kickerfish1

It is like buying a high end sports car and never washing it and parking it outside. When you purchase high end stuff most folks prefer to keep it looking nice and take care of it. Should you ever need to part with something and sell it, the stuff that isn't all rashed up appeals to a larger market and most people are more likely to buy something that has been taken care of. You wouldn't buy a used Porsche that had scratches and hail damage unless someone was practically giving it away. Cheaper rods and reels or ones tournament arsenal I can see the need for everything to be out and open in a moments notice and as long as the function is there who cares what it looks like. It was just an observation. Your mileage might vary...

I can take a reel cover off and on in seconds. Of all the reels I have bought new over the years most reels are mint or like new. You would be hard pressed to find a mark on them. I leave covers on them all the time while not in use. When I pick up an outfit I remove the cover and put it in my pocket. Only takes a few seconds. When I switch to another outfit I just put the cover back on before setting it down. At this point it is all habit and second nature. The TW covers were my favorite. Cheap, worked well, and easy to take on and off.

Lots of boat rash in the making. Why not spend a few extra bucks and stick reel covers on all of those?

For reels it is easy. The Daiwa TDZ platform. So many options and upgrades. Second would be the Daiwa Pixy platform. Really enjoy casting the light stuff with casting gear. Agreed with the others who were noting some of the older Shimanos. Love my Curado 100D and Chronarch 100D7. Super solid reels.

Depends on how you are fishing.... casting vs pitching? Overall desired preference for lightness of reel or smoothness on the retrieve or balance of the combo? Sorry, but there are lots of factors that could make this perfect for you. An Alde will be pretty much too light even if the goal is keeping the weight down and pitching. The Met MGL is phenomenal casting reel but it is nearly inevitable the gears will be slightly rough especially over time. It is a well known issue and happened to my XG model. The fix is the brass gear conversion kit the TackleTrap sells. It would smooth out and make the reel feel incredible. The other option would be something more smooth on the retrieve and made of slightly heavier material like aluminum. Both the Chronarch 100D7 and Bantam come to mind. Then of course there is Daiwa!

Yep, the 7:1 set from the Curado 200E 7. Probably can get one at the TrackleTrap if in stock. But going from a 6:3 is not going to be a huge night and day difference in IPT. But there is a difference nonetheless and in theory, new gears will make the reel feel smooth again.

Pretty sure that you are describing is the cast control cap spacer. So if you look at your cast control cap or tension knob as some call it, you will notice that when you unscrew it there are 2 small flat pieces that sits inside of it. It is likely worn in some fassion if they are both there. The remedy is you can try turning the spacer over and see if that solves it. Try that first. If that fails you likely need a new one. Also make sure you have both of them that are in the links below. If one or both is missing that is your likely cause. By replacing it, you will be able to adjust the tension so the bait can fall at a faster pace, light speed, or what you are looking for a nice slow gradual fall. Looks like a $4 part and $1.29 a part. If you have several from this reel platform and you think you are going to hang onto them for a while, maybe grab an extra while you are at it. You can see the schematic in the link. I am not sure which parts are worn without looking at them but it may be best to buy one of each. https://www.ereplacementparts.com/cast-control-spacer-p-1544195.html https://www.ereplacementparts.com/spool-tension-spacer-p-1540737.html

I am sure you will like the rod. Like I mentioned I like it for a few techniques that require a great deal of effort to work the bait. It also shines as a smaller plastics rod. It is extremely light and rivals anything I have seen on the market even todays rods. And the feel is about as much as any one could ask for. I am sure you will enjoy the rod. Just be careful with the rod. If you break it you will probably get an Expride. And while the Exprides are great rods they don't have near as good as feel and obviously not close on the weight either. If mid micro sized guides would have been either around or more popular when the Cumulus rods were created this rod would be even lighter and maybe 2.8 oz. Some of those guides they used are quite large even though they were top of the line in quality for the time they were produced. Fish the rod, experiment with it and let use know what you think!

About as rare as a unicorn. I have the same exact rod and have had mine for probably close 4-5 years. I think I paid $250 for mine new from TW when they were closing them out. I can tell you that they are still the lightest weight rods on the market. That 6'10 rod weighs only 3 oz. Pair it up with a 5.5 ounce Core 50 and it will weigh a whopping 8.5 ounces as a combo. What does this mean in terms of your fishing experience? Well, you won't have much fatigue and everything will be amplified even more in terms of feel. I have tried both a Core 50 and an Alphas SV 105 and have settled on the Alphas. Mainly because I have been using this rod for jerkbaits, small poppers that only weigh a 1/4 oz or so and that Alphas casts them a bit better. The rod does have exceptional feel so you can toss your plastics and smaller jigs on it. The only negative is the rods specs are going to be off from any MH rod you have used. I would say it is more of a true medium and the action is somewhere between Fast and Mod/fast. When you set the hook and the rod bends, it flexes quite deeply. I also find it frustrating at times to get a good hook set on with a weightless plastic or bottom contact bait. It just feels more under powered and not as "fast" in action as I prefer those apps. If you do want to use it for smaller plastics and jigs I would say you don't want to push the weight much above 3/8 oz total. A 1/4 oz jig and trailer or a texas rig that starts with a 1/4 oz weight or less and plastic is about where you want to be. If you are wanting something more true to a normal bottom contact rod I would see if I could find the 7'1 model. It is more powerful and has a faster action. Nonetheless excellent score on the rod! I am sure you will enjoy it. If you find yourself tossing jerkbaits or top water poppers a lot, where you are constantly working the bait, I find the length and action absolutely ideal for both of these techniques as well.

Big Core fan here. For NIB I would say $300ish. Mint internally and externally I would put it around $250. 9/10 would be $225ish. If it was pretty well used I would say $200 ish. I have not seen many of the 50mg7s sell for under $200 unless they were pretty well beat up.

Are JDM snacks any better than USDM snacks?

What do you want to spend? That should answer your question? Also how much time do you have and how picky are you? I have 4 custom rods with a 5th getting finished up now. I also have a few dozen mid to high end bass rods as well. If you can't afford $250-300 I would cross a custom build off your list unless you find a blank at a large discount.

You should take up hot yoga. If this is too much step down to luke-warm yoga.

I can cover everything I want with one style. That is the Cali swim jig style or as North Star refers to them the flip and swim. I can swim them or work them on the bottom. My second favorite style would be a brush head or alien head. If you drag jigs with any type of weeds around these will come through them much better than an arky head or a football head. Colors are like anything else. Black and blue for water with poor clarity and green pumpkin/watermelon variations for clear water. Then you branch out from there if you so desire.

Reasons to go to BPS for me: 1. Try on apparel that I may by elsewhere to for cheaper (Costas for example) 2. Get a feel of a new rod or reel 3. Kill time in the winter when everything is frozen BPS is not what it used to be. The selection is average at best, prices are significantly higher than many other places, customer service is not good at all, not to mention the closest is about 35 minutes away.