MickD

I have a similar GG and it has served me very well for 4 seasons. Finally time to get new ones, and they will be GG. Good price, high quality. I like the longer cuffs on the ones you are considering.

I used to fly fish for smallies in rivers and lakes in MI. Blue / white maribou streamers, olive wooly buggers, and grizzly streamers worked well. Throw one over a brush pile in a clear lake and watch the bass slowly move out and suck the suspending streamer in. Great fun, quite effective under the right conditions. Gotta get back to it.

I have experienced refusals in clear water with white nanofil, refusals stopped when I put a leader on. Re casting problems, don't run the knot through the guides, if it bothers you. With lines of about 10-15 pound test (both braid and leader) double unis will pass freely though almost any guide. If one is getting numerous failures of double unis they are not tying it right. The lighter the braid, the murkier the water, the less reason to use a leader for stealth. I'll bet there is not a single participant in this line of posts who will change his mind from what he is now doing. Rightfully so. If it works, keep it.

This Cabelas, on sale, lifetime warranty, holds 5 3600's and is very close to the one I have (mine is older model). Check the size against yours, multiply height/length/width for volume. I am very pleased with it. One thing to look at with bags is the size of the zippers, the robust, big zippers are what you want. http://www.cabelas.com/product/DELUXE-GEAR-BAG-DELUXE-GEAR-BAG/1729401.uts?searchPath=%2Fbrowse.cmd%3FcategoryId%3D734095080%26CQ_search%3Dfishing%2Btackle%2Bbags%26CQ_st%3Db

You can get more than one sliver in. Cut them finer. The idea is to make sure you are getting full contact between the blank the glue and the tiptop. If that fails, then go epoxy. but that should not be necessary. Hot melt is better for reasons already mentioned.

Yes, you are right. I stand corrected. Too long out of engine school. And this makes it even less likely that one can have a balanced outfit if one doesn't palm the reel. London, UK, right? You fish smalleys in the Oneida River in UK? I love London. I hope it's still as great a city as it was 22 years ago when I was last there.

I've struggled with this issue for years. While I don't consider it currently solved, I think I'm on the right track. I have a bag that looks to be a little larger than yours, will hold the boxes like you want + quite a few bags of plastic + tools and hooks/leader spools, etc. I suggest you measure your bag to get its cubic inches capacity, then look at Cabelas and basspro for ones that are somewhat larger. Probably + 50% would do it. What I do is have all my stuff in the garage as well organized as I can make it, then depending on what type of fishing I will do, I fill the bag with the appropriate stuff, leaving most behind. Ever notice that you take everything including the kitchen sink, but use about 5-10 lures/techniques? If you get too big a bag it will be too heavy and you'll lose stuff in it. Those side pockets-assign them to hold certain stuff, and do it the same every trip. Like hooks, tools, leaders, extra spools, etc. Then you won't always be searching. Like I often am.

The fulcrum is where the rod will balance on a support, and the fulcrum of the rod is usually in front of the reel seat due to most rods being tip-heavy. If the rod balances right at the reel seat, then any weight reel will not affect the balance. If one really wants to achieve perfect balance of a rod/reel assembly, then get a shorter blank of very high modulus and put micros on it. Probably a very high quality 6 foot blank with micros stands a pretty good chance of being "balanced" with any reel. I've always been a little too literal. This has been a really good discussion, though.

It may not change too much, but it has to change. The only way a rod can remain balanced at the same point with different weight reels is if the center of gravity of the rod (balance point) is at the center of gravity of the reel. Which would, I believe, be about in the center of the reel seat, between the "clamping points." Not 3/4 the way up the foregrip. If it is balanced there with one reel, the balance point will move back with a heavier reel because it will require more tip weight to balance the heavier reel placed behind the original balance point. I guess a rod by itself could be considered "balanced" if the balance point were in the middle of the seat. Most often the tip is heavy and to get it balanced in the middle of the seat the rear grip would be so long that it would be impractical to fish with. The challenge is always to get the blank and guides as light as possible. Then someone has to add a 1/2 oz lure way out at the end and bingo, the balance is screwed up again.

It's not a silly question. Think about it. The idea of attributing "balance" to a rod without a reel is meaningless. Say you put a 9 oz reel on it and conclude it's balanced. What happens when you put a 7 oz reel on it? Is it still balanced? Or an 11 oz reel on it? Is it still balanced?

How can a rod by itself be "better balanced?" Just curious.

The only technique that I feel makes a low ratio better than a fast one is slow rolling spinnerbaits. I just find it hard to slow down enough with a high ratio reel. So I use my old 5.2 Calcutta for that.

I'll try doing it by hand on my wrapper then moving it to the dryer. I think that will work for me too. I've been reluctant to try it, afraid of the move, bunging the wet epoxy up during the move. I don't have a power wrapper that can double as a dryer, so the move will be necessary.

If the butt piece has a flat end carefully drilling on a drill press does a good job. Set up properly so you don't drill through. On jobs that have a hole in end and a flat end surface the 5/8 in diameter auto interior trim rubber fasteners from O'Rielly (sp?) work very well to fill the hole. Before epoxying them in I wash in alcohol and scrub the gluing surfaces with sandpaper to remove any mold release that might interfere with the adhesion of the epoxy. Sometimes on cork jobs that have a hole I just save some of the cork shavings from turning the butt knob and mix with epoxy, plug the hole with that.

200 rpm for applying epoxy? No trouble spinning it off? How sure are you of that speed? The reason I ask is that I think it may mislead someone looking to buy an application motor. I really think much slower, like about 60 might be right. thanks. I use a slow one for applying because when I've tried a faster one I find the tunnels and guide feet hard to manage, so I just carefully use the slower speed of my drying setup.

One of the reasons bucktail and maribou are so often recommended, I believe, is that natural fibers/feathers reflect UV. Bucktail is also very reasonably priced. I buy a lot of my fly tying stuff from J. Stockard. Great selection, fast service. When I read articles on hair jigs, with images, it appears that the jigs are pretty simple, not overdone with color and flash. Do an internet search for "hair jig images." If you don't already know how to do the whip finish knot, search also for Utubes for doing it without the tool. Once you get it down, very simple.

The only thing Nanofil does better than braids is that it goes through the guides smoothly and quietly. It has inferior knot strength, most knots we know won't work with it, and it tends to fray and fail near the lure much faster than any braid I've used. The white is very visible to fish. My favorites are Suffix Performance Braid, Power Pro, and the new Bushido Braid from American Tackle. Almost all my spinning freshwater fishing is done with 15 pound braid + leaders, my inshore salt 30 pound + leader. I do not recommend Nanofil.

I agree. The only rods I've ever broken have been stupid things I did. Never with a fish on.

"not great quality rods" The fact is that the most fragile rods are the "highest quality" rods, the high modulus/most sensitive, rods.

http://www.rodbuilding.org/library/rodusage.pdf

A ceramic ringed guide will last longer, but since you have the replacements, no harm in using them until they groove. Don't use epoxy to replace them as it will be hard to remove later. Use rodbuilding "ferrule cement" or other high temp hot melt. Do not overheat the blank in removing what's on there now. Tie a rubber band through the ring, apply tension as you heat, and unless it was attached with epoxy it will slide off in a few seconds. If it takes more than a few seconds, it's epoxy, and further heat may damage the blank. If you find that, come on back and solicit advice from the experts who have handled this before.

It should work fine for almost everything, and better than a heavier power for some things, so I'd keep it, use it, and then later buy a heavier one if you find you'd like a heavier power for some techniques. You'll never find one rod that can do everything well, and at some time, you'll want to have several and keep them rigged for their best techniques. One can never have too many rods.

There are good 3 piece rods that break down to a length that is almost universally accepted as carry-on. I would not expect a 4 foot tube to be almost universally accepted. The suggestion to check with the airline is good advice.

A good drag is important as it is with any type of fishing. My point is that any reasonably good quality reel will work fine for drop-shotting. There is nothing in the technique that would lead one to a specific reel. Unless you're drop-shotting for tuna. Of course the reel and rod should be reasonably matched, as it should be for any kind of fishing. A good combination for drop-shotting will likely be on the light side. When it comes to the rod, it's a different story, because there are powers and actions that don't work well for drop-shotting. Previous posts get to the rod pretty well. Most fishermen seem to like medium power fast or Xfast action. As mentioned before, it is important that the line match your expectations. I like braid for its low stretch/high sensitivity with a floro leader, but I've also done well with mono and floro. The deeper the water the more important sensitivity is, so it leads naturally to braid.

Drop shotting has nothing to do with what reel is better. The best reel will be best for any technique.