KCFinesse

I stock a bunch of Pac Bay minima guides in 4 and 5 as generic runners (they run slightly larger than others). I do keep a stock of stripping guides as well... On my store bought rods, I always seem to break inserts... With the swaged inserts I don't have that problem. I like the minimas because they are light, work really really well in non-braid applications, and are cheap to keep an inventory! I like having some extras around to be able to adjust sizing and spacing during load tests. If I'm building for a customer, braid use is usually one of the first things I ask for that reason. -Jared

I cheat. I usually keep my tip wrap really small and bobbin wrap to the base of the tip only. Any extra strength added is just from the finish bridging the wrap to the tube. I'll keep it one color, and really only do enough to lock the thread down and add a pull through (<12 wraps). Much more than that and it's not reasonable to pack neatly or use a bobbin. It's almost like a nail knot trim band, but I usually find using that method a bit fiddley... -Jared

So for the Nanahan folks- are you fishing these as a slow floater or are you modifying them? Thanks! -Jared

I'm stocking up for a Table Rock trip in early December- has anyone fished the MRs? I'd like some smaller jerkbaits, but I'd be worried that the SPs just don't get deep enough for that lake. -Jared

Fishing time > 2-4x drive time (both ways) I'll do 2.5 hour (each way) day trips occasionally but that really starts to stretch it. I will do some dumb things for dumb fish ?‍♂️ -Jared

Stay in that zone for four straight days...

I've used the Tokyo rig a lot as a dragging bait for smallmouth in clear water (I think you can fish it a lot like a biffle hard head). Basically any time I want baits on the bottom quick and staying on the bottom. I've been using texas rigs when I want a slower fall or glide out of the bait. -Jared

Pad crashers are a pretty solid choice... They cast ok, they walk ok, have an ok hook up ratio, and they do a reasonable job of pushing through mats. To me, I judge my choice of frogs based upon those four criteria. Some other options certainly do those things better. To me, I try to check the first three boxes and judge my frog choice at any given moment by how much 'umph' I need from my frogs to push mats/break through weeds without being too obnoxious. A lot of times, you really can't walk really really heavy mats so that may not as matter as much in some instances... Popping and 'running' frogs are a little bit of a different ball game. I fish the live target frogs a lot (I don't like other live target baits, but the frog is great), I fish the Booyahs some, and I throw some spro frogs. In the nasty thick crap I've liked the big terminator walking frog. -Jared

Thanks everyone! I was talking about that piece to a friend and couldn't remember if it was a serious piece or not.

There was an article within the past few years about a mysterious bass angler who seemingly appeared out of thin air in Texas (?), fished with a couple of pros who thought he was a natural, and won some tournaments throwing jigs on a spinning rod, only to disappear again.... Does anyone have any references online to this article or know when that article was issued? Thanks! -Jared

NFC sb722 acid wrapped with chrome pack bay minima guides. I fish straight flouro with it so the minimas work for me. It makes for a good ned, extra light neko, and small keitech rod. I did a marbled silver 'Galaxy' with some green and purple flake between the fade wraps. Pictures don't capture all of it! Thanks! I like it. it's pretty ? -Jared

It's 'storm' burl cork- I likely got it from hff custom rods or fugu. I'm a sucker for burl cork ?

I went a little crazy with my 'finesse universe' rod (kinda cosmic bowling ish)... They're meant to be fun- have fun with it ?‍♂️

I prefer the Alps mvt seats. They just are a little bit sharper looking and slightly more comfortable, but are more expensive. The ecs seats are awesome- I mostly build with them.

For how many 2s are in that lake a 2.5 can be huge!

I'm sure someone who builds more than I can speak more intelligently on this- but at some point, quality full corks are going away. It seems like the real cork market has been going crazy of late! I'd think the production rod market will start headed to lower quality carbon fiber and split grips almost exclusively... -Jared

So I built this as a BFS rod, acid wrapped it, paired it with an Aldebaran and run mostly 6lb flouro with it. This blank is super sensitive and has the right amount of backbone to effectively fish finesse plastics on the bottom. I'll fish it down to 1/16oz neds but I do prefer 3/32 or 1/8 oz for this set up. I've also been using it a lot for neko rigging small plastics and split shot rigging- that really seems to be it's wheelhouse. Again, I fish it with 6lb test- I've had zero issues with breaking off- it's close, but I do think the rod may be better running 8lb. I'd have no issues fishing a keitech 2.8 or 3.3 with a 1/4 oz head. It's a great blank and it's not a gimmicky bfs build. It is a legitimate bass finesse rod. -Jared

Central Iowa can be a little tricky I think- I used to fish the skunk river a lot when I was in school. At that time there were a lot of 12" fish but I did find a few pushing 4lbs. That river has changed a bunch in the past 15 years though. I would think there's some quality fish in the Des Moines River (there's a bit of everything it seems in there), but I wouldn't think the numbers would be super high. I've always heard about river fishing towards the northeast part of the state as well. Good Luck! -Jared

I am all for having fun with it! Good work! -Jared

For a while it seemed like mid level $100 - $150 rods had really good lifetime warrantees such that building rods for that cost didn't make as much sense. The trend seems to be moving away from that these days and is making building rods a little more favorable than it use to be. IMO -Jared

Thank you, sir! I about pulled my hair out several times on the fade wraps... You'll love that blank. I built one for someone and liked it so much that I immediately bought the cb72/6-12 for myself as a wiggle wart rod.

I built myself an all purpose spinning rod out of a custom rod components CFX medium-fast blank and love it, especially as a less expensive option. I have not had a ton of luck with NFC from a durability perspective. I have a couple I love, but I've also blown a few up when I didn't think they should blow up from regular bass duty. -Jared

Great minds think alike! I just finished a ml spinning rod for myself. Because of elbow and wrist issues, I wanted to give the aero seat a shot! -Jared

This is why I wonder if the spindles themselves are bad ?‍♂️... The stainless really shouldnt rust unless there's a bad overheating problem, but the rust was on all four spindles to some extent and I have yet to throw a bearing...

No chance- ranger 185 (18-1/2'), previously on a single axle, but now on a tandem... The trailer was made specifically for the boat by the trailer manufacturer.