MickD

. . . and to get the onion smell off your hands. . .

Here is a proposal I made in another forum many years ago. It never generated any interest from the manufacturers, but I thought it made a lot of sense. One can argue for differences in the values, but if all used the same set of values, it would make these discussions a lot more valuable. Objective CCS to subjective terms conversion proposal Michael Danek: Light: 201-300 grams 9.9 -12.6 ERN Medium-Light: 301-425 grams 10 - 15.8 Medium: 426-625 grams 15.9 – 21.3 Medium Heavy: 626-925 21.4 – 28.2 Heavy: greater than 926 28.3 - ?? Slow action: less than 50 degrees Moderate-slow 51-55 degrees Moderate: 56-60 Moderate-fast: 61-67 Fast: 68-76 Extra fast above 77 Right, DV. This is especially a problem with NFC since they have so many blanks, thousands of them. And they rate them differently depending on the "intended technique." A medium power drop shot blank will be much less powerful than a medium power spin jig rod.

The problem here is that the subjective descriptions are all over the map and don't accurately describe the power of the blanks. The St Croix SCVMF70 has a power of 17 and is called a medium power. The PB701MLF has a power of 19.9 and is called medium light. A Rainshadow walleye spin blank I have has a power of about 13 and is called medium light. The walleye blank was built into a BFS and does quite nicely there. The other two both work fine for Neds, tubes, wacky, swimbaits up to 3.8 inches, and twitching 5 inch super flukes. The SCV70MF is a great all around bass rod, as is the PB701MLF. Both handle smallies up to 5 pounds very well, but the 13 power rod feels underpowered fighting good sized smallies. Add in personal preferences and casting skill to the discussion, and quite frankly, one has to take the advice lightly. To me, the issue comes down to using the rod with the most power (and correct action) that will cast the light end of the lure range one is planning to use. And this will be determined best by experience and one's personal casting style and skill + his line choice. I also believe most of this marketed crap about technique specific rods is mostly just marketing. Rods consist of length, weight, power, action, and recovery speed + ergonomics, and while there are some specific technique "preferences," most rods can fish a goodly number of techniques just fine if they have the right combination of characteristics to cast well. But the bottom line on discussions around L, ML, M, MH, H, S, M, MF, F, and XF is that it is just noise in the system if one does not measure the objective power and action numbers of the rods/blanks. To measure recovery speed one needs to measure the True Natural Frequency, which also can be done quite easily.

If finesse includes tubes, small swimbaits, Neds, wacky, etc, the blanks I described are absolutely suitable for finesse. Maybe the description of finesse needs to be visited.

Depends on what your goals are. If budget is an issue, Rainshadow REV, 7 foot, medium/fast is very good and not too expensive. Next up would be the Immortal, length as you prefer, medium/fast or XF, as Alex recommends. But if you want the best, and you might find one still around for a bargain price since a new line is coming soon, would be the Point Blank 701MLF. Called a medium light, it has more power than the St Croix SCV70MF at CCS 19.9ERN/77AA. 77 Action angle is right up against what most XF actions are. I have two of these, and they are great, light, sensitive, responsive, rods. I build with Fuji KLH 20H-10H-5.5M, then two KB4's and 4 KT4's. Better than any other premium rods I have, and I have many other premium rods. Check GetBitOutdoors, they had them for $100 in stock recently.

I think most of the knots have at one time been deemed in someone's testing "The strongest knot in the world." For me, they all are strong enough. If I need more strength I'll go up a little in leader strength. My favorite for lures is the improved cinch knot. Easy to tie, reliable. For leader to braid I like the improved Alberto, improved with a double half hitch of the tag end set tightly against the knot. Never unravels, plenty strong, reliable. Double uni works fine on rods with normal guides, but I find it a little large to cleanly go through my size 4 micros. It is my opinion that most knot failures occur because knots are not set tightly enough when tied.

Many years ago we caught a lot of smallies on Johnson silver minnows/white pork rind-probably still would work. If no pork, a small white grub.

There is less tendency for braid digging in with BFS because the reels lay the line on with a higher angle AND drag settings are much lower. I've not had a problem with the Ark Gravity reel with 10 pound braid.

How many times have you read about a rescuer drowning along with the person he was trying to rescue? Happens all the time. The Red Cross life guard/saving course I took a long time ago instructed us to approach the person under water, grab them by the legs while still under water, and "climb" their body to the shoulder, turn them so you are behind them and quickly control them with an arm across their body . Being very scared of drowning they instinctively grab the rescuer if they can. And that is how two people drown instead of one. I too will not fish with someone who won't use a PFD. I've never had anyone refuse or try to refuse. I have an inflatable for my guests.

The Mustangs that I looked at on Cabelas are water activated. If one wants pressure activated they should be aware that apparently not all Mustangs are pressure activated. " I have had Cabelas water activated PFD's for years and only had one go off in storage. My boat got flooded. Normal storage in boat lockers will not set them off.

I retrieved one once using a bicycle wheel device, spokes cut off and bent forming a big device for snagging. Helps to have a camera device to find exactly where it is.

You are really asking how to tell its power. The best way is to measure its CCS numbers to find its power and action in objective terms. Once you are set up to do this it will take a lot of the mystery out of fishing rods. It may be done without disturbing the "packaging" of the new rod, so if you don't like what you measure you can take it back. All the talk you hear on this site about fast tip, soft tip, backbone, etc, is just subjective description which depends more on the expectations and inexact opinions of the observers more than they do on the actual characteristics of the rod. CCS is the generally accepted objective measurement system that the rod building community (mostly) uses. Some manufacturers are getting into supplying CCS data and there is a pretty good blank data base on line. Blanks, not rods.

I don't think you can beat the Fuji KLH guides. For most lines KLH 16-KLH8-KL5.5M- a couple KB's of the runner size you want, and then 4 KR's will work, but for versatility I go KLH 20-KLH10-KL5.5M, 2 KB size 4, then 4 KR size 4 + the Arowana tiptop. You can go bigger than 4's if you prefer and it still will perform well. The Fuji KR software places the reduction guides perfectly, and the two line static load test places the other guides. The two line test is better than one, easier to use, since the guides do not take the loading of the blank and don't come off. They also may be moved around without unloading the blank. AnglersResource.net Message me if you have further questions. I now have two of these rigged up all the time.

I doubt if you did this that you would then know if it helped or not. Just go fishing. I don't even remember how I have the spools oriented when filling casting reels. Probably has gone both ways, and I've never had a problem.

Can Google translator help?

Line is often formulated to be "manageable," so it's limper than leader material. Leader material is formulated to be tough, not limp, and its stiffness is advantageous in preventing the tangling of some lures (like blades) when casting them.

If one wants the most reliable leaders he will use LEADERS, not line. Whether mono or FC.

Good plan. The critical part is getting the extension and the current blank to fit properly, with a few inches of overlap. Mudhole.com has all kinds of grips, butt knobs, etc etc.

I use Solas on my 60 Merc and have no complaints.

This verifies that braid is more sensitive to abrasion but doesn't explain physically the reason for the early failures.

Thanks for the explanation. Makes sense. I've looped it over the scissors to get it to cut more easily, which provides the tension you need.

Then why does it take special scissors to cut it well? Regular scissors can't cut it but a stick will? I'm not trying to be a smartxxx;I'm genuinely interested in a logical answer to this question.

I like the emphasis on getting ALL the wraps tight. Which is very important, and also, which argues for NOT going with the idea that that more wraps the better the knot. Because if you do too many wraps you won't be able to properly seat all of them. And his early comment of the fact that the knot won't work if the braid does not make grooves in the knot is absolutely correct. If you don't believe it, tie a good FG then carefully cut the braid away from the leader. You will find the leader plastically deformed, grooved, from the tension of the braid.

https://batsonenterprises.com/rainshadow-rod-blank-ccs-data There is no industry wide agreement on correlation between CCS Action Angle and the traditional descriptors of action like Moderate-fast. The blank you mention has an AA of 72, which is slower than most blanks described as fast, faster than most blanks described as moderate, so I guess it would be considered by most to be mod-fast. I find that most blanks described as fast are in the 75 degree area.

I have not tested that Eternity on CCS, only a 7-2 medium power spin blank. The numbers for the Eternities are available-I'm not sure I have them on this computer, but I'll find them for you. Cutting 1.5 off the butt theoretically will lower power and make the action slower, but I'm not sure it's actually enough to find. I tested an UL spin blank at 7 feet and 6 feet and the power went significantly down and the action changed 2 degrees, not a lot. CCS can be done without that big 4 x 8 board by adapting a device to hold the butt to a vice for the anchor, then measuring from the floor for the two measurements. The AA can be easily measured with a level app on a cell phone.