JediAmoeba

Woot! I am going to print it out and put it on the fridge when I get home.

Is it the spiderwire stealth or the regular spiderwire? The stealth is about half the thickness and thus more limber. The regular spiderwire is about the same thickness as the regular power pro... Not all braid was created equally. There are, 4, 8 and even up to 16 carrier braids which is the number of strands spun together to form a line. The more strands the stronger the braid, the more smooth it is and the "rounder" it usually is...

Tokyo rig, I.E. Weed snagger, bottom snagger or shield your eyes while I snap this line off rig. I am sure it is great in some places, maybe new lakes with smooth hardpan bottoms, but I know not where these places exist.

My go to is a curly tailed grub - usually GY or Uncle Josh. Soemtimes I will use Spike it on the tail to get a few extra bites. Fishing the same waters I find the curly tailed grub on a mushroom head to be more effective than a trd on a mushroom head. Both produce but the grub usually works better.

As previously said , your price range provides a lot of great options. The real question you need to answer is what material and what length grip you like - I think that is the most decided factor for a person to fall in love with a rod. Cork, eva foam, full length, split grip, etc. Personally I like split grips and really like cork.

I tend not to use any trailers because they hold it down and you have to burn it too fast for it to plane.

I would just replace the whole tip. Heat it.up slowly and pull it off - buy the same size tip and prep the end of the rod and install the new end as instructed.

Do I get a medal?

It seems like only the barbless guys are chiming in on this thread. I never go barbless and I have never hooked myself too bad - I have stuck a treble in my hand a few times but just popped it out, clipped it off and backed it out. My feeling is, if I can back a barbless hook out of my hand that easy, it can obviously back out just as easily on my pb that is on that same hook. No way I am taking that chance

I have a St Croix premier that is medium power and moderate action that is 7' that seems like a ML to me. Other than this rod I have never seen one that fits the bill you are looking for. I use this one for casting Ned rigs and small cranks.

Sounds like carp or possibly turtles? Unless they are coming up to gulp air? Are the fish relatively healthy? When the dissolved oxygen gets extremely low some fish will come up and gulp at the surface...but if this were the case you would notice some dead fish and it would smell bad

Hahaha, it can be...but wait until you decide you want to try a few large swimbaits or other technique specific things. It can be a slippery slope

So you can set a hook with a 5/0 wide gap texas rigged hook just as well with a glass rod as a graphite? I don't think so.

I have 2 Kastking speed demon pro tournament series rods and they are very nice for the price I paid. The ones I got have small guides and they are light and very comfortable

I don't see a glass rod being appropriate for all techniques anyway. It's not just giving away sensitivity, you are giving up on a lot of control and quality hook sets.

I see a lot of talk about trolling, crankbaits, spinnerbaits...all moving baits. Looks to me like you need to slow down, pinpoint some key areas of structure and weeds and get into the thick of it with some finesse baits. I.E. Texas rigged worms, grubs on jighead and ned rigs for starters.

Does my wife have an account here?

I use megastrike's crawfish, garlic and shad. In fact my tackle bag smells horribly of their garlic scent

They are showing you what not to do, hence the "x". Admittedly I do hook my treble baits to the eye, but through the feet, not the actual guide. I hooked my pants, shorts and shirts way too many times carrying them while hooked to the d**n hook keeper or on the reel.

You can use pretty much any of the jigs however you want but a football jig works better through rocks and a swim jig swims better through vegetation. So really just get what you like and works on your bodies of water. Unless you are buying tungsten jigs they arent that expensive anyway.

I usually hook my baits onto the top of the reel

I have one... currently I have about 50 reels. I have had many other reels over the years, but I have never owned or used a shimano product.

KastKing Waterproof Floating Digital Fishing Scale with No-Puncture Lip Gripper. Dual Mode - Pounds/Ounces & Kilograms. 0-50 Lbs/22.68 Kg, Lightweight ABS Frame, Non-Slip Handle. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C3SDV44/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_AzxxDbX7JC3DA

If you are only running a 2 foot leader, why bother?

Small Corks or earplugs