MickD

that rod was a rod I made for a local educational foundation fund raiser. MSU sells well here, so that's why the theme. I do one every year. Rodgeeks blank, nice blank. I have an identical one I made for me, and it's a great tube rod. C4 med power, fast action. A little more powerful than the St Croix SCV, 7 foot, med power, fast action. IMHO, carbon fiber is cool, but isn't a compelling advantage over cork or Winn. Winn is actually lighter than most cork, and light = sensitivity. Even though it feels soft, Winn does fine for sensitivity. Just keep DEET away from your Winn grips. As you should do with anything other than steel. DEET attacks just about everything. One thing that a lot of builders seem to miss is that with spin, the grips/handles mean almost nothing. You grip by the seat, with the stem between your fingers, and the stuff in front of and behind the seat is just along for the ride. Or for style. To make the design look symmetric. So if you have a comfortable butt knob, and a smooth surface in front of the seat, like a nice little ramp to the blank, everything's cool. And as effective as it's going to get.

The knob is exotic burl cork, not sure where I got it, but I think Mudhole. It is the green color. The color is subtle, but quite nice. Since cork itself doesn't take dyes well the color is in the adhesive. Not all burl cork is the same. what's neat about this burl is that the pieces are not all the same size. Some burls look like particle board, vey uniform, with no character. The finish is wrap epoxy. Others have used varnish and some polyurethanes with varying degrees of build and gloss. The wrap epoxy is probably the highest build and gloss. Some polys look really good, more of a semi gloss finish with less build, but from what I can tell they are not UV protected, so may break down. I don't really know, have no experience with them. Cork 4 US is a good source of quality burl. I wanted you to see this so you could see that the rubber checks can look very classy, but you have to encapsulate them to get the good look. You don't have to go any farther with the epoxy than just over the check. It will look great, but the cork will remain uncoated. If I don't coat the cork with epoxy I use U40 cork sealer on it. Then it will stay nice longer and clean up easier. And I don't think it even gets as dirty as untreated cork. Seems to shed it to some degree.

Here is an example of encapsulating the flexible checks.

You don't need a Palomar with this stuff, a simple 4 or 5 twists and the tag through the loop will do. With that it won't slip. My preference is with titanium leaders with heavy duty components, like solid rings, cross lock snaps. About 12 inches. Shorter is too short, longer makes it cumbersome for casting as you always seem to be worrying about reeling it in too far.

I totally encapsulate them in wrap epoxy. Use it liberally over the check and you'll get a nicely shaped filet and you'll not have to worry about any failure of the flexible check. Seems like everything flexible will crack sooner or later if exposed. I've never had this happen by totally encapsulating them. Looks very classy.

If you build your own the Rainshadow Revelation Inshore Popping series (a bunch of mod-fast action blanks) are good candidates. One I love is REV IP 70 ML. One of my favorite blanks, and I think just what the ML-MF advocates are looking for.

I fish smallies in mostly open water as many others, but I prefer Med power/fast action for tubes-better hook sets than lighter powers. I like a ML power, Mod/fast action for snapping 4 in swim baits off the bottom due to the better "follow" of the rod tip on the drop. Too much power when snap jigging gives too sharp of a snap and a loose line dump on the drop. ML power with the more moderate action works much better on this. (5/16 and 1/4 oz max) But for most bottom finesse, I like more power for the hook sets. Often very long casts and fish contact.

I have tied the FG by fixing the braid to my belt loops with the flexible 'twist ties' and it is far easier than the "braid in the teeth" method because of two things-it is secure and doesn't slip half way through the knot as often happens with the teeth, and second, it gets the knot weaving farther from the eyes so it's easier to control what's going on. THE METHOD IN THIS VIDEO should be better than my method in that it is all feel and the tension is held by your pinky finger (easy to control and feel). The guy in the video is right, in my opinion, in his position that tension MUST be maintained in order to tie a reliable knot. I have tried many times to tie this knot without tensioning and every knot was a failure. I know some can do it; I cannot. I note that he does sixteen weaves, more than the earlier versions of the FG. Relative to the slippery braid issue, it might not be a problem with 16 properly tensioned weaves, but some people scuff the braid to give more traction for this knot. It is a good idea to take one of your knots and cut the braid off the leader to see what condition the leader is in after you tie the knot. If your leader has not taken a set in what I'll call a "distressed" curly permanent shape then you are not getting a properly tensioned and set knot. The knot works not only from friction but from deforming the leader to give a "mechanical" lock of the braid to the leader.

If longer rods don't cast farther then why are surf rods so long? I really don't think there is any doubt about it. My 8 1/2 foot salmon casting rod casts a mile while my 6' 8" pike rod only casts 3/4 mile. :-) Surely in many cases we don't need longer casts than a shorter rod will give, but when you want max distance you will get it with length.

Casting distance, for one. For tip up techniques, go longer. For tip down, go shorter.

Torzites are the ultimate in guides, but Fuji slim SIC titaniums are pretty nice at much less $$. Either one will make a great rod. They will weigh almost nothing if the runners are small. I use size 4 on spin rods. With braid less than 15 pounds you can go with the KLH reduction train in size 16KLH, 8KLH, 5.5M, then a couple KB4's, the rest KT4's and it will be about as good as it gets for sensitivity. I have a Point Blank 701MF with this setup and it's a wonderful rod, but it's fast action. It comes in MLF, too. I have no trouble keeping smallies hooked up. I am building a Phx now, and it seems like a very nice blank. It's the M series at about half the price of the K. I think you are going to have a hard time keeping this under $400 (parts only, no labor) if you stick with the K blank and torzites. Whatever way you go with what you're discussing will yield a fine rod. With a Point Blank and slim SIC's you surely can keep it well under $400 for parts. For the next couple days suppliers are having their Black Friday sales, too. Good luck!

Yes, would help as you say. I have a 7 foot ML power mod-fast action Rainshadow Rx7 that I use for smallies, mostly for snapping 4 inch swim baits off the bottom, but also have used it for tubes, and it works OK. The power loads well with 3/16-1/4 oz jigs with the swim baits or tubes.

Sorry, cannot help on finished rods exc to comment again that what you are planning to use it for is best suited to a fast action. Look for a full grip rod, the length you want, (I like 7 feet for this), the recommended lure weight in your range, and with a full grip. Don't worry about the recommended line pound test; that's just noise in the system. And don't worry about a few inches in length, IMO, anything from about 6-9 to 7-3 will work fine.

"Custom" means $$, any budget restraints? In my opinion, if you make the decision to go custom, a few 20's to go first class are not a problem.

Looking for a blank to build on or a rod? Sounds like looking for a blank for a custom build. For your stated use, I would not go slower than Fast action. But please clarify, there are a ton of great blanks on which to build a finesse rod. I have one in mind, but not mod-fast.

My opinion is that there is little to gain by going smaller than 4 for running guides, and maybe, depending on your knot tying skills, a lot to lose. 4's are pretty darned small! But in direct answer to whether 3's will work, they will work with just about any reasonable combination of leaders/lines (braid, of course) if you can tie the FG knot. If you have no confidence in your FG, then go bigger on guides. All other knots are bigger than the FG and may be a problem with 3's. I use Fuji alconite 4's on spin, 5.5 on cast. The spin will pass a 15 pound braid/1 pound FC leader with an Alberto knot very well. Not quite so well with a double uni, but it will work.

For many companies I think their "customer service" should be called "customer frustration." One that I've found easy to contact and their reps are knowledgeable- Humminbird.

NRX, as in Loomis? I would ask them what to use. But in response to your question, "regular" (ceramic ring) guides are specified by the OD of the ring. I expect but do not know that Recoil specifies by the ID of the wire, so tough call. Maybe someone more knowledgeable will chime in. On thinking this over, I think that if you gave Mudhole the ID of the Recoil they could match it. But I still think that Loomis can and will answer the question.

Since you are moving on re the Black Max, you have little to lose. So take the drag apart, degrease all elements, then lube it with DRAG GREASE. Shimano offers it. On the roller clutch, take it out, degrease it, blow it dry with compressed air if you have it, and start over with new oil, like sewing machine oil, or even 3 in 1, reel butter is good, but not that red stuff from Quantum. It could be that that rusty appearance was not rust, but Quantum. I would not give up on it. It's great fun when you win one of these.

Go to a big box store that handles all brands and see which work for you. I have never had this problem so wonder if you are gripping the rod/reel differently than I do. Also, watch out for Shimanos if you like having an anti-reverse switch. It appears that they and many other brands are deleting them on their newer offerings. A BIG mistake, in my opinion.

Are Rapala DT's cheap or expensive? Depends not on them but on you. And your definition of cheap and expensive. Regardless of which group one puts them in, they work.

Stained water-use the Junebug color.

Old fashioned ice pick is a good tool for trying to expand the tube. Cutting the tip off a blank is not without its risk of ruining the blank through splintering of the tip. You need very high speed, very fine teeth (or better yet a fine abrasive wheel in a Dremel tool) and very slow progression through the blank with the blank wrapped tightly with tape. On the tip of a blank I think a hand saw of any type is a big mistake. The tip is very fragile.

If you're willing to cut it and you are sure of your dimensions, it should work. If you come close but the tiptop won't fit I would work on the tiptop and not the blank. You can sometimes expand a tiptop by forcing a bodkin, nail, something just a little bigger than the tube into them. Or something just a little smaller and work it around to expand the tube. You also can, if you can find a very fine file, file the ID a little. It shouldn't take much. If I'm not mistaken those blanks have no finish on them, so if you sand it you will be taking off blank material and not a finish coat. I would not recommend it.