Gator

I suggest that if the goal is truly to restore lake trout, then the largest impact could be realized by outlawing Gambler Rigs

All of our wire diver rods have always used Twili tips. We love them.

Indeed! AFC at Bills Stadium would rock. Did you hear that crowd last night? I can't believe that 6,700 people made that much noise. Really got to them in that backup situation at the goal line. 12th man!! Go Bills!

12" is a nice crappie. There will undoubtedly be lots of smaller fish to feed the seagulls as guys weed through them to get there. Not every one that gets released dies, but not every one survives, either. If nothing else, the scientist in me says it's an interesting experiment. But slot limit management techniques have been proven effective over and over, I don't get why they aren't used more. Keep your 9-12" eaters, nothing below, one trophy fish above.

No charge, I like building them. I'd be stoked to build another laker rod. Let me see what I have in terms of blanks or what I can get, and I'll be in touch with you.

All few years ago, I watched 33Canuck pulling up Keuka lakers one after another on a perch rod. Yeah, they're not the biggest lake trout in the world, but I think that most of what happens to determine whether you land the fish is on the angler end. I just like having dedicated rods for different fishing situations, because I like to build and test them. It's tough to beat a whippy fiberglass blank in shallow water. But I will take a "bullwhip" carbon blank with a needle tip and decent backbone outside of 15' for panfish, and once you start talking jigging rapalas and heavier jigs, the gauge changes again. Different tools for different jobs. I mean, you can make anything work if you're a decent fisherman, right? But half the fun for me is figuring out my favorite. I could have limited myself to brunettes as a younger man, but where would have been the fun in that lol?

I like my HT rods, too. Not as much as the two of you, obviously. But I only use them in shallow water, since I find that the parabolic bend of the light glass makes cranking up a crappie to get back down onto the school fast a bit...tricky. Kev, you should let me build you a rod and see if I can change your mind lol.

Yep, the Tickle Stick is a nice rod with a flat tip that serves as a strike indicator, and the Widowmaker is another higher end option that's very light and sensitive, but with decent backbone for lifting slabs. What's your primary application? How deep a water are you fishing? I love the freefall in 15+ feet, just to let a slow fluttering presentation, and with zero twist you don't spook shy fish. You could also consider going all the way and having a custom rod made to specifications. I have a freefall on both light and ultralight setups that I use for crappie in deeper water, and they are very nice.

I used to carry a man card for the same reason, until my wife took it away from me.