Michigander

They told us in school that any design could be "stolen" as long as it was changed in three significant ways. Significant being relative to the design in question and ultimately up to the judge reviewing the dispute.

Nope. The lake can keep what it takes. I don't care enough about any of my equipment to go in after it.

I tend to play the numbers when fishing. The more time my bait spends in the water, the better my odds. The less time my bait spends fouled or hung up while in the water, the better my odds. I get more unfouled, in-water time with a peg.

@OCdockskipper I think I was using the 1/32 head or maybe 1/16, can't remember what I bought when I stocked up to experiment. Maybe a head without an exposed hook would work but I'm not super motivated to try when I can just throw a micro jig or tiny tube.

Based on my experience with it on tools, I don't think I would add that to a rod.

Also check your trailer frame. Last year, we discovered that our frame was only held together by gravity and good intentions. Had to scramble to get another one but much better to discover in the garage than when the trailer collapses going down the road.

All I ever caught was weeds with a Ned. Abandoned it for more vegetation friendly presentations.

I use the fob controller instead of the wireless foot pedal on my Xi5. It is inconvenient in that I have to take my hand off the reel to make a course correction but it means that I don't have to deal with Motorguide's foot pedal which leaves a lot to be desired in response time.

If someone knows of a grippy coating, that would be fun to learn about. Thankfully this is just about replicating the look. ? I think the handle could be replicated by turning and shaping foam on a lathe, covered in the carbon fiber mesh and then coated with the finish that had white dye in it.

Ok, here's this week's rod. How would you do it?

I only put scent juice in the bag when the baits smell like a chemical factory. Other that I don't bother. And I typically don't rebuy whatever brand that was.

I would be interested to know if anyone else's winning jig combos also shared a common weight. Might be a way to kill some time as you wait for the winter to pass. ?

If I remember correctly, jig combos with a combined weight of 23 grams were the ticket in the central Michigan 2019 season. ?

Last winter, I was bored and spent an afternoon weighing baits and jigs. It was very interesting to see what the actual combined weight of the various jigs and trailers were. When I weighed the combos that were my top producers throughout the year, they were all within a half gram of each other whereas combos that didn't produce were heavier or lighter. It implied that there was a magic weight number for that summer because the colors and styles were quite varied.

Good for the rod? Certainly not. However, I don't have a problem boat flipping up to three pounders with basically anything stouter than a drop shot rod. This will probably come back to bite me some day but so far no issues. ?

I've got a jig skirt that's black and that rainbow hologram reflective silicone. Fun to throw in muddy water on bright days. I also tie ones that just have a couple strands of a bunch of different tabs, usually all the leftovers. They look stupid but they catch a lot of bass. I figure if it has all the colors in it, it's guaranteed to have a bit of whatever color they are keying in on.

There's also the hot water trick for taming the line a bit in the spool. Its mostly to keep line from jumping off the spool but I have noticed a tangible benefit from it for keeping the line from self tangling.

Yep, that was the information I keyed in on. If it was the shop's fault, the problem would theoretically be immediate and persistent. But the OP says it happens after a few casts and then returns later.

It sounds like line twist from the user.

And your nose hairs freeze on the first inhale. A crisp winter indeed. Wind-chill was -1 today.

Ive heard of many things being ordered from there. It takes 2 weeks to get across country (US) for some of my rod parts, I would not expect a fast package from Japan.

I have noticed bleed from chartreuse skirts. Those go (and stay) together. I picked up a Washi Tape Storage box from Michael's and it's perfect for keeping my tabs organized.

The size of the pigment in white paint is the issue with that. No amount of thinning will solve that problem. Its not that it won't go through the airbrush, it will, but you're likely to get the slight spattering look if you're doing anything other than base coating. To get a smoother coat, you need a bigger needle like a 0.5mm. I use white ink which has ultra fine pigment to do highlights or build a light transition layer to do candy colors or transparent effects. Ink allows me to use down to a 0.2mm for maximum control and smooth transition layers. Metals can also fall into this category because there is a HUGE variance in the size of the metal flakes from paint to paint. My preference is the Vallejo Metal Color series as it's simply the best acrylic metal paint I have ever used through the airbrush and I have used quite a variety at this point.

Sounds like the foam they pair with carbon fiber to me. That's how I would describe mine too.

Its probably the same arbor as in the 3.5 in rear grip. Though the butt section is hollow as far as foam goes. Both pieces have EVA molded trim pieces