Thread: Braid or Mono

Originally Posted by The Lip RIPPERS

How ya been Hat? Nope dont grow em in bales. I'm trying the grafted tomatoes this year.I'm also thinking about grafting black\white crappie too!

Leland, Put me down for a dozen tomatoes and two dozen of those grafted crappie!! Been well, how are you guys doing?

Welcome back Leland! As for braid, I used it on two custom rods that Leland made for me specifically for tightline jiggin. Drag is set so that if I get hung up, I wrap the braid around the handle a couple of times, position the rod tip towards the water and either pull the jig out or break the line without putting any undue stress on the rod itself. Both rods have broken, one due to my ignorance of closing a livewell lid on it the night I picked it up from Leland. The other was stepped on by another person in my boat that weakened the last eye and the tip and I didn't find out until the first time I set the hook on a fish and the crushed area of the graphite collapsed. I used my dikes to clip the damaged portion of the rod off and have been using it like that ever since. Even damaged, it's my favorite go-to rod for verticle jigging.

Leland, let me know if you start building again. I'd sure like to have one that's had your touch on it with no outside adjustments from live wells and friends.

As for braid cutting the rod creating damage, those of us who use braid dang well know how often it will tie a half hitch out of nowhere on the tip area of the rod. Drag settings will not help if this is the case. If the user does not notice the half hitch, and tries to set the hook, or break off of brush, the braid is going to damage the rod if the pressure is hard enough. Thus, a half hitch causing damage would be customer error for not noticing the issue and putting undue stress on their equipment.

There are those who will man up and admit the real reason a rod broke and there are those who will cry and whine about their rod breaking when it was their fault to begin with. Not saying there are not defective rods out there. I once had a B&M I bought from Nabatak and within the first couple of hooksets, the thing broke in half near the coupler. Nabatak traded me out with no issues. If I would have damaged the rod somehow, my conscience would not allow me to return it. Right is right, and wrong is wrong fellers!

You said it all Reaper!

You on the money Reaper!! Right Is right, and wrong is wrong!

Hey Reaper, how you been up there? I'm still tinkering around with rods I'll make rods until the day I'm gone I guess. Send me a pm or call me either way....u got my number?

Originally Posted by The Lip RIPPERS

Hey Reaper, u got my number?

Not no mo, how's sissy?

Leland, do you still sell rods?

Originally Posted by Crappie Reaper

Not no mo, how's sissy?

She's been down with Broncitis for awhile, she's all better now.