MickD

I don't think it's a problem, but it's easy to coat the cork with some kind of sealer, like Permagloss or waterproof polyurethane before using the hot shrink tubing. Make sure the gaps to the seat and any other components are treated with the sealer.

Fill that big gap formed by the chunk falling out or the hot shrink will shrink into it leaving a soft flat spot. Plastic wood or any other fairly solid filler will work. The heat shrink will protect it.

I would call it a healthy obsession. When I first hold that finished rod in my hand, I get a very good feeling. Has to be healthy.

If you go with the cheapest materials you'll most likely get a cheap rod. That would be bad quality cork, no-name real seats of questionable quality, and blanks probably not consistent with their specs, possibly crooked. The name brands have survived because they provide and back up good stuff. I would not purchase from Ebay unless you know the source is good. A guarantee is only as good as the person or company standing behind it. And what good is a warranty when you've put many hours of labor and many bucks into tools to make the rod that just broke. You might have a good warranty, but it still means you have rebuild, probably replacing some parts on your dime. The best way to avoid this is to go with sources that have a great reputation, and there are a lot of them. But they may cost you a few bucks. Rod building is about getting what you want, right down to the minute details. It is not about saving money, although you can, with good choices, save some money at times. it's also about having innumerable choices in design, color, components, guides, blanks. About the only down side to making rods is that it is addictive. Which in my view is really not a problem. One can not have too many rods.

I have experience with at least one FC mainline that is very fragile and untrustworthy. I have used a number of FC leader materials and fly tippets and all have been good. Same for mono leader material. I also have used other FC mainlines for leaders without problems, but I have more confidence in the leader material.

Leader material, FC or mono. Stiffer is good for the leader, especially for some techniques like blades. Cost for such a low usage item has to be minor compared to everything else.

3 around finger means 6 "layers" of the leader. That is not a small knot, it's bigger than a double uni, so won't work with some leader/braid/guide combinations. I've made the Alberto work and it's a much smaller knot than this one. thanks, but no thanks.

Everything that Daiwa makes is a good value, IMO. But Pflueger has a Supreme that gives Daiwa a serious run for the money, retail $99.95, very light, saltwater capable, smooth drag, bail operation is excellent, very smooth.

Sometimes ergonomics is more important than balance, as it seems to be here. It was when I built a spin rod with too long a grip, too. I cut it off, fit a piece of cork to the end, and flush mounted it, no dowel as DVT recommends. Dowel would be better, no doubt, but I'm just pointing out that my fix is still good after about 10 years. Advice on how to cut is to be taken seriously as it is very easy to splinter modern rods. High speeds, fine teeth or an abrasive cut-off, taping the blank to help prevent splintering, moving the cutting tool very slowly are all important.

Dogfish? I think when rods get broken by fish (rather than car doors, being stepped on, etc) it is due to some sort of misuse by the fisherman. Whacking it onto a gunnel setting it up for later failure, high sticking, things like that. For me, whacking it on the gunnel will most likely be how I will break one. If it's due to a manufacturing defect in the rod, it will break early on rather than after a number of years.

Great work. I really think the ergonomics of the star wars rod, with the front grip going off the hood of an uplocking seat, and about the same diameter as the seat hood, will be very good. The front grip becomes a ramp. I do it on bass spin rods and like them a lot better than any option I see here or on other forums. For me the size 17 seat is right.

Don't worry about it, use what works best. For lighter leaders the FG has no real advantage anyway; all the popular knots with light leaders will pass through the smallest micros. And most if not all take less time to tie.

Yes , trash, specifically annoying are the cigarette butts. It's so easy to keep a little plastic container in the pocket and put the butts in there. 2nd are the bait containers. I have a small stream going through my property and keep it posted. If someone asks to fish it I give them the definition of trash: ANYTHING that they brought with them and didn't take home with them. People have been very good when I can talk to them before they go fishing.

Watch for looseness or "play" as you rotate the wheels, too. Pull on one side of the wheel while pushing on the other to see if it moves significantly. There should be very little play. When rotating you should feel NO roughness. It should feel absolutely smooth. If you feel a roughness it means the bearings are spalled, a cratering of the races that is often how bearings fail. If there are grease fittings give them a shot of grease. If not you can pry off the covers to see if there is grease in there. Jig man has it right; I thought a little more description would help.

Right!

Live river shad and the Iconelli green "Smash" are my fav's, just got a Helsinki shad, a color that is very good on other SMB lures in clear water.

Here 'tis

I can't believe how complicated everyone is making this. With a few pieces of hardware and a few pieces of treated plywood on can make, even on the lund 16.5, reasonable platforms that allow one to get out onto the trailer frame and the platforms to pretty easily get the boat onto the trailer. I'll take a pic and post it. No need to relocate anything. Depending on the ramp angle, one might have to step into a few inches of water or crawl up through the back of the SUV, or onto the load floor of a pickup. Not rocket science.

This is why I don't take a new reel apart. Or an old reel except for just "looking in" and oiling what's obvious. I've never had a reel out of the box that didn't perform well, and they are just too complicated for an amateur to go very deep. Seems like many on the forum think that the manufacturers send a lot of defective stuff that needs to be fixed before fishing them, and I don't agree. I had a buddy who did this up in Canada, never got it back together right. Took it back under warranty, which was a scam. Buy it, fish it, lube the easy stuff now and then. When it needs more, send it to a pro.

One of my really good days was in clear water, big water, and about 3 feet deep. We were very busy for about an hour with casting and working the DS back with white super flukes about a foot up from the sinker. It works in any depths for keeping the lure a set distance from the bottom. SMB

I have used a 7 foot ML mod/fast action rod for these lures, and I love it for it's ability to get the action I want on the lure, snapping them off the bottom, a little like fishing blades. However, I've had hook set problems, fish on for 4-5 seconds then gone. I think the fish were holding onto the lure for a few seconds, and the rod wasn't capable of getting good hook sets. I went to a faster action more powerful rod and hood sets got better. Go too heavy though, and it won't give good snapping action (if that's what you want). I think a med power Xfast action will be the best, with the light tip giving the lure good action, then setting through the tip using the butt power for the set. I'll know better later this year.

Rod building wrap epoxy is a whole different animal than the structural adhesive epoxies. Wrap epoxy is really a casting resin and it is clearer and levels better than "hardware store" products. I doubt if anyone can get good looking wraps from the hardware store products. That is exactly what I did and have used it for many years. The chuck I cobbled is a tuna fish can with 4 small bolts through the side of the can with rubber bands to grab the grips.

That's what I have, didn't recognize there was a difference.

Now you see what rodbuilding is about, two experienced builders taking you in two different directions. Both will work, but I still maintain, as fuji does , that that first guide needs to be higher in order to be optimum. Not so much about size, as it is height. I agree that the PTS is a very good seat, I just thought the one you chose was easier to build. A turnkey kit may be the best way to start. I always encourage beginning builders to start with an affordable build, not with a really expensive one. With most of us, we got better with every build for quite a while. Better to learn on the less expensive stuff.

I've used my side scan on a very weedy lake and have never seen a fish on it. Great coverage of the weed lines, etc, but I've not seen fish. Maybe there have not been fish as it is a very tough lake. But I think its value is mostly to analyze the cover and structure. I'm interested in the response of others more experienced with side scan.