MickD

Before you glue the seat on make sure you like the placement of it vs a rod you like. You don't want the butt knob to get hung up in your elbow when going from low to high and vice versa. Try it with typical fishing clothes on. Looking good. That seat/front ramp arrangement will fish great!

"Maxcuatro," clever. Max four, "advanced four strand," costs twice what 8 strand Suffix 832 costs. And the Power Pro home page doesn't tell us what its diameter is. "25% thinner than regular Power Pro." I'll stick with Suffix 832 and Hitena. Hitena Purelilne is thinner than 832 and most likely thinner than Maxcuatro. But who knows?

I have not tried a lot of the braids mentioned, but I have tried quite a few and there is a big difference in how they fish. I think the biggest factor is the number of "carriers", or strands. Old, standard , braids have 4, the newer, premium braids have at least 8, and they are definitely worth the money. Smaller diameter for the strength, better casting, fewer tangle problems, IMHO. My favorite is Hitena Pureline which has 12 strands in its 19 pound test, which casts like a lot of 10's. It is pricey, but lasts for years. Suffix 832 is excellent, also. It has 8 strands + 1 Gore strand to increase its density. I also use Hitena fly tippet for leader, preferring Aquanix XT in 14.6 pound test most of the time.

Do you have a drill press, or are you willing to get one? With a drill press and a cheap, simple, setup, you can turn cork and EVA very nicely. If you want details, message me with your email address and I'll get the info to you. I have too many irons in the fire to consider doing cork work for others.

As I've stated before, my preference for looks and confidence in the durability is to totally encapsulate the soft black checks. My experience has been that sooner or later anything rubber or plastic will deteriorate with time/light/ozone/whatever, and to prevent that I totally encapsulate. I like the looks better than a flat black rubber piece, too. I epoxy them by placing epoxy onto the blank and cork/seat surface and slide them into position, then clean up. I don't think anyone has a scale that can reliably measure the difference in weight between an encapsulated check or two and an unfinished one.

Your titanium framed set of 9 weighed .135 oz. Your titanium tiptop probably weighs .0078 ounce. Part of that weight is the ring, not the frame. So how much lighter can carbon-framed guides get, and how much faster will that make the rod recovery? Probably not a lot. The Daiwa guides, especially the reduction guides, are pretty ugly compared to Fuji KLH style guides, IMHO. But marketing fishing tackle is a lot like marketing wine, depending a lot on the advertising copy writers' skill in describing the subtleties and possibilities more than the actualities. If one really wants to measure the difference, I can show you how.

I have the same problem. My knots don't need it, and it always seems to glue my fingers together.

Yes, or a nail or any small cylinder to allow you to pass the thread back under the wraps. If you use them for trim on a wrap then don't try to cut off the tags just after tying and tightening and burnishing. Leave them long and put a drop of CP on the junction of the knot. Let it dry, then cut off the tags. Knot will be more stable, tags will not loosen as much as if you trim them right away. . If not using CP then any super glue will work and the thread color will be the same at the drop as all over the rest of the wrap when finish is applied.

Familiar with nail knot as used here? If not look it up on the internet and get back with me for a tip or two on doing them as trim.

3.55-3.6 Vinyl/rubber wrap checks weigh almost nothing, apply ample epoxy covering the whole check, encapsulating it, and you'll have a nice filet shape. A metallic 4 wrap nail knot next to it, then some colored thread. Very classy.

I see what you mean. I like up locking too, and do it this way. The threads at the rear could be covered, but diameter would increase. With this setup they are out of the way of the hands so much that I don't notice them.

What are ags guides?

It's just an inconvenience. The thread comes up against the "micro-ridge", then leaves a small gap when it crosses. Moving the thread when necessary is a little harder. Not world peace, but an aggragation that will keep me going Point Blank. I think Point Blanks are better blanks and don't have this issue. I also thought that "mirror finish" would mean a smooth blank, but it didn't come that way. With the inconsistencies of NFC descriptions (medium power drop shot blank with only a 12 ERN, for example, a crank blank called a moderate action with an AA of 80 for another) and a higher true natual frequency for Point Blanks and accurate CCS specs, I see no reason to leave Point Blank for NFC.

If they are the black, heavy, slow-actioned Ugly Sticks, no. But are there not newer more sensitive, lighter Ugly Sticks that aren't that bad? I'm not sure. I'd take a look at the Bass Pro/Cabelas offerings for combos with the action/power that you prefer before committing.

A 4.5 will easily pass leader knots joining 50# braid and 15# mono. You won’t have any problem here. Depends on what knot you'll be using. IMHO A double uni with this combination will probably be trouble.

Why not? With a seat like the Fuji DPPS it is long enough so that reels can be installed and removed without the nut having to go beyond the seat end. So from there back it can be solid cork. Or whatever. Am I missing something?

If you're trying to locate guides on the PB701 MLF I can tell you what I've used, and you can go from there.

What reduction guides are you using? I thought I remember your going with Fuji KLH group. If so spool diameter is irelevant. It's more about what line you're using. What blank are we now talking about for guide locations? I almost always use 9 guides + tiptop on a 7 foot blank. Why not use the stress testing procedures at numerous on-line tutorials to locate the runners?

There have been a number of tests noted that show no stretch difference between mono and FC. So most likely no sensitivity difference simply based on movo vs FC. I'm using Suffix Elite Camo mono 14 pound test now and don't feel it's anything like a rubber band. The last time I felt that in a line was with Yozuri Hybrid. I think there are differences between different lines for stretch, both mono and FC. The suggestion was to go lighter in pound test because the intial specified line wasn't optimum.

I like high end rods for cranking because they are lighter, I can feel the action of the lure better, can feel and evaluate the bottom better, possibly a minor advantage in casting distance (faster recovery time). I don't think there is an advantage in keeping fish hooked up or feeling the bites. With cranks the strike is either a significant attack on the lure, or the lure just stops. Either way, not hard to determine with any tackle.

Ned rigs, tubes (Strike King 3.5 in coffee pro in watermelon/candy/red) Rapala DT series, which one depending on expected depth. Drop shot. 3.8 in Keitech swim baits/3/16-1/4 jig. Favor shades of green with all, but have some white for clear water.

He is suggesting that lighter test, thinner, mono be tried. And also adding some advice on technique.

Have you tried the VMC spinshots or other rigged drop shot hooks? I really like them.

The problem with NFC as I see it is more with the inconsistency of their action and power "ratings." The action descriptions Slow/Mod/Fast/Xfast/etc and power Light/MedLight/Med/etc. You just don't know what you are going to get if their charts don't show CCS data. They are working to publish all models' CCS data, but when that will get done is ??? I just bought a medium power spin (drop shot) blank with an ERN of only 12. I was curious about XRay, but now I'm going to stick with companies that are now publishing CCS data, like Point Blank. Seems like it would be hard to wrap. The blank I just built is an XRay "mirror finish" and it still had a slight texture that often was significant enough that it made wrapping and moving the thread a little dicey.

I prefer split, almost always using a two-handed wrist-only motion due to shoulder problems, works great. I like split because the butt knob gives a really secure, comfortable object to hold onto.