MickD

I believe in order to close the loop properly with the heavier/stiffer leader materials that one has to tighten it hard like the FG. Twice through the loop with the braid sounds like a good idea, will try it.

Yes, lifetime membership. I had solved the issue of sticking the line tag through the wrong way, but still had a few that unraveled. Not while tying it, but after a few hours on the water. This looks like a lot better deal for $10 than the ring. Note the first review that said it works well for repairing plastic lures , too. Will try your method. I have found (in my chair) that after tying, and sticking the tag (braid) through the loop, and pulling it to start forming the knot, that when I get it fairly compressed, pulling on the tag end of the leader mostly closes the loop at the end of the braid "stack." Then I moisten and tighten the braid, then back to pulling again on the leader tag, then putting the big pull using the main leader and main braid. If the wraps of the braid are done right, the knot will be small and straight, with no leader loop open.

Finger saver looks like a great product, but pretty pricey. Being a member of the CHOF (cheapskates Hall of Fame) I just have to find something around the house with a soft surface that will grab the line like the saver.

Some of you may remember a time ago of my posting that I was having trouble with Albertos unravelling. I thought I had it figured out about a year ago, but then I got another this year. The problem is always the same, the knot unravels and fails with no force on it. The knot is not getting overloaded. I've spent quite a bit of time while watching TV tying the Alberto with 20 pound leader and 15 pound braid. I think I've finally figured it out. I have noticed that unless the knot is really set hard after tying, like you have to set an FG, that sometimes the leader loop at the end of the knot is not fully closed. This is probably worse the heavier the leader gets as it's harder to pull it closed. I tied a bunch of them setting them very hard, using a dowel to wrap the braid around to get max tension without cutting myself, and the knots all tightened up with no opening of the leader loop visible. I think the tag end of the braid on some of my knots was slipping out of the leader loop. Perhaps a couple half hitches of the braid tag end would help, too. Like the FG. Time on the water will tell. If you are having trouble with the Alberto try using a tool to set the knot very hard (while wet of course, and with the braid tag end exiting the loop in the right direction.)

https://www.rodbuilding.org/read.php?2,458796,458796#msg-458796 Take notice of the second post from one who is very expert on all aspects of rod building. Simple, easy peasy, not in the way when not using it.

They are loaded in compression while being retained between the blank and the seat and they are plenty strong enough. In fact many builders use only about an inch long section at each end of the reel seat on fresh water bass rods and have no trouble. I've never had a seat come loose ever, no matter what design seat or what design arbor. I believe this is the experience of most builders. The rods that are offered in big box stores often use cardboard for shims and don't use enough epoxy to keep water from the cardboard. No doubt masking tape done right will last forever.

I use the Supreme, not the XT, and mine is in its second year, used a lot. It's on a 7 foot Point Blank, and the combination is excellent. No drag problems. In January I caught a 45 inch cuda on another reel with a 12 pound max drag, so I think the max drag of the Supreme for most fresh water critters is fine. For $100 you would not be risking much. I don't think you'll find a better reel for that $$. If you want to up another $50, even better.

I have one, fished it for about a year, very fine reel. It has an anti-reverse switch, which I like. Not all reels have them and the manufacturers are not making it clear when their reels don't have one. Very smooth, drag is adequate for anything I'm doing. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for bones, reds, or cudas.

Building your own rods allows the option of adding a fastener for lanyards that can prevent losing another.

If your motor won't start instantly every time on the water, find out why and get it fixed.

Do a search for "simple spiral" , much easier to layout, performs as well as any other spiral wrap. Here is the short version: Lay out all the guides as if you are going to build on top. Rotate all the guides to the 180 degree position. You can be done here, but if the line touching the blank between the first and second guide bothers you, then add a very low guide (bend to get it as low as possible) with a ring size about the same as your second guide, half way in between the 1st and 2nd guide AT 90 DEGREES. All this guide does is keep the line off the blank, a function that some consider unnecessary. I spiral in the direction that will result in that guide and the reel handles being up when laying on a boat deck, so to the right for right handles, left for left handles. Some will do a stress test to see if they can get by with one fewer guides, but I don't. I've never seen where an extra guide hurt anything (I use Fuji KB/KT runners, size 5.5 ring). I guess it wasn't as short as I thought, once I added tips/editorials.

I tried the knot a couple times, just ended up with a mess that wouldn't tighten down cleanly. Might have done it wrong, but still see no advantage to this knot.

I think you lead molding guys, and maybe plastics molders too, need a support group which would communicate between you so you all don't have to buy all the molds. You could borrow. By the way, don't get involved in fly tying. It will just get worse.

I see no reason why the double uni or the Alberto would not work for this scenario. All you are working with are the ends, and those don't know whether the other ends are on a spool, reel, or loose.

This not what we normally call a double uni, not a clinch knot, and not a blood knot, at least not like the blood knot instructions I've seen. It looks like it will be very large, possibly larger than the normal double uni. It also seems to me that it should be wet when pulled together, and I think the tag ends should be "set" after tightening it, then the whole knot set again. Might make it less likely to unravel and might make it smaller. If this knot is in fact bigger than the normal double uni then I see no advantage in it.

I fish bottom finesse all the time in MI where we have tons of zebra mussels and break offs from them is seldom a problem. I think 6 pound test mono is simply too fragile for this kind of fishing. I usually use 15 pound test braid with an approx 4 foot 15 pound test FC leader. The leader is leader material, not FC leftover mainline. It seems stiffer and harder than mainline grade FC. I doubt if the braid is actually contacting the mussels, at least when under tension it is not.

I gather from your initial post that the seat is what is moving relative to the blank, right? The way to fix it is to get epoxy between the blank and the seat. Gluing the two parts together in that slit between them isn't ever going to work. If the rear grip is loose, the fix is the same. Inject epoxy into the space between the loose part and the blank, force the loose part into proper position, and hold it there with rubber bands or clamps or some cobbled up method that you design and test before you start. To do the fix drill two or three holes carefully through the loose part and to, but not through the blank. Then inject adhesive epoxy into the holes. You want to get holes that are 1/8 inch diameter or so, and you want a syringe that will fit to those holes and allow you to build up substantial injection pressure. Inject quite a bit of epoxy; you want to get a large area wetted with it. If it's unclear, please respond. Big box rods, believe it or not, often use cardboard shims between the seat and the blank, they get wet and lose their integrity.

The only reason I can think of for using a leader on FC is to save using up the main line when cutting off lures. Yes, as mentioned, a leader should not be stronger than the main line. You'd like it to break at the lure, not in the main line.

l think you did very well to only lose a tiptop. Are you familiar with the hook removal technique that jerks the hook out? Works great, but can be a challenge for the fisherman who doesn't have another person to help. I've done it when the "geometry" worked, alone, but that is not always possible. But if it can work, it beats the hell out of pushing a hook through then cutting off the barb.

One of the reasons for most going with light or ML power is that it will load properly to cast the light ned jigs. So walleye jigging rods will work well. Select a rod with the recommended lure weight that includes your intended lure weight.This will allow you to comfortably cast the ned. Use braid of about 10 pound test, with an FC leader, and you will have a very sensitive ned outfit. If you don't want to use braid, then use 6 pound test mono.

I thought you had it. So you not only broke the rod, but the line too. Glad I've never made a mistake like that. :-) Try to use the one that most closely matches the ring size, if you can. If you have to use a tube size larger than ideal, you can "shim" the tip of the blank with a winding of thread stabilized by epoxy to build up the dia of the blank, then attach the tiptop with hot melt. If you use epoxy to attach the tiptop, if you break its ring, you may not be able to get the tiptop off.

Fish don't think. They have a brain the size of a pea. What fish do is react instinctively to the inputs they get from a number of sources, affected by such factors as how long since the last meal, rising or falling pressure, water temp, season, color, and I'm sure many more that don't come to mind. I don't even think that "matching the hatch" appearances in the lures, at least for most fish, most of the time means much. I've found that for the immediate moment of fishing, with my taking my best shot at matching what I think they want based on all those factors above, the best thing is to match the motion and size of what they want. If the match is made, yes, a very small fish will take a very large lure. And it has nothing to do with a fish wondering "I wonder if I can handle this thing?"

You may be able to retrieve the blank material from the tiptop with heat and picking at it with a needle or similar tool. Or drilling it out. If you get the blank material out try the tiptop on the rod end. If it fits, use some hot melt to secure it. If it doesn't fit, stick a drill that is very tight to the bore into it and rotate the drill, trying to open it up a tad. Then hot melt it on. Also, if you can find a tapered "bodkin" or similar tool you can sometimes stick it in and work it around to open the diameter of the tiptop enough. If these don't work, any tiptop with the right ceramic ring size (they are measured by the OD, so a size 5 is 5 mm in outer diameter) and tube size will work. As stated above, the tube size is in 64/ths, so use use a micrometer or similar on the OD of the blank, or the drill trick on the tiptop to get the size.

Modern reels have an anti reverse bearing, which is a roller bearing that allows rotation in one direction but not the other. I guess it can look like a sleeve, but if you look closely, there will be about 8 tiny rollers inside it. The geometry of the races allows rotation in one direction but not the other. The geometry differences are not apparent visually, I expect. I was suggesting that if it were in "upside down," it might do what you are observing. I have no detail on your particular reel, but if you can recognize the roller bearing, and it's possible to turn it over, try that. But don't do anything drastic. You have not damaged the reel, so if you cannot figure it out get a pro to fix it. And consider it a lesson learned.

Is it possible the anti reverse bearing is installed backwards? As another mentioned earlier? Reels may be uncomplicated to some, but I find them too complicated to go further than just opening them up to lube. If I think the reel needs more, I get it to a pro.