Lead Head

Uh-oh... If you are trying to build the lightest rod possible, you might not want to bring "tip-heavy" into the discussion. Especially if you are wanting short(ish) handles. I have found (and this is just me) that a light "tip-heavy" rod is a better tool than a heavier "balanced" rod. Obviously application matters (tip up presentations vs. tip down) but even when building bottom contact rods I accept that light builds (especially on longer rods) will be at least a little tip-heavy. You will figure out what you like best as you go, just keep in mind that it is very difficult to balance a long rod with a short handle. I'm no pro, but it usually requires adding weight to the handle and anytime you are adding weight, you are definitely not building the lightest rod possible.

Even though I haven't used one in a few years, a t-rigged baby brush hog has easily boated more fish for me than anything else.

I don't remember the model number off the top of my head, but the 7' mh/f dobyns fury would handle that stuff pretty well. Its labeled mh/f but was a m/mf in my hands. Extremely versatile rod. As stated above, getting your hands on a few rods is ideal because you are in a area where several rods will work well and personal preference will matter greatly.

I agree, that's a good looking wrap. Look into locking wraps for the smaller guides. Some say they are unnecessary, and some swear by them. Look into how they work, and decide if you want to use them.

I hate cranks, but throw them quite a bit because the stupid fish eat them. Now I'll speak some bassreasource blasphemy... I absolutely loathe spinnerbaits. I'll use them, but rarely. I used them pretty much exclusively until I was about 20 and a friend taught me the magic of a t-rig. Now, when I'm throwing a spinnerbait it feels like regression. Between that and the monotonous cast and retrieve nature of the presentation, I'm miserable when I'm using them.

Its funny, I commonly refer to a rabbit hole when its actually a skyscraper sized sinkhole. I would hate to see the size of the rabbit that would come out of it.

Good luck. Looking forward to pictures of your progress. I hope you understand the massive rabbit hole you are peeking down right now. This stuff is addictive, I just ordered the stuff to build a Point Blank jig rod that I don't need. I'm building it for no reason other than I want to try a Point Blank. Before long, every rod you carry will be one you built.

Maybe it works for some people, but knowing how circle hooks work I can't imagine any scenario that doesn't see the hookup ratio drop drastically. When I say drastically, I'm guessing a drop of 75% or more. That is just a guess, its something I would never test. Circle hooks dang near need to be swallowed, and do not react well to hard hook sets. I have heard of people having success with single hooks like trailer hooks, but never circle hooks.

The real deal brazil tarp hat. Surprisingly, they are very lightweight.

I throw 3/8oz jigs on a NFC X-ray SJ-736 built into a casting rod. This is my favorite.

Any SV spooled Daiwa that fits your budget. I have never experienced a better tool for teaching beginners. If you decide to move away from it for chatterbaits after you get comfortable with a casting reel, it will make a excellent skipping reel.

A fast tip on a blank rated up to 1oz shouldn't have any problems setting the hook, even heavy flipping hooks. A 3/8oz jig plus trailer should be perfectly in its wheelhouse, with 1/2oz plus trailer right at its upper limit. If you want to go heavier, a stiffer rod will be a better bet. You might want one anyway if you plan to focus on 1/2oz, but that is up to you to decide. It should work for what you want, though skipping will likely take some serious adjustment. Like some of the others, I prefer a shorter (7'3") jig rod. I do know a few people who like longer, and it can be argued that longer is better for flipping and pitching.

Casting rods were built with fuji guides all stainless alconite 2 kw, 2 kb, and 6 kt runners. 10-8-6-5- if I had this to do again it would be 1 kw10, 1 kb7, 2 kb5, and 6 kt5 runners. Fuji ecs real seat with kdps hidden thread sleeve and fuji perfect fit components. Carbon fiber grips. Spinning rod is a sb-724 with a AT Aero seat, hidden threads (fuji perfect fit components), carbon fiber grips and a microwave guide set. I don't know the finished weights but I'll try to get them for you soon. I definitely wasn't as ambitious or dedicated as you when it came to keeping weight down, but they are extremely comfortable and light to me. Delta blanks are composite. Supposedly a mix of multiple modulious glass and graphite. They are great blanks for the price when on sale, and make excellent moving bait rods. I have a sj-706 delta built into a casting rod similar to those listed above and it comes in at 4.2oz. Not bad for a 1/4 - 1oz lure rated (NFC calls it a heavy, but it is technically a spinning blank) composite rod.

I have 4 rods built on x-ray blanks and love them. Another 4 on NFC delta blanks and really like them too. I do want to point out that (as far as I know) Kistler hasn't used NFC blanks for around 2 years now.

You will almost definitely need several coats with permagloss. It starts off super thin, and sets up super fast.

If you go with permagloss instead of epoxy, do some practice wraps on a scrap rod first. That stuff isn't super difficult to work with, but can be... unforgiving.

I have a MF rod with braid that gets pushed into crankbait duty from time to time. It works fine for me but isn't really ideal. I use a 14lb floro leader (sniper, about 5') and have landed several fish in the 8lb+ range (all drum). I personally get more distance and fewer backlashes (much easier to remove too) with braid, but my preference for cranks is straight floro or mono. I wouldn't even consider braid for cranks on any rod more powerful than a medium unless it was a moderate crankbait specific rod.

The best advice I can give... Go outside with your SV and start roll casting to targets. Use all the different rods you already own to help you figure out what allows you to roll cast the lures you want to skip. Focus on keeping your casts as low and flat as possible. When you are comfortable with nice low roll casts, the transition to a nice flat skip isn't super difficult. This is what worked for me (with jigs and t-rigs) but as always YMMV.

I like the telescoping pole with a screw on the end. "Frabil telescoping lure retriever" I think. Mine reaches to 15' which covers the majority of my fishing. If you are regularly deeper than that you're probably better off with a plug knocker.

When I first started using cranks I had similar problems. For me, switching to a lighter moderate-fast rod really helped solve most of my problems. A stiff fast rod seems to cause me to hang up almost instantly, a softer rod really helps me feel the cover without smashing into it and getting stuck. I grind cranks in rocks and through brush almost every trip out now, something I would have thought was completely insane 15 years ago. I still get snagged, but not nearly as often. As mentioned before, a good lure retriever will pay for itself in no time. After I bought one, it was making me money by my second trip out with it.

I honestly don't know much about them, but I would be surprised if you couldn't find something. I would just get the tatula before I bought custom parts for a pursuit, but that's just me. I tend to cheap-out on spinning reels. I'm currently using a couple of kastking zephyr (these also meet your needs cosmetically), but will upgrade to tatulas eventually.

Penn pursuit, or Daiwa tatula lt

Tom got it, Siebert Brush jig is exactly what you are looking for.

Let us know if/when they get back to you. I use Sniper for any and all fluorocarbon needs, including leaders. Haven't had any problems yet.

A few things about this knot. This is not a true GT knot, it is a simplified version of the GT. The true GT is a fairly complex knot used in the salt. It is my understanding that the knot tested was the true GT, not this one. I still have great success using this knot with fluorocarbon. It hasn't given me any reason to switch to something else. When I have to break off, I fail at the lure. That tells me that even if it isn't a 100% knot, its giving me over 100% of what my line to lure knot can handle. A tip when tying this knot. Don't cinch them up super tight before joining them (like the guy in the video), just snug the knots, then join them, then cinch the knots tight, then the joint. If you really crank the knots tight before joining them, you get way too much friction.