Michigander

When it's all put together on the blank and it's smooshed (industry term) it kind of just works. At least it did for me. I had to ream out the right amount so it wouldn't be forcibly over or under expanded.

Mine fit fine after reaming.

I was kayaking at night one time and got swarmed by otters. Had never actually seen an otter until that point, so until I figured out what was going on, I was really on edge.

Correct me if I'm wrong people who have built the G2's but my understanding is that they sleeve into the hollow open ends of the exterior handle parts giving the end parts stability and protection.

Sure, I just wanted to point that out for a future reader because I believe the G2 checks are also functional/structural rather than purely decorative. I'm also a fan of the rubber/silicone ones. I don't care to spend the money on aluminum ones, that starts to add up fast, especially on the skeleton handle split grip setups that I favor.

I thought for the G2's, they had special winding checks?

I don't remember what brand mine is but I liked the colors and it fits well. I don't think it matters what brand.

Also Glacier Gloves. All other ones I tried were too tight on my big head.

It's inspired by real fish!

If it floats, splashes, wiggles, and has hooks on it then it'll probably catch fish. I caught my fair share on the Banjo Minnow too, lol.

I feel like the answer to this needs to be stickied. Comes up often enough.

Sustained windy and cold in these parts. I turned the heat back on the other day.

My friends and I go gillin' and grillin' a couple times a year. Always a delicious endeavor.

From my experience they are ok but tend not to be refined as much. Longevity isn't there from my experience either. They all got retired after a single hard season but my Daiwas and Shimanos are still strong after multiple years. I fish quite a bit and the cheapies just couldn't keep up.

It's more about the instant startup for lighter line than the size of the fish. When you have 6lb test and a heartbreaker grabs your bait, that's not the time to discover your drag needs coaxing to kick in. ?

Oh yeah, there's some skinny launches up there!

I can get my TR-21 in about a foot of water if I lift the trolling motor and manually hold it just under the surface. Huge PITA, but sometimes I decide that I will not be denied.

I built on one but haven't fished it yet. I chose it because I think it's the same blank as on my favorite swim jig rod that had to be retired on account of some unfortunate circumstances. It's one of the LS series so I don't know anything about the normal ones.

I usually move the tip down and then up quickly but lightly enough that the resistance of the line/lure can stop the rod.

Been a cold and windy year so far. It's like the weather can't quite get out of very early spring.

Oh gotcha. Yeah, it was pretty rowdy out there for sure! We maxed out the water in our livewells to try and compensate the best we could.

I hadn't heard there was a lot of floaters. Maybe had something to do with how deep the majority of the fish were. We weren't set up for ledge fishing out there in those conditions at all so we went Michigan style and turned in a bunch of smallmouth that were hanging out in ten feet, lol.

Was down at Kentucky Lake for the Triton Boat Owners tournament a few years ago, and after a totally awful practice day (flat tire, needed emergency engine killswitch, blew half the oil lines on the motor, rough water, etc,) went back to the cabin we rented and we're greeted by this. Thankfully, after a moment of horror, we realized that this was the one next ours and not actually the one we were staying in. Property owner said that local trees just fall over sometimes due to poor soil or something.

Correct, totally unnecessary if there's nothing there.

I've been using Glacier Gloves brand for several years now, like them a lot.