Lead Head

@Ravox I have zero issues fishing a t-rig (or jig) with a 6 speed reel. In fact, I can only recall ever missing 1 fish that ran at me so fast I couldn't catch up and set the hook. She was a big girl who smashed a frog and sprinted straight at me and under the boat... I was using a 8.1.1 reel and couldn't catch up to her.

Im similar to bluebasser. Anytime I try to slow down with a fast reel the second I lose focus or look away my spinnerbait is on the surface (or my crankbait is blown out). I personally do far better just reeling faster than normal when needed. My "do it all reels" are 6. For me, 8 is specifically for t-rig, jig, and frogs. I envy you guys who have no trouble keeping spinnerbaits down with 8 speed reels.

Ahhh... thats a thought. I know it was used for catfishing a little. I'll have to ask if a rodholder was used.

That is my line of thinking as well.

Rod has been used pretty heavily for over a year. Sudden failure on hookset in the handle area. All I can think of is possibly it was impacted or stepped on sometime before and failed later. I already did the repair, just wanted to get some educated information on possible reasons or problems to watch out for. Seems like a crazy place for a rod to break.

Oh I agree absolutely. I loved the blanks I stripped down and just really wanted to rebuild them. The time and effort it takes to strip a rod is astronomical compared to the price of a cheap practice blank. I did learn quite a bit in the process though, and ended up with a couple of rods I absolutely love.

Getting the reel seat off is the hard part. Watch videos and be careful. If you get into the graphite you will seriously compromise the blank. Too much heat will also destroy a blank. If you don't care about damaging the blank then use the heat gun and everything will come off easily. If you want a functional blank I would suggest not using the heat gun, its pretty easy to fry a blank with those. For guides, I apply light heat by waving a lighter under them. Very little heat, just warm, not hot. Be extra careful near the tip, it will heat faster. Slide a razor blade into the epoxy against the guide foot so there is no chance of getting into the blank. If you can get a piece of thread lose you can usually just unwind it all, it will cut through the epoxy. I do my scraping with a old credit card, or some similar thin piece of plastic. If a spot is being especially difficult I lightly apply heat then scrape. For stripping paint down to bare graphite, citristrip has worked well for me. It takes a long time (hours usually) but works and doesn't seem to harm the blank at all.

Years ago, when I worked at Academy, shimano wouldn't let them advertise sales. Shimano stuff would go on sale from time to time, but if you didn't happen to stop in (or know an employee who would give you a call) you would never know it. I'm guessing that stuff (shimano) being pulled from the website has something to do with a similar policy.

Sprinker frog or toad runner would be my choice for a weedless buzzbait type presentation. They aren't true buzzbaits but close, and about as weedless as you can get.

I'm a firm believer that battered, abused, and used Z-man plastics are more productive. Thats been my experience anyway.

For me its the baby brush hog t-rigged (with weight). It was my go-to for years but I didn't use one at all last year.

If at all possible, go to basspro or any other costa dealer and try on several styles. Take note of a few styles that you like and don't bleed any ambient light. Then begin searching online for those styles. You can often find Costas for $99-120. I know this is above your budget but this is one area I firmly believe is worth the cost. I strongly believe copper/amber green mirrored to be the best all around option for fishing (and in general). For me, the grey is only a little better in 100% direct sunlight and worse in all other conditions (cloudy, shady, early/late in the day). Again, I apologize for giving advice outside your budget, but it is the best advice I can give based on my experiences.

Standing in a flatbottom is one thing... Standing on a casting deck on a flatbottom something totally different.

When I was younger, it bothered me way more than it does now. I always had a spincast reel and beetlespins just to help avoid a skunk. Over the last 20 years, I've raised kids, lost loved ones, and just experienced life. Somewhere in that spann of time, I grew to just enjoy being on the water. Fish, or no fish, I'm happy and relaxed while I'm out there. I really do put a lot of effort into catching them, it just don't bother me much when I don't.

Not all MH rods are the same. Some have a 3/4oz top end, and others have a 1oz. Either way yours will probably work out, but a MH that tops out at 1oz would be about right and one at 3/4oz would be a little light. With the big boy hooks you won't get away with a half-hearted hookset, especially without braid. Just make sure you "stick'em good". Thats just my personal opinion and preference. As always YMMV.

Because for me, the permagloss has been less than bulletproof and its the butt section. Jury is still out on my experiences with cpxtra. I didn't suggest it was necessary, just that "if it were me". I'm still going through trial and error in all this stuff and was just sharing my thoughts. Many of you have been at this far longer than I have. I really appreciate when you question stuff like this and give your reasons why you would do it differently. It helps me learn more.

I really like a uni knot for braid to lure, twice through the hook eye. I think people call it the fish-n-fool.

I understand the desire to experiment. I'm just simple.

If you really want to paint, you can use citristrip to strip the area you want to paint. This will get you down to bare graphite. Then use automotive paint (uv protection and flex, not that the butt section will flex much). When the paint is dried, cover it with permagloss or cpxtra. I prefer cpxtra as it has a bit of a longer pot life. For a butt section I personally would follow all that up with a thin coat of epoxy.

I pretty much just use a fuji ecs on everything. Its pretty vanilla but super practical and comfortable for me. A reelseat is not something I want to dislike because replacing one is a nightmare.

For me, its easier to speed up. When I'm making myself slow down (with moving presentations) the instant I lose complete focus I find myself reeling too fast.

You could always try using 5" grubs for your a-rig. I know Kalins sells them in black.

I use 30lb 832 a lot. Most of the reels I keep it on I run a pretty tight drag (far tighter than most here would recommend). Anytime I actually get into the drag, ill strip line to make sure I don't have a dig in and clear it if I do. If I'm fishing something that can cause a less than tight spool of line over time (senko, t-rig) ill cast out and tighten the line from time to time. Overall I baby-sit 30lb braid less than I do fluorocarbon, and about the same as mono. Regular PP is more square than 832 and that may be contributing to some of your problems. I can't speak to that because I have always used 832 for any braid needs below 50lb.

Cheaper to just have multiple spools to switch out instead of entire reels.

@Delaware Valley Tackle I've heard of that. I just tried it in hand and wasn't crazy about it. Maybe new time I'm on a spinning build ill mock it all the way up and check that out. Too many people like it that way, I need to give it a better shake.