MickD

Rapala DT's in Ike's Custom Ink "smash" are very good smallie lures. For the spring, when jerks are working, slow down with the DT, stop it often. I call it "nudging." Also the regular color "live river shad."

I believe I know exactly why that was happening and I believe it is solved with the two half hitches added, after HEAVILY setting the knot. The heavier the leader the more likely the regular Alberto will fail. Do you have a link to show me the knot? thanks,

You are missing an opportunity for reliable, much smaller knots. Double unis are easy, reliable, and I use them when I can, but they are much bigger than necessary. As I stated before, I use leaders up to 15 with size 4 micros with no problems.

I believe that micros do in fact help casting distance some. I have no data, but my micro rods really seem to cast "a mile." You knew that was coming, right? My theory on the advantage is that they get the line arranged into what amounts to a very small cylinder going through the air instead of having bigger loops trying to cut through the air. I don't think that the difference is compelling, but I think it's there. Regarding knots, as stated above, the right knot will go through micros just fine, unless you're getting into quite heavy leaders. In that case, the power of the rod probably dictates stronger guides anyway. I use size micros on almost all my spin and use 10-20 pound braid with 15 pound test leaders and have no problems. I use the FG and my "improved" Alberto (which is the Alberto with two half hitches of the tag end around the main braid line to finish the knot after HEAVILY setting it). You can see it quite well by casting into the setting or rising sun, too. Without slo mo.

The heat shrink will add a little weight which is the enemy of sensitivity. Significant difference? I doubt it, but it's in the wrong direction. Another possibility is to wrap the grips with Winn's tape. Similar issue, easy, can be removed easily if you don't like them. I personally think the woven appearance of carbon fiber is handsome in a techie way. With those components you don't have a lot of surface area for epoxy bonding to the blank. Are you familiar with prepping the surface of a blank and the components to assure the maximum bond performance of the epoxy? https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/waterfree.html I took a rod I did many years ago apart and found that while it had not failed, some of the epoxy had not bonded well to the blank and could be chipped off way too easily. I didn't know about surface prep at that time.

Check out Lurepartsonline.com , too.

What is "they?" glass reinforced nylon, ABS, and other plastics are common in the auto industry. I see no reason that reinforcing any plastic with glass or carbon or any other high modulus material would dampen its transmission of vibration (sensitivity).

You've got about the highest modulus "plastic" material in carbon fiber over foam forms. I expect Winn grips are a form of plastic. Most spin and cast reel seats are in fact made from reinforced plastic. I think I remember cheap kids rods with blow molded plastic handles. Which looked and felt really cheap. I think cast-resins are pretty dense, but have not taken the time to compare with current reel seat material. A Fuji DPSM seat comes in at about an ounce, even for a size 17, so that's pretty efficient use of the materials. Allows 7 foot spin rods to come in at well less than 4 ounces even with a comfortable seat. I think most others are similar, some lighter.

Whoa! Hair dryer CAN BE way too hot, and you cannot focus the heat well. You don't want to heat the blank; you want to heat the tiptop. When I do this the heat I use is so little that I can handle the tiptops without gloves and without burning my fingers. I use a butane lighter with the edge of the flame on the side of the tube of the tiptop. If you have a rubber band with tension pulling on the tiptop, trying to pull it off, and you apply the heat, the tiptop will slide off when the cement melts thus avoiding more heat than necessary. If it doesn't readily come off, epoxy was used to fasten it on. Get a pro builder to take it off, and use hot melt on the new one, not epoxy. I hope I got to you in time.

Yup. I have never mastered how to flip fish into the boat, just don't even try. I'm pretty good with the net while fighting the fish near the boat, though. We usually net or lip our own fish to allow the partner to keep fishing. Nailed it.

Agreed, but my point is that one can moderate the force on the rod by the direction it's pointed. Never directly at the fish, but the rod will have a lot of power if offset from direct by some amount. If pointed back over your head it wouldn't take 24 pounds to trash it. No problem keeping it pointed directly at the fish if you want to, just lean over point it at the line, reach out if you have to. Not that I'm saying that's the correct way to fight a fish, only that the direction the rod is pointed can have a lot to do with the load on the rod, and the extreme case is pointing it directly at the fish.

I agree with all exc that you can in fact pull 24 pounds of drag on any rod without damaging it if you point that rod at the source of the pull. There is a lot in how one fights the fish, how he orients the rod to the fish. I am not saying that there are many or any times when 24 pounds of force is necessary, only that it doesn't matter how high the force is if the rod is pointed at the source of the force. The line will break with no damage to the rod.

Many new reels do not have anti reverse switches, so be sure you know what you're getting and are in agreement. I would not buy a reel without a switch.

The ring size is designated by the outer diameter of the ring in millimeters. Try to match this with the new one. Usually it will be about 6 mm. As stated above, the tube is designated in 64 ths of an inch. As long as the tube is larger than the tip you're OK, unless it gets really sloppy. You don't want to have to sand the blank to get it to fit, but you can use generous hot melt to install the a larger new one most of the time. Or wrap the tip with thread to increase its ID if you cannot find a true match. To remove the old one pull on the tip top with a string at the same time you're applying a little heat. If it is held on by hot melt it should come off with just a little heat. If it doesn't readily come off, get a pro builder to help. It's easy to damge the blank with too much heat.

There are not many people who can easily and effectively cast 1/10 oz lures on a BC. Maybe none. Better gear will not help, IMO. Don't waste your time trying to cast 1/10 on a BC. It's just not the right system for that weight. Use spin for light, BC for not so light. And be happy.

I'm surprised no one yet mentioned that for most of us mortals spinning works best for the lighter lures. What "lighter" means depends on one's skills, but at some "light" lure weight it becomes very difficult to get good casts. No doubt, for power, BC is better than spin.

I tied a couple palomars with 15 FC and pulled on the tag end. I do conclude that it's not that hard to break the knot when pulling on the tag end. Lesson learned.

Then the drip shot rigs that have the hook and swivels would be needed for this scheme to be reliable. So if the palomar is used up the line and the sinker snags it's likely to break the palomar, just like if you catch a fish on the lower jig. I'll have to experiment with this. My son does it all the time and I don't remember his ever breaking the palomar when snagging the sinker, and he does not use sliding sinkers that simply pull off. By the way, my response to the TRD question was not that I was considering the TRD to be on a jig on the bottom, but on the drop shot hook up the line. The Elaztech minnows work well there and I expect a TRD would too.

Come on, guys. How does a minnow feed when near the bottom? Often by going head down, in a vertical attitude, and pecking toward the bottom. What would a Ned TRD on a drop shot do? It would float up at the tail, head down, looking like a feeding minnow. Which is why the Elaztech minnows are such good drop shot lures. And why a TRD would also work.

mudhole.com, getbitoutdoors.com

I think what the OP is referring to are what I call "inside bends," where deeper water intrudes on shallower water locally forming a sort of valley into the shallower water. Inside bends are, in my opinion , great spots which are natural ambush points for predators.

LOTs of good info in this string of posts. For example, I never knew the power numbers related to pounds. If you want to start measuring the power and action of your rods to get OBJECTIVE numbers, read up on the CCS system. It really helps take the mystery out of this topic. I measure all my rods, all the blanks I get, and know in advance how they will work for different techniques and how they relate to each for power and action. https://www.common-cents.info/ It was conceived and developed for fly rods, but it works for all rods. Putting the CCS power (in grams) and Action Angle numbers on the rod is more valuable than any number or word description in the OEM specs/label. Interestingly, Dr. Hanneman, who developed it , recently passed away.

The weight near the butt, like from decals and weaves, means little regarding sensitivity. What counts is the weight at and near the tip. So very small, light, guides, light wraps, translates to high sensitivity. Given that the blank itself is a high modulus, well-designed blank.

I think power is being ignored. You cannot really discuss performance of a rod without considering both power and action. It's power that drives a hook home. Action just describes where in the rod does the rod bend. Slow means throughout the whole length of the rod, right into the grip most likely. Extra fast means mostly just at the tip.

As the post above says, you will not likely ever use the max drag on a reel. And you can put any line on any reel regardless of its max drag spec. One thing to consider in addition to others that have been mentioned is that when you apply too much force to the fish, even if the rod and line can take it, you likely will pull the hook out of the fish's lips. Some fish, like crappie, have pretty fragile lips. I use only a fraction of the drag capacity even though on most of my reels it's only about 12 pounds max. Like MN Fisher above.