Cgrinder

Some of the Monoblocks and LINs. Yep.

.33mm line is a good start. Maybe even .35mm since that CT has a decent spool capacity. Sufix Siege is my choice but Big Game is fine. Stren Original is also fine. Braid is excellent and should be considered when you become proficient with a casting reel. It is very easy to ruin a spool of fresh braid. Not the easiest to learn how to pick out a backlash either. You will backlash. Everyone backlashes. Also holy crap you get a lot of 10 lb Big Game for $9.

Learn when to make changes and when to keep doin' what you're doin'. Don't over complicate. WW2farmer has recently made an excellent series of posts regarding color selection in moving baits and soft plastics. I've adopted the mantra of green pumpkin, black and blue, and something else with most of my plastics and it's been good. The something else is usually red bug for me if you're wondering. Know when it's okay to over complicate. If you have one or two techniques that you're truly excellent at presenting, I think going a bit wild and carrying lots of sizes, types, and colors can lead to more fish. Example: I carry a stupid amount of different swim jig trailers. Use quality equipment. Expensive equipment is not necessary, but having reels you can cast reliably, rods with which you can feel bottom, and line you can trust goes a long way. Learn the "rules" before you start learning when the rules can be broken. This sort of goes with don't over complicate. Basically start with the conventional wisdom. Don't zone out. If you find yourself aimlessly chucking and winding, switch, move, or do something different. Unless, of course, aimlessly chucking and winding is catching fish. Listen to the fish. How are they hitting your lures? Where in the mouth are they hooked? What do they seem to be relating to? Most importantly, have fun. It's okay to avoid presentations that you dislike. Don't burn yourself out. Don't make it into a grind. Unless you're like me and you love grinding. Then grind away!

Too many variables. There are some that I think I would, but most probably not. For example, a NIB Chronarch D7 could maybe get $100 over its MSRP.

I think those spools are braid-safe.

Yeah it happens. Some E's were like that iirc.

Hooray getting rid of credit card debt. High five. And now, thread hijack! Student loans aren't bad, or at least don't have to be. Community college can be very reasonable (Pell grants alone covered my tuition and books) and any good CC should have an easy transfer plan to get you into a reasonable four year school with two years down. Subsidized loans should cover housing. Scholarships and awards are also a thing. While you're in school, work ~20 hours a week somewhere (empirically supported to correlate with better grades compared to students who don't work or work too much). Stay on top of your interest and keep it paid off. Choose something you like but also something that makes money. Also some places of employment will pay for your Master's, which is pretty sweet. Alternatively, learn a skilled trade. Weld stuff. Welding is manly and respectable. Sort of profitable too, I understand? Raider will chime in here. G.I. Bill's a good idea if the armed services interest you. Of course then you belong to Uncle Sam for a while and that's really a different conversation entirely.

Drop shot and shakeyhead are the only times I really want a spinning reel (open bail, let line hit bottom without hassle, profit). Everything else is preference. Modern casting equipment is getting to be pretty good, even near $100, at going lower in lure weights. Spinning gear is better in the wind but I think if you're finesse fishing in a stiff breeze you're going to be sad no matter what you do.

I carry offset O'Shaughnessy, offset round bend, offset wide gap, and skip gap hooks in 3/0 and that covers about everything. Experiment and see what you like. For whatever reason I have a killer hookup percentage (deep and top of the mouth too) with the O'Shaughnessy hooks.

Yeah I'm going to say that if you think the 853 is too much rod, the 852 is where you should look. I have the 843 and 853 and they fish very similarly to me with the obvious difference being the taper. I throw a lot of 1/8 oz jig and trailer on the 853 but maybe I'm spoiled by the Met that rides it. I tend to use "finesse" type reels and 15-20 lb braid so my perception of a rod's ability to handle the low end of its rating is probably skewed. Of course you should really own the 852 and the 843, but you probably want to stay in your marriage.

There's your problem. Armilo runs thin for a 17 lb line. It's only .34 mm diameter where I'd be using at least a .40 mm leader.

How is the knot breaking? I have zero issues throwing a 15 lb CXX leader on 50 lb braid with a wide variety of baits.

Why not 803c jwr?

Yeah I'm with the farmer on this one. Blue is the lazy man's comedy.

Quality nylon if you don't like Fluorocarbon and can dedicate a rod.

The TW Backpack is okay. Stands up nicely on its own which is cool.

Gimmicky and, up until relatively recently, faulty. I should note that I am a four fingers in front of the trigger palmer and wide-nose reels don't agree with that.

Dick's has very good sales for Memorial Day. Buy one-get one 50% off on a whole mess of things. So I own two LC Gunfish 117's now I guess. Probably going back for Spro rats and LT sunfish. Still resisting the two S-Cranks for $30 thing.. for now.

4/0 EWG, tails up.

Swing Impact for kick, Easy Shiner for roll, Fat Impact for both.

TW got me. Mostly essentials but I splurged on a new whopper plopper 90 bluegill pattern and a firetiger cavitron for the post spawn bluegill bite.

15 lb CXX makes for an excellent small pike leader.

I use Alberto. Make sure you "set" the knot after cinching down by holding both stands of leader and pulling hard on the braided mainline. That prevents slipping. Tied properly it is a very small knot.

On the one hand I hate the Twing, on the other hand I'd like some 9:1's. Let me know how that Zilion SV works out please.

Casting. It's a good job for an Alphas.