MickD

If it forms loops simply pull it aggressively, to build up a little heat, through your fingers, or use a leather leader straightener. Unless you're fishing rocky areas where they may get caught between rocks one can use split shot, which is cheap, easy to adjust distance to hook , and easy to adjust the weight being used. You can let them slide,or tie a half hitch below them to keep them from moving.

Never knew there was such emotion about the ACS. I don't seem to be sensitive to the casting seat design, have used a number including ACS, and never have felt that I had any real problems or dislikes. Count me # 1 for being ambivalent.

Why would you put epoxy over cpextra or Permagloss? They are bullet proof and will not yellow with age as will epoxy. Seems like a complication that adds no value, and actually costs a little due to yellowing potential.

One can never have too many rods. Build it. I'm confident you will not find it "bad." You may like others better, but they will work fine. Keep in mind that it's not "world peace." It's a reel seat.

I thought we were talking about retying the line to leader knot. Yes, we have pike, but not one has ever cut the leader anywhere close to the line to leader knot. It's always right at the lure. And you're right, the difference between a 6 and 12 foot leader will not affect your ability to catch fish. But 12 will have twice the stretch of 6, if that is of any significance. And 12 will take the knot onto your reel, which I don't prefer. Just a matter of preference. I like to start at about 5 feet, and retie a new leader on when it gets down to about 3 or less.

The difference between FC and braid for stretch is dramatic. I can feel significant stretch in just 3 feet of FC, zero in braid. Get 75 feet of FC out there and it feels like a rubber band (only a little exaggeration). Stretch testing indicates that FC isn't significantly better than mono, in some cases more stretch. Retying the leader to line knot during a day of fishing is rare.

I think the visibility advantage of FC is over-rated. Some fishing sources I've read only use mono. I really don't think it has to be that long. You get significant stretch/forgiveness with only about 4-5 feet. Keeps it off the reel. I don't think the fish look very far in front of the lure. I think with some of the new braids, like Hitena, .006 diameter for 21 pound test, with a little magic marker camo on it, the fish will never see it even without a leader. I will always use a leader so that when I cut off to change lures I'm not cutting off braid.

Let me caution you that if you have the Humminbird models like mine, it will only take micro SD cards. These cards are very fragile when not in the SC card adaptors, and they don't always go into and out of the units that cleanly. And are so small that it's hard to hold onto them. I use tweezers VERY CAREFULLY, being sure not to force them at all. If you feel you have to force them something is not aligned correctly, most likely. I don't know why Humminbird ever went to micro SD chips for a product that's used in the outdoors and the need for micro size is not there. Big mistake.

Fact: I gave up a long time ago. I have many partially used spools of FC in the garage. Opinion: If you really think you need to make FC work, go with the expensive stuff mentioned in the posts above and don't bother with the others. And do all the other things required to make it work well. I use braid, which casts like a dream, seldom has any problems, no appreciable stretch, so bites are easy to feel, hook sets are better, lasts for years, and is much stronger. All the braids about 15 pound test and under cast better than any 8 pound test mono or FC. 21 pound Hitena is only .006 inch diameter, casts like a dream, is basically fool proof. It's a little pricey, but lasts a long time. Using braid does have the braid to leader knot issue if one thinks they need to use a leader and to use small guides, like I do. But the Alberto knot with the added two half hitches after setting it is very small, easy to tie, and is reliable. The FG is great if you can learn to tie it reliably, but not all fishermen can. With guides above about 4.5 mm ring size the double uni knot works fine, very easy to tie, very reliable. For me FC is limited to fly tippets and leaders on my spin and cast. I use leader grade FC-for leaders a little more stiffness is an asset.

I have been informed by epoxy experts that there is no difference in strength between the fast cures and the slow cures. I know there are those who don't believe this, but it came from someone who has been in the epoxy business for many years. And they could take a significant hit in strength and still be strong enough for rod building. One thing in our favor most of the time is that we work with large areas. Surface prep is very important. I took a rod apart recently and found that much of the epoxy adhesive between the grip and the blank never bonded to the blank and I could pick it off with my fingernail in places. If this had been a skeleton seat with minimal area, it may have failed. This article tells how to ensure this doesn't happen: https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/waterfree.html

The fact is that line on the blank is not a problem. You're right about this being a bigger issue with the heavily loaded rods. Some argue that line under the blank is a problem. If that is true, why? If the rod doesn't break, if it doesn't affect the effectiveness of fishing, if it doesn't fail a guide, then is this even true? There are a lot of myths in rod building.

One thing that spirals do is to reduce/eliminate the torquing in the hand. This used to be a more significant problem than it now is with smaller, lower guides. If one uses micros on the top of a casting rod, like I do, there is very little torque. I simply don't feel it. With stand-up jigging salt water rods, it's an entirely different story (tall roller guides, very high loads). Other rods are somewhere in between the two extremes. For me there is no problem, so I'm not going to go through all the steps to set it up. For others who feel the torque, go for it. It could be the greatest thing since sliced bread for you. I admire the devotion to excellence that it took to develop it. It is clear that that job was not trivial.

Most tournaments are not held during the spawn for a good reason. Take bass off the spawning bed and relocate them and you are guaranteeing a failure of that bed. The research is clear. If you see tourneys during the spawn you are seeing damage to the population.

But is the difference significant? I think not. Keep in mind the biggest deviation from a straight line is right at the reel, and that doesn't seem to screw things up much. I can lay out a simple spiral with the stress test I have to do anyway, then add one guide at 90 degrees half way between #1 and #2. Piece of cake, works fine, line is off the blank, guides loaded perfectly either at 0 degrees or 90, no torquing of the guides. I doubt if anyone can prove that either fishes better than the other. Unless it might be Jimmyjoe. He's making a case that sounds logical.

Jimmyjoe, do you have this problem with spinning rod/reels? The spirals just load the rod the same way spinners do? The best way to find if you like the Cagey wrap is to try it. Nothing really to risk. To me it seems an unnecessary complication. The simple spiral works just great and I see the Cagey as a solution without a problem.

The most important aspect about boat flipping is, as stated a couple times, technique. I don't even pretend to get it, so don't do it. The pros have to catch the fish so it doesn't hit the boat. I doubt if it does fish much good to be essentially thrown into the boat onto the deck. Bottom line is that if you bend a modern graphite rod much past 90 degrees, sooner or later you'll break one. If you notice the pros doing it, they have the fish moving strongly toward the boat, flip it without bending the rod that much.

Years ago a guy told me about fishing Lake St Clair with a green "stick" about 3 1/2 inches long, made by a local MI company. It was all he used, only the one color. It looked just like a Ned. One feature of the Elaztech Ned is its buoyancy, which I don't think the others have. The success of cut off longer sticks and the product mentioned above indicate that buoyancy may not be that important.

I don't see how backing can affect the digging in that takes place at the surface of the line "stack" on the reel spool. From my experience, 30 is about at the low end of the recommended braid for casting outfits, and if you set your drag quite heavy, it can be a problem. If you don't want to set your drag sort of light (keep in mind that most fresh water baitcasters have drags limited to only around 12-15 pounds unless "locked up."). I expect mine is only about 8, but I don't really know. Or care. It works. I don't see Power Pro as being any worse than others, but look for braid advertised as "round." Which I expect all of them are now. Used to be braid was flat and it REALLY dug in.

I only have experience with one M1 that I recently built. Very light for its power, very handsome gloss black. It is the M1 7 foot 2 inch medium power X-fast action. I test all my blanks with CCS for objective power and action ratings and its power is just above the St Croix SCV70MF, and it's a little faster in action. One has to keep in mind that ratings and comparisons to them, if one doesn't use CCS, are just opinions. The opinions of most seem to be that St Croix rods if anything are a little more powerful than their descriptions. If this is true, then the Phenix MI in this model is not underpowered. In any event its ERN is 17.2, AA is 78. I predict it will be a great finesse rod for tubes, wacky, worms, etc.

I'd rather fish in the wind, or do most anything, than listen to Whoopie. When the trailer comes off the hitch ball it sort of ruins a fishing trip. Don't ask how I know.

Lots of guides with ceramic rings will work fine with any line. Even those without ceramic rings will work, but might groove sooner in the long haul. I always use SIC rings for the tiptops as that is the most likely to groove, although if you treat your rods hard, banging against the boat, that kind of stuff, Alconite is tougher. I've never had a SIC ring break or come out of the frame. I prefer Fuji guides, and you can get them in many designs, finishes and ring materials, and prices. They have what they call their "corrosion control" stainless guides which can be very affordable and provide corrosion resistance almost equaling titanium. I've never had a failure of a Fuji guide, they are well-finished, and I've never had to polish burrs off the bottoms of the feet as you sometimes have to do with lesser guides. I usually can wrap up the feet without doing any grinding on the feet as is required by some guides. A few brushes with fine sandpaper to help the thread climb the foot a little better is all it takes. Their site, anglersresource.net has software for locating the reduction train on two different types of spin guides and a two-line method stress test tutorial for locating the running guides. I use their KW series, KLH reduction guides and their software and I don't even test cast any more. They always come out right.

I don't think they are delicate at all, never had one fail. In fact since they are so small they don't get exposed to much of the damage that fails larger guides. When you have all the guides on the rod and it feels the same as it did without guides you know you've done the right thing for sensitivity. You don't need any more on a spin build, only a baitcaster with the guides on top. You mention spiral, you don't need more on a spiral. The Danek Improved Alberto will pass through all micros with leaders 15 or less, and it's an easy knot to tie. As far as I am concerned, there is only one disadvantage to micros on a spin, and that is that they will freeze up more readily than a bigger guide. And since I don't fish when it's freezing. . . moot point for me. Luckily, I design and build my own, so I can do it like I want regardless of whether it would sell to the general fishing public.

FG is tough to master. I don't tie it on the water either. But the Alberto with the half hitches is easy, IMO. Get some leader and braid and tie a bunch of them watching TV. One difference between the double uni and the others (FG and Alberto) is that the double uni doesn't care whether you set it heavily or not. It will simply tighten up on its own under stress. The other knots, if not heavily set, will unravel. I submit that the proper way to set the Alberto is to pull it to snug it, then set the leader tag end hard to get the leader loop to close tightly, then go back and set the whole knot hard again (with spit). finally add the two half hitches. With practice the wrapping of the braid around the looped leader becomes very easy. I use 7 wraps. Some use 10, but I think the knot gets too long.

If you have not yet tried carbon, use this as an opportunity to do so. Maybe on one rod, then decide on the other. I have not experienced durability problems with Winn. The Winn rep I talked with admitted that they don't like DEET, but I'm not sure other materials will like it either.

I thought Heathen was a special knot that I did not know. I've used the double uni forever, and it's a great knot exc for its size. I still use it when I don't need the smaller knots. thanks