MickD

I don't even know what a Fortrex is. But one feature of my motor that I really appreciate, one because I'm getting old and not so nimble, but also for deep water fishing convenience, is the ability to deploy and store it from the remote, from anywhere in the boat. I didn't think this would be a big deal when I bought, but I now will never be without it.

I'll have to try Spiderwire Smooth 8. From what I've tried, some off-brand, Tough Line, Power Pro, Suffix, and Hitena Pureline, the Hitena is my fav, does everything well, very small diameter. Pricey, but like all Hitena products, first class. I use 21 for bones and barracuda + SMB/walleyes during the summer. I have a spool of lighter I have not tried yet, but the 21 acts like most 10's for casting distance.

OK, probably a dumb question, from one who has never taken a bearing apart or taken one out of the reel or cleaned one in place, who has just added a little oil now and then, what will I accomplish by doing the processes being mentioned in this subject? (I dunked a reel once and had it professionally serviced) thanks,

I would be VERY sure I knew what I was going to get before I would cut a blank, never from the tip, and why from the butt? You can simulate what it will be after the cut by taping on reel seats and guides and trying it out. I never cut a blank, better to find what I want without the need for cutting. There are thousands of blanks out there. I believe a ceramic saw would do it. When I've cut blanks to get repair pieces I've used a very fine toothed carbide tipped tooth saw on my table saw, taped the blank to minimize splintering, and moved the work on a jig through the saw VERY slowly. I think most builders use a dremel. What you want is ideally high speed, slow going through the blank, taped at the cut. Maybe those who do it more often than I will chime in.

Finesse. No doubt about it. You don't need the best for cranks, for ripping, for trolling, for top water, you want the best, meaning best sensitivity, for finesse. And use braid, and you will feel the heartbeat of the bass. (just a little exaggeration). But the best rod with braid is about as good as it gets for a technique that is a lot tougher without a great rod and braid. And the other techniques don't need this stuff.

The Z-man plastic, from which the Ned is made , is buoyant as opposed to sinking as with most salted plastics. On the right jig, the Ned will stand upright on the bottom. If Z-man minnows are rigged on a drop shot, the body will float up and look like a nose down feeding minnow. The buoyancy is the difference. Z-man plastics have to be kept separate from other plastics to keep from having them weld together into a big mess. I think the material is called Elaz-tech.

Lurepartsonline.com is a good one, lure making, fly tying, rod building, fast response, good selection, easy to use web site.

Most likely with lite builds you will have to use two coats. No problem for me since I usually have something to cut off after the first coat anyway. I like lite because I can get good looking shapes on my wraps easily, no footballs.

If balance is important then buy the most expensive, shortest, fastest action, lowest power rod that will do the job. And the lightest reel, most likely. The rod I describe will have the lightest material, a thin tip, a fat butt, less weight in front of the reel, and not a lot of material in it. I mentioned tip up because if the more the rod is up, towards vertical, the lower the torque moment generated by the "heavy tip". The torque moment is the highest at horizontal and goes down the farther the rod is moved toward vertical and horizontal. It's all in the physics. When the tip is vertical, as when noodling a worm or tube along the bottom, the moment is zero. Then it's just the weight of the outfit. (Exc for the moment induced by the reel sticking out from the spin rod. Another argument for the lightest reel) Yes, it's about personal preferences, but keep in mind that the rod builder/manufacturer has very few options that will significantly affect balance. Probably the buyer can affect it more than the builder by buying the lightest reel possible. The way I build my rods is to make them correct ergonomically for me and as light as possible. I will not compromise ergonomics for balance. As in moving the reel forward and risking having the butt catch on my clothing at the elbow.

Everything is tip heavy when you put a lure on the end of the line. The longer the rod the more tip heavy it's likely to be. For tip-up techniques balance becomes unimportant. IMO, balance is highly overrated. I just noticed a very high quality blank that I bought, 7 ft 2, med power, Xfast action, bare blank, blank weight 1.8 oz, latest technology, and its balance point is well ahead of where the fore end will be. So when I put on the guides and wraps, where do I put the reel to balance it? I will put it where it needs to be to fish right ergonomically, and it will balance where it balances. The options and "magic" are much less than what most anglers understand.

If those advocating 20 pound braid on a spinner try 10 or 15, they will find their casting distance go up significantly. If strength is more important than distance, then 20 is the choice. I fish mostly open water so strength above 15 isn't important. My Hitena 21 is on a Stradic 400 that I use for bones and barracuda where strength is more important. The Hitena 21 Pureline casts better than any other braid I've tried, like most 10-15 braids.

Grooving will not cause line failure. It is smooth. A crack in the ring will. Does it pass the Q-tip test? Also, this may not even be your problem. Does the tiptop pass the Q-tip test?

I only use 20 braid on spin when it is Hitena Pureline. Otherwise, with other braids, I use 15 max. It's all about casting distance with me. I admit to not having tried all the braids, but Hitena 21 is so small in dia that it casts very well.

MI has a state above it? I know about Ontario, but . . . Not for smallies! Not sure you have them, but up here I've cleaned up below 50.

March is the cruelest month of the year in MI. Just a series of broken promises.

"in shore implies saltwater near shore" As opposed to deep water or off shore or that kind of thing. In shore species are typically bones, trout, redfish, groupers, even sharks and a few more. But in the context of what the duty cycle on the equipment it, it is salt. If a reel is designated "in-shore" then it will not be magnesium, and it will be most likely better designed for exposure to salt, often sealed gears and drag.

4 of my last 6 smallies over 3 pounds came on maribou jigs I tied. For smallies the experts say black is best, olive is very good, now and then pink. I've not used them in good largemouth habitat, but they should work, and I'd start with black. I like maribou better than hair, limper, really enticing look in the water.

They are excellent rods, very sensitive (a quality that has no objective measure, it's all about feel and perceptions). Given equal power the lighter rod will be more sensitive than the heavier one. I doubt if you will find anything that will be significantly more sensitive. St Croix power ratings are a little different than most others. What they call a medium power, most others will call it medium heavy, or close to that. One of the most popular favorite rods on this forum over the years has been the SCV medium light power, fast action 6 1/2 feet (Ithink, maybe 6-8) or 7 feet. I've built 4 of the 7 foot medium power, fast action for me and my family, and they are our favorite rods for finesse fishing. If you don't like the grip ergonomics, you probably won't like the rod.

There is no need to get rid of your rods. There is essentially no difference between a salt water rod and a fresh water rod exc possibly the use of titanium guides on some more expensive salt rods. Even if you buy new "salt water rods," you have to treat them the same way, rinse and dry as mentioned above after EVERY day of fishing them. Even if your rods don't have the best corrosion resistant guides, if you treat them right it will take years for them to be damaged by salt. Reels are a different story, but still, if you treat whatever you have right they will last for years. The exception is magnesium. It will be attacked by salt very quickly unless it's designed for salt. I have used a Shimano Stradic FI for many years for a week of salt fishing and rinse it and dry it after every day, then when I get home I take the spool off and give it a good cleaning and lube, but I don't take it all down to replace all grease and oil, and it is doing fine. If you immerse your reels then I'd send them immediately to a qualified service person. But I see no need to simply sell everything and start over, unless you want to do it anyway. Once you use a lure in salt, don't put it back into the box. Have a separate box for the ones you use. Then you can wash and dry them at the end of the day. Most hooks will deteriorate very quickly after use in salt unless you clean them. Same for tools, like clippers, pliers, etc.

DVT is exactly right, if you just put a tiptop on, the action will slow, and slow a lot with that much gone. It will sort of resemble a broomstick. (an exaggeration, but it will move significantly in that direction). That will not yield a fishable rod, IMO. Good to hear Jimmyjoe tell how it broke, because from a pic like that I don't believe one can diagnose very well how the break was caused. You need a much closer, more detailed photo of the break area. It can be repaired to be quite fishable, as stated by DVT, but it will get a little heavier in the tip. And it will have a visible repair. This tells how. Before anyone argues that this process cannot yield a fishable rod, I have done it many times successfully. In one case I broke a rod for which I had CCS numbers, and when I tested for them again after the break, they came in unchanged. But the tip will be a little heavier. The closer to the tip the break is, the more the weight will be felt and the more the response time will be affected. https://www.rodbuilding.org/library/repair-oquinn.html

Depends on the details of the question. For casting, it is most important for the reel to be of high quality, with a high degree of functionality. For spinning, at least for bass as opposed to redfish, the rod is most important. Just about any $30 spinning reel will function well enough for quite a while. This is not so for casting.

If you have, or can get, a black maribou jig, give it a try. They don't cast a mile, but if you can get one into the area of a smallie, it most likely will get hit.

I thought CA had outlawed everything. My bad.

Think he would be knowledgeable enough to provide an answer that would be better than what this forum provides to the original poster?

Come on folks, it's not about performance. You can handle any differences in performance. It's about whether you want to, or think you can afford to, do the best for the environment. Make your decision.