MickD

There is nothing really tough about handling pike. Don't buy the hype. If the fish is small enough to simply grab the fish just behind the gills, from the top, do it and hold on. Will not hurt the fish or you. A jaw spreader is very handy if you are fishing with multi hook lures. In fact it is a godsend. Keep the fish out of the water as little as possible if you want it to survive. If the fish is too big (about 36 inches) to handle this way, then grab it under the lower jaw by the structure that runs down the center of the jaw-not in the mouth, directly below the mouth. Use a jaw spreader if necessary to remove your lure. I catch lots of northerns in Canada every year and net only the bigger ones, release them all, and have never been attacked successfully. For the bigger ones, net them then grab them as above. I expect this would work with muskies.

A strength of braid relative to mono (not sure about flouro) is that it is not sensitive to moisture. If you live in the north and leave your mono line out in the garage for the winter it will dry out and become stiff and brittle. Even new mono on the spool should be kept inside where the relative humidity is likely to be higher. I agree that braid can last a long time, many years. Just be sure to inspect that last few feet of it to be sure it isn't damaged. And as someone else mentioned, if you use a leader on it, rety that quite regularly.

With the current sale going the Johnny Morris rods are $70. To buy a set of guides (Fuji titanium frame SIC) will cost more than that. You can buy them for the guides and use the blanks for driveway markers. By the way, the guy who broke his rod should put the guides for sale on eBay and reclaim some of his losses. The owner reviews of the rods on the BPS web site are all very positive. I expect the rods are well worth the $70 they are going for now.

For glossy blanks I often do the "stealth" thing making the wraps match the blank as closely as possible. To do this, do test wraps of colors closely matching the blank, then apply alcohol to the wrap to see the color that almost matches the color you would have if you wrapped that color thread without using color preservative. I think your blank is matte, so you won't get very stealthy on that and it may make more sense to just go with the colors you like. My last matte gray rod was done with candy apple with CP and scarce metallic gold trim, and it looks very nice. A great site for rodbuilders, new and expert, is: Rodbuilding.org I've never visited the site without learning something new.

Who cares how many rods you have in the boat? Have as many or as few as you want. I'm with BassnBlvd.

It has been my experience that no modern reel is as bad as its detractors say it is, and no modern reel is as good as its cheerleaders say it is. It has also been my experience that when I've lost a fish it is because I've done something stupid, not because of a failure of my equipment. All of the equipment we use is vastly overdesigned for bass.

I have two Quantum PT's and they both cast very well if you get them set up right, but they seem to require more fiddling with the controls to get them right on for the lure/line being used. Just changing lures often requires adjustments to both controls. One is smooth as silk, the other a little less so, and it makes more noise on the cast. I haven't been able to get the second one to be as nice as the first (actually the smoother one is about two years newer than the other). I think from what I've read on this forum, I'll try a Shimano Curado next. By the way, my best casting reel is a 15 year old Calcutta with I think two ball bearings and the roller clutch anti reverse. It's not all about bearing count.

Since I was a kid I took my reels apart and oiled/greased them every fall, but now I don't lube anything that requires the reels to be disassembled. I'm really not dumber now (honest, doubters), but reels have gotten so darned complicated that I just don't trust myself to do it right any more. I lube what I can easily reach, and leave the rest to the professional reel servicers. As mentioned previously in this string of messages, Reelmech can be trusted. I used hot sauce, but the containers for the oil leak like crazy and the oil seems to disappear fast in the reels. I'm trying reel butter now, and it seems better, but too early to tell.

I use flouro leaders with braid most of the time, and never use a swivel. I like my leaders so long that they must be reeled onto the reel through the eyes, so have to use a knot. I have used with good success the uni to uni knot. After a few days of getting reeled and cast through the eyes it is a good idea to cut off a little and rety. I have lost a few fish with old knots when I got too lazy to rety. A knot I have been experimenting with with good success so far is the Albright knot, a popular knot used to tie leaders to fly line. The advantage of the Albright over the uni-uni is that the large diameter line is only doubled with the Albright. You have 5 thicknesses of the large diameter line on one of the uni's. This makes the Albright a more compact knot. I haven't used it enough to have a solid conclusion about durability. The strength as tied seems excellent. With moderate practice, both knots are easy to tie. There are many sites with instructions for the knots-do an on-line search.

There is no perfect line for all situations/techniques. Even the magic Yozuri Hybrid Ultra Soft doesn't fit all applications. I won't go into spinning, but for BC, it has way too much stretch for jerking hard suspending jerkbaits. Feels like jerking on a rubber band. I much prefer braid. It works very well for deep cranks that are retrieved steadily, casts great, smooth through the guides, but for jerking and spinnerbaits, give me braid. IMHO

Riverfisher, you bragging or complaining?

Muddy has it right. You don't need to pay a bundle for a good reel. The reel I have that casts the easiest is an old Calcutta that has 3 bearings. I have another BPS reel that cost about $100 is the next best casting reel. My most expensive reel, about $230, is the most temperamental. And regarding drag, bass fishing doesn't require much of a drag at all. Most bass take a few feet of line at most. Bottom line, most reels are overdesigned for bass fishing, appealing to the marketing aspect of it all rather than the practical. The only thing that recommends name brand reels in my opinion is that the better reel servicers will not service off brands, and all the new reels are so complicated that a good service job by an expert is something you want to be able to employ. But that leaves a lot of name brand reels for under $200 that the servicers will service, and they will work great, and will work for a long time, and their drags will suffice.

I have a lot of experience with BPS rods and reels, Extreme rods and above, and a couple different lower end casting reels, and I cannot find fault with any of the stuff I have. It all works very well, especially considering the cost. It is all very cost effective. One possible down side to the reels is that professional reel servicers often do not service them , and reels are getting so darned complicated that I cannot confidently take them apart and put them back together again without having a few extra parts lying around. If you want to have them serviced by the better reel guys, then buy a name brand reel. Of course, BPS services their own stuff, but the last time a friend of mine tried to get it done, there was a 6 month time involved in a job that I did in about 15 minutes.

I carry my rods, for the most part, lashed together in the back of the van, so a one piece rod is not a problem. However, if transportability is at all an issue, go ahead and do a two piece. I have to admit, if there is a difference in sensitivity, I think it is hidden in other variables such as line and lures and grips. I have both and cannot feel the difference. One issue not often addressed in one vs two piece is the fact that guide winding is a lot easier on two piece rods than one piece rods. IMHO

The really most accurate way of characterizing a rod is with the "common cents" method. It takes a bit of doing, but once you get set up you can do any rod, (fly/cast/spin/surf) and as you gain experience, you will be able to better predict whether a rod will work or not for what you want it to do based on the ratings you derive from this method. You can even check out new rods without damaging or soiling them, and take them back if they are not what you are wanting. Go to http://www.rodbuilding.org/list.php?2 and look to the left side of the page for the links to the Common Cents info and data.

I expect from your handle, Bayou something, you don't know much about winter storage. Lucky you. Our water gets a little hard up here, and I clean my gear up, winterize the boat/motor, put my roadster in the pole building, and get to work on building rods.

I agree with those who say that with good ceramic guides, you should have no problem. But, with enough line through the guides, guides will groove more quickly with braid than with mono. The most likely trouble spot is the tiptop, so just check it every year as you are cleaning rods up for winter storage. If you find the tiptop grooved, check the other guides-most likely they will be ok. If the tiptop is grooved it is a simple job to remove it and replace it. To remove one, just put a loop of line through the eye, put tension on the line, and heat the tiptop until it slides off. Use hot melt or ferrule cement to glue on a new one and you're good to go again. The main thing to remember is to not overheat the blank. That is why I suggest putting tension on the tiptop before heating it. It will slide off before the heat becomes enough to damage the blank.

Every year or so, check your tiptop to make sure it is not grooved. Depending on your usage, braid can get aggressive, especially on the tiptop. There is one big difference with braid, the fact that it has no, or relatively little, stretch. You'll notice right away how sharp strikes feel, and that is good. However, if you are fishing for a fish as powerful and fast-striking as a king salmon, you may find the lack of stretch a problem in the stress the shock of a strike puts on terminal tackle, straightening hooks, opening split rings, etc. I would suggest for that kind of fish having a 8-12 foot "shock leader" of mono. Or you may just want to use mono-it is much more forgiving.

I've been away a while, and yo and behold the Yozuri US hybrid discussion has taken off again. At RW's suggestion, I have tried two setups with the stuff: 1. BC with 12# test-casts very well, smooth through the guides, like it's already lubed (but I'm used to braid). The only complaint is that it just doesn't feel right to me for hard jerk baits. Feels like someone put a rubber band in line with the lure, very soft on the jerk. 2. 6# test on a 1500 size Daiwa spinning reel. I used it for jigging walleyes and really liked it. Then I had to use it on king salmon up to 16 #, and while it was clearly under what was appropriate for those fish, it did quite well, casted well, and seemed pretty tough and strong considering its test. I'll continue using it for the jigging, will go to 8 or 10 for the kings and hope it doesn't get too stiff (will have a bigger reel).

For your T rig/jig rod, I don't know what to recommend, but for your medium that you will use for cranks 1/4 oz and up, you want to get an action that will load properly when casting the light lures. Fast means that most of the flex will be in the upper 1/4 or so of rod length, extra fast means most of the flex will be in the upper 1/5 or so. It is possible to get a rod in extra fast action to cast 1/4 oz lures well, but it will not be a medium heavy action, and it may not even be a medium (power). My best crank rod for light lures is a Loomis Crankbait rod #CBR843C (8-14 line, 1/4-5/8 lures) and it is probably a medium light power with a moderate/fast tip. It loads beautifully with light cranks, is very light, casts like a dream. I'm not familiar with the Shimano rods, but would expect that the fast tip would be better for cranks than the extra fast. Your initial comments on the rod with the 1/4-1 1/2 oz lure rating is interesting. I'd bet lots of money it was not really a 1/4 rated rod, but was marked incorrectly by the manufacturer to appeal to more people. Your comments on it not loading are right on, and you need a much lighter power rod to load properly with the light lures. I expect Shimano rates their rods more accurately, just be sure they rate it down to 1/4 or at worst 3/8.

The best way is to measure the diameter of the blank where you want the seat to fit and buy accordingly. You also can usually estimate the blank diameter by using the butt diameter and "guessing" the reduction in diameter with the taper-it will likely be very close to an available reel seat inner diameter. I agree that it it better to be a little tight and ream rather than too loose and shim.

I have done it this way, and have had another experienced rodmaker state the same method: Find the spine of each section alone, then assemble with the pieces aligned according to spine orientation, and check it again. It should be very close. If not, go with the assembly spine. The bad news: With short sections or powerful butt sections it is not easy to find the spine. The good news: It really doesn't matter. There may be many who will argue that spine makes a difference, but there are also many very highly respected rodmakers who will argue otherwise.

EVA foam was mentioned-does anyone know if current EVA has more resistance to sunlight than the old stuff from 20 or more years ago? I had a rod I really liked with it and it just ended up crumbling away. If it is not improved dramatically, I would hesitate to use it on a quality rod build. Logically, I would think it less sensitive than cork, too, since it is so much more compliant/soft. Seems like it would dampen the feel of light strikes. Mick

I agree with Flechero, although I do use U40 cork seal on all my new builds. I like the appearance, makes it look a little richer, and it should help with durability and fade/stain resistance. My rods from a couple years ago still look like new. One thing not covered in the string is the issue of weight. Burl is heavier than plain cork, probably because it has no voids. I have seen various estimates of the difference, but an experiment I ran indicated it was about 50% heavier than a decent but not flor grade of regular cork. I've seen estimates of more difference. Which leads to split grips. You use less of a heavier material, so the end product can be lighter and you still have great cork. Mick

There is no need to avoid graphite for cranks. The right actions, most likely medium/medium fast will work just fine. I have been told, and likely will be told again here, that there are glass rods out there that are as light as graphite, but I haven't seen them yet. I also see no need for a really slow action for cranks. Most of my cranking is with baitcasters and graphite rods, but I do some cranking with two of my spinning rods, both 7 ' medium power, fast action, braided line, and have no trouble with the lure tearing out of the fish's mouth. And, the rods are very light and work well for lots of plastics work as well. I think the "problem" of the lure tearing out of the fish's mouth is highly exaggerated.