J Francho

I think your post refers something that was referred to as hockey, and ancient sport, played on ice.

Slobs like that in a small craft are a blast! Nice one!

Holding the rod at anything greater than a right angle or perpendicular to what you are pulling against.

I don't fish my most expensive rod and reel together, but if I did, it would be a JDM Zillion and a Champ Extreme, so around $700ish.

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It's an attempt to put an objective description to a subjective measurement. In other words, replace opinion with data. It's helpful for a side by side comparison with a rod you've used, but if you've never handled either, it's a little nebulous.

I would have had a hard time time not eating it. Nice catch!

I might snip a section or two off the tail, and use them as a jig trailer, or T-rig them. I might also do a Neko rig, with the weight in the tail. A little tip for that: bury a CPS pin in the spot where you'll hook it, and run the hook through the pin. It helps add durability.

I like them for smaller worms. Retrieve any way you want. They are fairly weedless/snagless. An actual pegged Texas Rig will protect the knot better, if that's important to you.

There's a few boats where you can remove the second console, even though it's not billed as a convertible console boat. My friend had an Xpress X19, and once it warmed up, he'd unbolt it from the cockpit. It wasn't super pretty, but it offered more room. Other boats like Nitro, Lund, and Crestliner have convertible models.

I bet you don't see a bunch of threads up here, with pro staffers talking about their "sponsors." There's a reason for that.

Mepps are well made spinners. There's nothing accidental about catching using them. If you're working fish in current, and casting upstream or making quartering casts, Panther Martins spin better at slower speeds. Steelhead are goofy for rainbow trout pattern. Go figure.

For now, I'd say you are just fine. I wouldn't over complicate the system, or change anything until you've become familiar enough with a few techniques that you want to try another type of line, a new reel or rod. I caught a TON of fish of all species using a 7' Ugly Stik and Penn reel spooled up with 6# Trilene. If you get a chance to fish with others, see if you can try their gear, to get a feel of more specialized setups.

Yep. It's called a jig worm. Tearing is optional. It's been around longer than I've been alive. My grandfather taught me how to rig it. He liked it better than a pre-rigged worm.

Don't use your fingers, or any other body part, to cinch knots.

One fish per bait purchased is a dream.

Most of the Shimano reels I've worked on come with Permalub grease on the worm shaft from the factory. I've seen some with the Star Drag grease as well, but can't confirm it was a factory job. Like most others here, I prefer to oil this, and Bantam oil works great for it. I've tried many things, such as ATF, 3 in 1, TSI 321, Remoil, and pretty much anything slippery works fine. It comes down to what attracts and holds less grime and is easier to clean.

I types "map" into the article search, and got a ton of results. Here is a start: https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/Reading_Maps.html

Pretty sure you guys have quarantitus. A symptom is arguing over thing that do not matter. OP's question is asked and answered.

I'm okay with that!

I thought this was gonna be a thread about getting likes, lol. You get this a lot with big swimbaits. For me, the bait did it's job, and confirmed my bias: there is a big fish living there that wants to eat. I'm already that far ahead of blindly casting any old lure.

Pretty sure a Dauntless is in my future. It satisfies my requirements, and hers, and doesn't feel like a compromise.

I think "see" is the wrong question, or assumption. Can the fish sense any line in the water? Based on shallow water observations, I've seen plenty of evidence they can, even so called invisible line. Does it matter that they can sense it's there? Sometimes, not always. I get plenty of bites not using a leader. I also get plenty of bites when fishing toothy waters using a coated steel leader. Go figure. Occasionally, I'll try a fluoro leader if I'm not getting bites and others are using a leader, but that's slow moving contact baits. Moving baits don't seem to matter as much. Look at an umbrella rig. There's a ton of metal there.

Great news!

150 is underpowered, too. Xpress is a good hull, though.