Lead Head

Those look great, after sinking $100 worth of hats, I particularly appreciate that they float!

My buddy was fussing about having to bring his wife in to the ramp for bathroom breaks. I suggested he build a removable toilet seat mount to fit over his live well (he never keeps fish). Just pull the plug and run the aerator... he wasn't a fan. 

I have used both DC and SV reels a lot recently. In my experience, SV reels offer the most hassle free casting experience with the shortest learning curve of any reel, and it isn't a close comparison. DC reels are great and are more user-friendly than most standard reels. All of the reels mentioned above will serve you well, but in my opinion, a SV spooled Daiwa fits your requirements the best. I'll let others give rod recommendations, but will suggest you keep a eye on a rods maximum lure weight rating. Some MH cap at 3/4oz and others at 1oz. For the bigger fish and slop you are planning to target, I would suggest a rod with no less than a 1oz maximum lure rating.

For me, it's all about having that perfect amount of slack in the line.

@DaubsNU1 Yes! So lightweight I originally thought it was thin and cheap. Turns out, its thin and tough. Makes a terrific warm weather hat. Not very water repellent, and sinks pretty quick if you let it hit the water.

I probably average over 2 trips a week on the year. Most of the year, it's 3 trips a week (every other day) but about 2 months out of the year a combination of cold weather and rain will hold me back to 1. I work nights and the kids are grown, so I make the 30 minute trip to the river and get in about 4 hours from the boat every other day. I usually fish every day when on vacation (4 weeks total). So.... I'm going to guess 115+. I always tell my wife "I don't know how much I will have to fish before I get sick of fishing, but when I retire, I aim to find out."

We get upper 90° temperatures with upper 90% humidity in the summer. Of all the sun shirts I have worn (everything that has been mentioned except Simms and Salt life), Huk is noticeably cooler on the hottest days (to me). I use sunscreen on my legs and wear shorts. Huk makes amazing shorts, but Kastking are nearly identical and half the price. The 2 items I pretty much just can't go without are my hat and sunglasses. The hat is a Real Deal Brazil tarp hat. It is really lightweight and gives good protection with a wire in the brim so it can be adjusted however you need. I like this hat so much that the 2 times I have managed to sink one, the replacement was ordered before I left the water. My sunglasses are Costa, but there are plenty of cheaper options that will get the job done. I wear buffs on my head to compensate for my lack of hair, they keep sweat out of my eyes. I have worn Huk, Buff, and Kastking gloves. The Kastking have leather palms and longer fingers... I hate both features. The other 2 perform similarly and I like both. I will eventually try a pair of open palm sungloves, I suspect that is the way to go.

I use Sunline Sniper for leaders on spinning and casting gear. I would likely be happy with several alternatives on the spinning gear, but Sniper has held up better than anything else on big hooksets with casting gear (for me). The sharp rocks I'm in force me to retie so often that small "leader specific" spools are not attractive to me at all.

I use image shrink lite to resize pictures to post here, it's free and works. I started using the dumbed down freshwater version of the GT knot as a test a few years ago. The plan was use it until it gave me a reason to go back to the FG. Its not the smallest, but not too big either. I can pass 50lb 832 to 25lb FC sniper through size 5 guides without issue. It handles the shock of big hooksets well and the braid doesn't cut the FC. Has never failed on a fish, and when I have to break off it fails at the terminal knot as often as the leader. I guess you can say I'm still testing, but I haven't tied a FG knot in a few years.

If you are using superglue, the rizuto is just for show. Much faster to just tie 4 alternating half-hitch knots, glue, and skip the rizuto. However, it is entirely possible you can tie a ruzito faster than I can alternate 4 half-hitches... I'm pretty meticulous (my wife calls me slow but meticulous sounds better).

I have read of people using clear nail polish on the edges to hold decals in place. I have never tried it myself, so I can't say how well it works. I am always worried it will discolor over time. When I first started building on NFC blanks, I started putting down a thin layer of epoxy under my decals to give myself a smooth surface. After a few rods, I noticed most of my decal headaches went away. Now I always put a thin layer of epoxy under my decals on all blanks.

And I just noticed the info is already in the thread... disregard my sleep addled attempt at usefulness today.

I just move the crank to the left side of my spinning reels. It's far cheaper than buying new baitcasters. I cast with my left hand so this always felt natural. I'm right handed, and can cast with my right, but I hate reeling with my left.

Just thinking out loud... I wonder how a L or ML hot shot or drop shot blank would work for bfs? Typically, XF tips are also Xtra soft. Have any of you built a XF drop shot blank into a casting rod? If so, how did it perform?

They are marked down, and it takes a combination of 3 of the same modulious blank to get the 75% off. A few blanks are already marked down because they are new, and don't seem to count towards the stacking 75% off. They have decent sales pretty often, but this is about as low as they go anymore. Free shipping hasn't always been available with them, and I don't know if its permanent or not (I doubt it is) but they usually charge $30 flat. They charge a $10 excise tax at checkout for each blank in your order, so keep that in mind when looking at prices. Having said all that, if you are ordering enough to take advantage of 75% off or are wanting some of the new 7'3" MBR models, you get really good "bang for your buck" during this sale. Their Delta blanks are pretty amazing at the current sale price as well. They make really good moving bait rods, and even though they are composite I have no trouble feeling bites when I use one for bottom contact. Their carbon fiber grips are a nice bargain at sale price as well.

I can get 40lb 832 to a 25lb sunline sniper leader through a fuji 5 without issue. I'm still using the simplified GT for leaders. I'm not sure how those lines compare to what you're using though.

While I agree most anglers won't bother looking into CCS, it is a good resource for understanding how rods work. It's out there if you really want to see what's going on with different rods, and a search for CCS and AA will get you there. My apologies for failing to mention ERN.

If you really want to see the difference between fast and extra fast, look into CCS and AA numbers for rods. You will probably need to check on a rod building specific forum, but we have a few members here that are familiar with the process. One manufacturers fast might be another's extra fast. There most definitely isn't an industry wide standard, more like a industry wide "general idea".

I was going to ask if turning them sideways would solve the problem. I would guess that would cut into capacity a bit. Any idea how much?

My feelings on this- The fact that you didn't realize AJ has a YT channel (when you have probably actually watched a few already) says to me that he is doing a very good job of respectfully sharing his content as relevant information. It is always for our benefit, not his (thank you AJ). The fact that you can find it here, but only if you are actually looking for it says to me that the mods are doing a very good job of monitoring what is and isn't allowed. Overall, it seems like (and this is just my opinion) there is a bit of gray area here, and some case-by-case decisions have to be made. I feel like the mods are doing a great job allowing content, but not promotions.

I'm mostly alone when fishing, so I'm not competing with anyone. My wife will listen if I have a story to tell, but she really doesn't care if I caught any fish or not. So, fishing is ME time. I do what I enjoy. Sometimes I play games with myself like trying to catch a fish on every rod I brought, but that requires a level of cooperation from the fish that I very rarely see. I like jigs. I like feeling the contours and textures of the bottom. I like working them through rocks and other forms of cover. So, most trips start and end with a jig. Most of the time I'll throw 3 or 4 other lures in between, but not always. If they are eating the jig, I'll throw it until I leave... without exception. I'll need one of my other offerings to be getting absolutely crushed to prevent me from picking the jig back up. On slower days, I figure if I'm not going to catch many (or occasionally, any) fish, I might as well do it with something I enjoy.

I often spool just enough mono to cover the spool under braid. Probably less than 10'. I just want to make sure the line in contact with the spool is mono and will bite. I also tie the smallest (and usually weakest) junction knot that will hold tension. I want it to have the smallest footprint possible on my spool and it will never be exposed or stressed in any way. I usually try to have it lay on the opposite side of the spool from my arbor knot, I doubt it matters much, but it pleases the gremlins in my head.

If you're not regularly fishing from overgrown banks where bushes and overhanging tree limbs are a concern, get the 7'3". After you get comfortable with it any lost accuracy will be negligible, and added distance is always welcome from the bank.

Ah, sounds like a mb705 cut down 2". I read before that NFC made a few Kistler specific blanks, but can't confirm.

Just out of curiosity, what are the specs of that rod? Just wondering if it's a easy match to an existing NFC blank.