MickD

The important part of cutting any rod that has longitudinal fibers or cloth is to use very high speeds and very slow progression through the cut. Dremels with cut off wheels are ideal, as mentioned. I would tape on both sides of the kerf.

Depending on how you define "working harder." It takes the same power to cruise down the highway whether using 8 cylinders, 4 cylinders, or 1 cylinder, but with fewer cylinders doing that work, each has do generate a larger share of that HP if part of an engine with fewer cylinders. But, it doesn't take much power to cruise a truck even at highway speeds, so the cylinders are "not working very hard" even with a larger share. It takes a lot of power to cruise a boat, even on plane, and they operate more often at wide open throttle and higher RPM's, so the duty cycle of boat engines is much different than that of auto/truck engines. And they are designed for it. Does a 60 operate any more efficiently than a 75, both cruising at the same "efficient planing speed?" I expect the difference is peanuts. Of course the 75 will use more fuel at wide open than will the 60, but will get you home sooner. If it were my decision I would take the highest ouput engine that didn't throw the boat out of balance due to its weight (assuming all being considered are within the specs for the boat). And I would not commit until I had tried it out.

Not much. Most of us tend to overthink this rod spec stuff. Please forgive.

15 hp is a 25% increase over the 60, will make a significant difference. The only reason I would not go with it was if its weight would be too much for the boat. The suggestion to try it before spending the bucks is the right way to go on major purchases like this.

Yes, after you take the braid through the loop and HEAVILY set the knot then do two tight half hitches with the tag end of the braid. The half hitches will be "on top" of the finished knot. Have you ever tried to get a tight wind knot out of braid? I have never been able to do it. Tight half hitches won't come out either and will prevent the tag end from slipping back out of the loop, which is the only way the knot could unravel. Adding the half hitches is doing exactly what is done at the end of an FG knot. If it were not for the half hitches on the FG, it would unravel .

I don't know. Seems like stiffer tip, all else equal, would transmit something from the line better. Maybe. Longer length, less transmission. Maybe. You got it, I'm not committing. But. . .

Sensitivity cannot be objectively measured, so we all can have opinions that cannot be dis-proven. Most knowledgeable people agree, however, that weight is the enemy of sensitivity, that the best sensitivity comes from the lightest rod. So that leads to the high modulus blank materials, often very costly, often argued to be fragile, but also argued to be very sensitive. Action and power, in my opinion, are moot. It's about the material the blank is made from, the design of the blank (stuff at which you and I will never be expert), and the weight of the guides and wraps. Lighter is better. This might lead to the conclusion that the lower power rod, which can be made lighter, would be more sensitive. Might. You have presented two blanks of different lengths and weights (I assume their weights are not the same, but I don't know). I would guess that the lighter is the more sensitive one. Who can prove me wrong? I know you are out there and will try. :-)

The only rod I ever broke setting the hook was a glass rod. I had one of my Point 'Blanks pretty well wrapped around my trolling motor shaft this last year, and it survived. I don't think that one can conclude that glass is always tough and graphite is always fragile. There is much more to it.

I practiced the knot watching TV and got pretty good at tying it, but prefer the Alberto because it's a little more straightforward and doesn't have the big loop of limp braid which I think will be hard to control in a windy boat. It comes out the same size as the Alberto, has the same requirement to really set it tightly, and most likely has the same tendency to occasionally unravel if not topped with a couple of tight half hitches. I have NOT fished it. It should be as strong as the Alberto since it is so similar, depends on the mulitple wraps of braid around a doubled leader. My knots were 1 mm in diameter with .41 mm leader (20 pound test) and .15 mm braid (15 pound Tuff line). Basically same as the Alberto.

Modulus went over 25 %. 25% of what?

Kreh knot too big for what I need. The whole idea of finding a reliable, small, knot is so that it passes through the guides cleanly. Especially small guides. If you tie a leader so short that it doesn't pass through the guides, then just about anything will work. A big swivel will work. I didn't find the shin knot that easy to tie, will try again. But it seems to me much more confusing and hard to accomplish than the Alberto knot. To each his own.

I see it now in the OP, sorry I missed it. Not to worry, just do as I say above, as waynorthbassguy says, or ignore. All will be well.

You are dealing with the subjective descriptions of rod power, so it will be tough to get 100% confidence in the solution. But Bushidos are fine blanks and Don Morse knows them well, so his advice is probably about as good as it's going to get. Contact him and discuss what you are trying to accomplish.

What is "it" in "it kinked up?" I cannot figure out what you are talking about. Sounds like it might be that the FC has a "kink" in it around the rod tip? If that's it, just pull that area of the FC through your hands under tension to heat it and straighten it out. Or ignore it.

I submit that that final step is not enough to make it reliable. Nearly, but not absolutely. Please read on. I've been working at that knot now for a couple years and now and then have had them unravel. Even when I've concentrated on sticking the tag end back through properly. I think I finally figured out why I might be having problems and others may not. I use stiff leaders, FC leader material, up to 20 pound test, but usually 15. Even at 15, especially with the very fine braid I use (less than .006 diameter) I believe that the braid tag end sometimes gets out of the loop which is harder to close tightly with stiffer leaders. The only way I can figure that that knot can unravel is if the braid tag comes out of the loop. To make sure it is reliable with the leaders I use it has to be VERY TIGHTLY set, just like an FG, and two half hitches, each individually tightened against the knot (half hitches made from the tag end of the braid), have to be added. I've never been able to get a tight wind knot out of braid, and I dont expect a tight half hitch to ever unravel.

I tried it and it appears to be larger than that Alberto (3 thicknesses of the leader?), does not seem to give as streamlined shape, so I'm not sure if it will go through small micro guides as well as the Alberto. It's clearly a lot bigger than the FG, and clearly a lot easier to tie than the FG. I'm not wild about having to pull the whole leader through the loop. Finally, it looks like it wastes a lot of leader and braid, more than the other knots. I'll stick with the double uni on smaller leaders, FG and Alberto on the bigger ones. I noticed on one write-up for the Kreh knot that it "works well with lines of about the same diameter," which means it may not work as well with big differences in diameter?

I was not meaning to imply that any of the suggested knots were not excellent knots; I only was trying to answer the OP issue of having difficulty tying the Alberto. The above method solved that issue for me. I will try the Kreh knot. Very simple, but looks large compared to the Alberto. If size is not an issue then the most reliable, simplest knot very well could be the double uni.

To tie the Alberto I form the loop and hold the loop and the braid tag with my left thumb and forefinger, then do the wraps out. At that time shift the half completed knot to the right thumb and forefinger making sure that you don't turn it over during the transfer. Now do the wraps easily and neatly back up and stick the tag through the loop. Now grab the knot with the left hand again and pull the LEADER tag end gently. This will close the knot so that it will be secure for the rest of the process. Now wet the knot and alternately pull the main lines and the leader tag end against the braid main line. The knot will not hold unless the leader loop is very tightly closed, so it has to be set just like an FG, very tightly. This is especially important on stiffer leaders (15 pound test and higher, leader material stiff mono, etc). The only way the knot can unravel is if the tag end slips out of the spot where the leader loop is closed. So I tie two tight half hitches of the braid tag end against the finished knot. Then cut the tag ends. Sounds more complicated than it is, and it allows one to tie a very nice, cylindrical, knot since the wraps can be done neatly and evenly. I don't trust the Alberto without the half hitches, especially with heavier leaders. With the half hitches, I think it's bullet-proof.

A-Jay, please don't take me so seriously. I'm not doubting your integrity.

A-Jay, with all due respect, I don't believe it will ever happen. What I am going to do: - Spend more time looking for new areas that will hold SMB. I say this because here in MI the water levels are rising so fast that I think the habitat is changing and my old spots may not be as desirable for the fish as they are for me. Great memories, though. - Stop in the middle of the day, have a sandwich or a chicken wing, and calmly ask myself "What am I not doing that I should be considering." This is to expand my options from doing only what has worked in the past but isn't working today. - Don't take short-cuts on knots. - Don't procrastinate, go fishing on the dates that worked in the past. Things change so fast that next week won't work. - Forget about fishing the slop during the first week of duck season. This is not something that is universally appreciated.

Good stuff, A-Jay. I guess I'm in all five stages. But to me, BASS really means smallmouth bass. If I lived somewhere else where I had a shot at double digit LMB, it would be different. But here in MI, the 4, 5, and now and then 6 pound SMB is what turns me on. A couple years ago I figured that 6 people had taken their personal best SMB from my boat in the 2-3 previous years. That was pretty neat to consider.

I cast with the right, often two handed, and have both left and right BC reels. I don't have a problem going back and forth. I think for most people it just takes practice, getting used to it.

The Alberto is quite easy if you hold the loop end with one hand and wrap the braid away from it with the other, then switch hands to hold the two lines at the end of the wrap and use the other hand to wrap back up towards the loop, stick the tag end through, wet it and set very solidly. Then, IMO, add a couple tight braid half hitches before cutting the tag end.

I sometimes think it's because I do so much "snapping" of jigs, aggressive action, which may tend to loosen knots. Never happens with double uni, sometimes happens with Alberto. If I get a good FG, that sets properly without slipping, it holds all the time, too. But the Alberto, not so. Will be interesting to see if the half hitches solve it. Russ E, how long do you leave the braid tag end? What pound test leader are you using? (I believe that the problem I have will be worse the heavier the leader since the closure of the loop will be tighter on lighter leaders than it will be on heavier leaders.) My experience is with 12-15 pound test FC leader material, stiff fly tippets, not FC line used as leaders.

I have tried just about everything with the Alberto, but I still now and then get one that "unravels." I am "religious" in making sure the braid tag end exits properly, and heavily set the knot as recommended. I believe that the only way it can unravel is if the braid slips out of the "loop." Even though I heavily set the knot to make sure the "loop" is closed tightly, now and then. . . I have concluded that the best way to ensure this does not happen is to add two tightly set half hitches to the braid at the loop after setting the knot. To unravel, both of them would have to unravel and then the tag would have to pull out from the loop. Anyone else done this? It will not make the knot any larger and should, IMO, improve the reliability of the knot.