chris, sorry not getting into this subject before now, i not only make them but always have one on a rod all year long, most guys only use them in the spring and fall, i use them when fishing deep water, 1/2 and 3/4 football jigs first then i will use a buddy when the fish stop hitting the jig, many times i will hook a big fish that way, give then something else to look at. i use 30lb. braid with a fluoro. of 12 to 15 lb.test, like dave said, can't beat braid for real deep water, hell i have got some big smallies on 17lb. trilene xt with no leader,[ask marc's dad]. i use a 6ft.9" all star, a st, croix 6ft. 8" med. power with a fast tip most of the time. i'm doing my ranger seats over , pulling the bench seat out and putting buckets in, more work than i thought it was going to be, also having hydrol. steering put in the boat, broke a cable once before and it was not pretty, was just on plane when it broke. i hope the boat will be ready for our first tournament. got to wait about a month for the seats. talk soon bob. oh ya i just make the last batch of buddys in gold, 1/2 5/8 3/4 oz., sorry no perch at this time.