BradH

I use a Team Daiwa S 6'3" topwater/twitchin' rod. They call it a MH, I'd call it halfway between M and MH. It has a Curado 200E7 and 30 pound braid on it, I can take up the slack between pulls with the fast 7:1 ratio. I use it for HJ12 & HJ14 sized jerkbaits. I'm strange, I like to fish rattle traps on a jerkbait rod. I can rip the rattle baits from grass quick with the jerkbait rod and I more or less retrieve them like a high speed jerkbait. The lipless baits are fine with the fast reel as there isn't much of a diving lip.

Those would all be good tactics. Dropshots work good too.

The ABEC 5 metal shield Ceramic Hybrids they have are nice too and not much more than the SS bearings.

I bit the bullet and bought a TFO Tactical 7'3" ML. I had enough Cabela's points it was basically free. I like it , it's just too much of a niche rod for me and I hardly ever dig it out.

I know on the E series they are the same size.

Same here, I just use whatever knife I happen to have in my pocket.

Until you get more rod try pointing the rod straight at the bait on the retrieve. I also like a slower reel, not everyone does, but it's a pain if you fish buzzbaits on the same rig.

Rapala DT10 to DT20, Rapala Crankin' Raps 10 & 14, Norman Deep Little N and DD22. The Normans have become my go-to. Made in USA, great color selection and very affordable.

Drop the "X" off the end of that Revo and you have my pick.

I regularly throw cranks that dive deeper than the water I'm in. I'm addicted to bottom contact in rocks, gravel and timber. In weedy or muddy bottoms I won't try to bang the bottom the whole way (I'll probably grab a jig, spinnerbait, soft plastic or rattlebait there anyway), other than that I almost always get a crank that will run deeper than the water I'm in.

Before fishing. Drink lots of coffee. This is the most important step. After fishing. Put everything back, plug in battery charger. Serious maintainance (reel cleaning/oil, line swap, lure repair, boat work, etc.) takes place during the winter or as needed.

I catch large numbers of smallmouth, largemouth, drum, white bass, rock bass, sauger, pike and about anything else that swims while I am trolling for walleye. I am usually pulling flicker shads, shad raps, rattle baits, square bills, deep little Ns and dd22s. I think it is very effective. The Normans are not really a "walleye trolling" crank but they sure work good. I like to pull them over rocks/gravel and let them crash the bottom for all species.

Of the reels you listed I have a Citica and a Revo S. The Revo S is $99 all over the place now and would get my vote. You can't go wrong with the Citica either. I have never fished with the other reels.

I stuck mine on a 6'10" M Fenwick Smallmouth rod back when amazon had them marked way down. I fish 3 and 4 inch senkos with it as well as light to medium jigs and tubes. I have used it for rattle baits in a pinch, I imagine it would do well with topwaters as well, just a hair longer than I like for that sort of thing.

2 1/2" Heddon Torpedo

I stuck mine on a 6' 10" M Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth rod. Loaded it with 8 pound fluoro. I've been using it for light to medium jigs and wacky rigged 3 and 4 inch senkos. I also used it in a pinch to fish some lighter lipless cranks where I was ripping them hard and pausing. I like the setup.

The BPS Crankin' Stick is a much better deal. The Silaflex is good in heavy current and works well if you like to do some trolling. If you are really strapped for cash they will get the job done but there are better rods for not much more money. My Dad was getting tired of watching me land fish while he lost his at the boat. I was using a crank rod, he was using a worm rod to throw cranks. He got a Silaflex and it fixed his problem but he upgraded to a Crankin' Stick after a couple trips.

By application my stuff is matched, by brand, not so much. hahaha

Anywhere from Sioux City up and I would really say from Ponca State Park up. The farther up river you get the better it is. If you ever decide to make a trip give me a hollar. There are rough fish too. I was actually excited to hook this 27" shortnose gar. Bigheads and Silvers have not made it past Gavin's Point and won't unless some idiot moves them.

Agree, LEDs are Sweet! My first boat's trailer ate bulbs constantly. Best money I ever spent on that trailer was the $50 for a set of LED lights.

It just won't quit and they keep getting bigger! Some nice bonus species too. I must have died and gone to heaven or something.

I'll jump on the Revo S bandwagon. Great reel and they are down to around $100 now. I like them so much I think I'll drop a set of winch gears in one next time I need a deep crank or big spinnerbait reel.

I have pretty good luck with Norman Deep Little Ns and DD22s in SX shad, charteuse shad and nutter shad. Just bang the heck out of the bottom with them or ding them off the vertical structure where it drops.

I carry a bag of #006 o-rings in the boat so I can snap a R bend spinnerbait to a wire leader. Just push it over the bend and snap on. If I'm not using a wire leader I still like to direct tie. The snap is just one more thing to collect junk.

Every time I get oil in an IAR bearing it starts slipping. Grease for me. Oil on spool bearings, grease in the IAR if it needs any.