on things you would think pretty straightforward. Listen, evaluate, experiment, and you will develop confidence in the techniques that work for you. One thing we all agree on, if you don't mix your epoxy well, you will regret it. Two minutes. Or more. Reviewing my comments I see that I might have encouraged adding heat to speed up epoxy curing. My recommendation is to not do that. Room temp is fine. Adding heat can reduce the viscosity of the epoxy and cause wavy epoxy. Some builders have their ways of applying heat, but for me, every time I've used heat it has caused me problems. Starting out, eschew the heat.

When buying a complete rod, take your reel with you when shopping and put it on the rod. If building, and if what most want to avoid, tip heavy, is important, then buy the lightest blank you can afford, keep it short rather than long, buy the lightest guide train you can find, and do the longest length behind the reel you can live with ergonomically. I agree with DVT, build for ergonomics, add no weight, and it will balance where it balances. If you build the butt too long, going for balance, you may easily get so long it hangs up on your clothing. That is much worse than being a little tip heavy. Add a half ounce lure to any rod and it will be tip-heavy. Also keep in mind that tip-high techniques minimize the importance of balance-all balance when vertical. And for the cast, add a half ounce lure to . . . .

If I am interpreting the posts correctly it seems that some think nano technology is in the future. It is already here on many rod models by St. Croix, Rainshadow, American Tackle, and Orvis (Helios has nano tech?). As stated, it is only on the top of the line due to cost. Speaking more on the general subject of have rods reached a plateau, it is my opinion that they are so good now that future improvements will be more subtle than many of the past "breakthroughs," like graphite and micro guides. But there will always be improvements. One obvious example we are now in the process of transitioning is that cork is becoming obsolete in favor of lighter, more sensitive materials like carbon fiber.

I think a decision on the guide train is possibly more important than the decision between the top tier blanks of the leading suppliers. Spin or baitcast? If spin, I like the Fuji KLH reduction train with KB and KT runners. What size runners will you "tolerate?" Smaller is lighter and therefore more sensitive. If cost is not a big priority, go titanium for the lightest and most corrosion resistant, although for fresh water, titanium corrosion resistance is overkill. But the runner size issue is based on knot passage, which is why I said "tolerate." What size knot do you want to pass smoothly through the guides? If no knots, then any size is OK. If you want to pass a double uni, then I recommend going no smaller than 5 mm. They are pretty light, and make a great rod. For cast, I like the Fuji KR first guide, then runners all of the same size to the tip. The KR, then 3 KB's, then KT's to the end. Same runner size issues as with the spin setup. The KR, by the way, is 6 mm titanium, but it will match OK with bright stainless running guides since the running guides are so small. I recommend 5.5's for the runners. Regarding ring material, I recommend Fuji's alconite or above, in other brands, the zirconium or equivalent. The cheaper materials are often an ugly grey color and the rings very thick, bulky, and not attractive. You thought having a custom rod built would be simple, right? Not so, but with custom, you can get exacetly what you want. And, I assure you, a better built rod that will, if properly cared for, last through your life and that of your children.

Determine what the finish is, (bright stainless steel, grey, black) size of the ring (O.D. of the ring, not the metal it's pressed or glued into), single foot or double, color of the ring, then compare its appearance to the guides you see in catalogs like Mudhole, or GetBitOutdoors, or JannsNetcraft or Pac Bay. Buy the closest thing you can find, put it on or have it done by a rodbuilder, and you will be fine. No need to have the exact model. In fact in most cases the guide you are trying to find will be obsolete. If you can match the thread color fairly well, you'll never notice if the guide doesn't quite match.

In my opinion, vinegar and water after every trip is too aggressive. Once you get a clean boat with vinegar and water, or dilute CLR, and follow that with slick mist, you only need to go over it with slick mist after every outing. On my 16.5 foot boat I don't think it takes more than 15 minutes. Unless you get the boat coated with road dirt by towing on a wet road or dirt roads. If you try to slick mist that away you will be essentially sanding your boat with road dirt and the finish will be damaged. In that case I pressure wash and follow with the usual, slick mist. The motor is treated the same as the hull, both lower unit and cowling.

I've built eternity 2 fly rods, and they are excellent, have no experience with the other Eternity blanks. Many on this and another forum give them high grades. I have built a ton of other Rainshadow blanks, RX6, 7, 8, fly, spin, and cast, and have been pleased with all. One other that you might consider before making a decision is the Point Blank from Anglers Resource. I have built a number of them (baitcast) and they are top notch, too.

My boat is black, and after only a few trips, it looked awful with the white water spots. Someone here (A-Jay?) recommended CLR for the first clean-up, then only Slick Mist after every trip to the water, and it is not only easy, but very effective. My boat now looks like new all the time, and only takes a few minutes. If you are starting with a new boat with no water spots, no need to use the CLR. It is a good idea to check our owner's manual for the manufacturer's recommendations and cautions.

The power trim is almost infinitely easier than turning a knob on the shaft and adjusting the depth of the motor. I use it a lot in the rocky areas I fish. NH, go with the motor that gives you the most functions from the remote. It will work even from your wheelchair. :-). Sounds like it's time for you too to go the easy way.

I have an Ulterra with one year on it. Have had no problems. I love the remote stow and deploy because I too have shoulder issues. I've heard the spring assisted stow/deploy are nice too, but you cannot stow and deploy from anywhere in the boat. I do not regret my spending the bucks. One guy I know who drives very fast and hard on Lake St Clair (bass boat) has had mulitple failures of the belt which drives the stow/deploy. He has cobbled a support strap for the head so the stresses of the hard wave hits don't get transmitted to the belt. I really believe that if one drives sanely that this will not be a problem. Minnkota tells him he is the only one who has reported a problem. Now you know all I know about the Ulterra. Regarding the foot pedal, all I use it for is steering adjustments and now and then speed. Mostly I operate from the remote.

I'm not into this yet, but from perusing my new Janns Netcraft catalog, if the don't have the skirt material you're looking for , I'd be very surprised. it appears that they have multiple pages of material. They are a good source for much stuff that is hard to find, and are fast, reliable. I've ordered from them for many more years than I can remember, seems like I ordered from them when in high school which was a long time ago.

Strike King KVD swimmin caffeine shad, 5", I guess it is. They offer 4 and 5 in, and the one I use has to be bigger than 4. Pearl white. I've found that for a good percentage of hook sets I need to make sure when I put it on the hook that I don't close up the gap too much. I went through a streak last year of fish that aggressively took the lure, and were on for 10-15 seconds, then came off. I paid attention to the above and increased my percentage significantly. I use the Gamakatsu darter head jig in 3/16 and 1/4, but also am going to try another with a 3/0 hook (to get a larger gap). They can be put on the jig with the hook coming out the side, too. Gives a bigger gap, not sure about how effective it is that way yet, but since it's coming off the bottom so aggressively, I can't see how it would hurt.

For casting I like the Fuji RV as the first guide, then about 3 KB's, then KT's to the end. The RV will be a size 6, after that use what you like, smaller the better for sensitivity. I think for casting the 5.5 is a sweet spot, small and light yet able to take a double uni with most line weights. All the runnng guides, whether KB or KT can (should) be the same size. There is nothing to gain by using multiple sizes.

SmBass19, good choice. Not sure where you're from, but in clear water in MI, one of the best is the white 4-4.5 inch swim bait (with the "boot tail," I think it's called) on a 3/16 darter head jig twitched off the bottom. Good for searching since you can make long casts, fish it fast. Walleyes, northerns, and LM will hit it too.

Sounds like a good plan to me, if you have trouble with manipulating the split rings, the Texas pliers with the orange handles really work well.

Very good point. After dumping my brother over one time, and trying to bring him back into the boat by his standing on the horizontal fin on the lower unit, we found it very difficult since his shoe was slipping on the fin. I added some of that yellow "sandpaper" tape to the fin in case it ever happened again. It is VERY difficult to get a person back into the boat. My Lund dealer puts the ladder on every boat, and he expects it to be a requirement soon. My son kids that I must always wear a PFD- he doesn't want to waste a lot of fishing time searching for the body.

My experience indicates not a major advantage in having down + sonar over just sonar. However, I believe that the transducer required for down will give better sonar performance than the sonar-only transducer. I hope others can chime in to support or disagree with this statement. I have both and a top of the line transducer on my Humminbirds, and the only advantage I've found after one season is that the down gives a better portrayal of the weeds than the sonar view. I've never seen a fish on down view. Maybe in my second year I will figure out how better to use the down-view so that it becomes more valuable.

Under some conditions it definitely can help catch fish. I've seen it many times. There may be conditions under which it might be counterproductive, depending on which message the bass got that morning from Bass Central. I don't remember encountering that situation, though.