MickD

Me too. But it is so rewarding when the project is over and I see that beautiful rod completely done and ready for action.

usually

The weight shown is the weight of the product, not the package + product, not a big difference, but to be precise. . . I find myself with a lot of time to nit-pick. ?

Best way to check a scale, IMO, is to buy a gallon of water, take it to the meat dept and ask them to weight it for you, then test your scale against it. Will be a about 8-9 pounds, it's well into the scale range, about even with all the bass you catch. :-) I use a Rapala which tested about a tenth of a pound off, forgot which way, close enough.

I had a finder problem, and in the process broke my flimsy Lakemaster micro SD card (why Humminbird would use only micro slots in their newer finders is beyond my comprehension), so wanted to get opinions on whether to replace. I didn't think the Lakemaster was much better than the base map. There is a hump in Lake St Clair that was the only thing that it had that the base map didn't have, IMHO. I'm thinking I will not replace it with anything and rely on Auto Chart + the base map. thanks to all for your comments.

Is there a better mapping card to get than the Humminbird Lakemaster for a Helix?

I have never found it necessary to trim a blank, and would never trim a tip, because with the thousands of blanks available, I've never had to risk trimming. Just doesn't seem prudent to start cutting a $100+ blank that a company has spend many hours of highly talented people's time to perfect. I know it has worked to your satisfaction, but wouldn't like to give newbies the idea that the process is without risk.

I've settled on some 2.75's, too. Sweet spot , I think.

Somewhat true, although I have experienced having to go down from a 3 inch tube to 2 1/2 to catch them. Just didn't want the bigger tube.

Why would I abandon the rig that caught my PB smallie in 2019? Not I.

the only guides I have ever had that grooved were cheap ceramic tiptops. So I use premium Fuji SIC tiptops on all my builds and replacements now. No grooving so far, and it's been quite a while since I switched.

There used to be lakes in MI, probably still are, where it's illegal to use scent. I believe it works, but most of the time forget to try it. I plan to do a little "rigorous" research on it this year.

For some reason, the pin was still out or the cylinder would not have gone off. Is the pin accessible to feel or see what its position is? I found on one model that the shear pins were so weak I couldn't get them to work, finally used the rubber tapered pins that are used to pin bullet weights in place. Has worked for years, still will shear as they should (test the system before trusting it blindly).

Sometimes the fish is just too quick/fast to respond by back-reeling. But I use the switch often to get my lure to the keeper without using the drag, which if used creates too much tension to do the job easily. I do both back reeling and drag fishing, depending on many factors. I challenge someone who thinks he can back-reel for all situations to try it on bonefish, barracuda, and most other salt water fish.

It doesn't matter with a baitcaster being filled from a rotating spool whether it comes off the top or bottom. just not the edge of a stationary spool.

Where is it breaking? If at the knot, it could be your knot. If not at the knot, it may be a cracked guide or tiptop ring is damaging the line. Use a Qtip and twist it in the ringss-if one is cracked it will catch the fuzz on the Qtip. So many on this forum have used Big Game successfully, I don't go along with the "bad spool" theory, although mono doesn't age as well as braid, so should be changed more often depending on how often it's used. If new Big Game is breaking, it's more likely something about your equipment or techniques in handling it.

My son always said that the Neds take the smaller fish. I argued that the Neds take all the fish. A Ned won the biggest bass in a Lake St Clair tourney a few years ago. My PB smallmouth came on a Ned. My son has caught some really nice ones on Neds, and now admits I was right. Up here they take smb, lmb, walleyes, pike, rock bass. . . We do fish them on what are probably cleaner bottoms than others farther south do. Mostly rocks and gravel. Some sand.

I guess I havn't noticed wrap or epoxy problems on KB's and KT's down to 4 mm. Now that you mention it I probably will. :-)

I would also make sure the level wind pawl is properly engaging the worm gear. This and excessive end play, which is adjusted by the knob on the side of the reel, are my best bets. It is hard to believe a new reel will have problems with the gears. I wouldn't return it without having a knowledgeable person look it over and check it out. There is probably nothing wrong other than the possibilities mentioned, which are not defects. Let us know how it is resolved. As LoganS's first comment-

I use locking wraps on all my single foot guides, the little ones because their feet are so small and the high ones because they are easily snagged on stuff. They really do provide extra resistance to damage. And when you get practiced, they are a piece of cake.

I didn't describe the next to last process correctly. What you do is to start your wrap on the blank without the guide in place exactly where you would start it if the guide were there. When you get the wrap to the point where you want to start wrapping the foot, you place the guide so that your next wraps will be well up the foot of the guide. After you get about 5-10 wraps, carefully slide the guide into its final, desired position. It's a little tricky, but with practice and the right shaped guide foot it works fairly well.

All the really small guides are a challenge. Different builders use different techniques. One is the stretchy thread, tie the foot to the blank with a square knot. Another is to use the tiny O rings. Another is a dab of the hot melt cement designed for setting guides (problem with this is that it doesn't allow easy guide movement during a stress test, and might leave a little residue on the blank), rubber bands designed for dental braces. Another is, after you know exactly where the guide will be located, is to start wrapping up the foot a ways, then slide the guide carefully into its final positon with the first 20 or so wraps being slid off the foot leaving enough wraps on the foot to hold the guide for final wraps. Another is tiny strips of masking tape.

Nope, I don't own a Lowrance product any more, so. . .

I haven't gotten two of my newspapers since March 6, took me almost a week to contact the national one, have not yet been able to contact the local one, still not getting either. It was really nice to be in contact within a couple minutes with a real Humminbird person who could make things happen . And she did. So while not perfect possibly, so much better than anything else I've experienced lately.

U40 does not make the cork slippery. In fact it makes cleaning easier so the fish slime comes off leaving the cork in a very nice condition. And not slippery. I submit while you cannot get really nice quality cork on factory rods, you can get cork rings of fine quality if you make your own grips.