J Francho

Generally, yes. I have some reels that I pack knob bearings with grease to keep them smooth and prevent spinning excessively. One part I use oil on is the worm gear for the level wind. Grease attracts and holds too much grime. If it gets dirty in there, it's okay to flush it with light oil.

Lead shouldn't tear up your braid.

Soak the fillets in buttermilk over night, and deep fry them in tempura or beer batter. It goes down a little easier.

Every kayak I've seen rigged with a TM uses the foot pegs to steer. Usually the system is modified using parts from a rudder system. See these: http://bassyaks.com/

Otters, fox, seagulls and herons are four more I've seen eating deceased bass.

That doesn't make sense. I'd return it.

there's a bunch over here:

I used to do a yearly seminar on this for my club. You can't get off the soap box for this one.

Old pic. Of my oldest son, lmao.

I use an Alberto to tie direct to the mainline if it's braid. A Uni to Uni seems to work better with mono-filament lines, regardless of material. For the shallow pike thing....I know quite a few Adirondack Mountains lakes what you describe is more the case. They are often rockier, and cooler. Maybe that's the difference? The pike are deep there, too. In fact, they're freaking everywhere! The bays off the Great Lakes, and in the Finger Lakes, the big northerns are usually on the deep ledge after the weed line breaks. It might be also that many of these waters have tiger muskies. They are always shallow. And speaking pike, yours is "cute" Here's a shallow water, kayak pike, 8# CXX, no leader, on a tiny crank:

I don't think you can make generalizations about live well systems. Not all are created equal. Many use a water conditioner as well. I'd argue that water in my live well was better suited to holding fish than the lake. I've used it as a recovery area for injured fish. Sure Life makes Catch and Release - great product for anyone that tournament fishes. So good the Share-A-Lunker program in Texas recommends it. No one that uses a live well should be without it, along with things to control high temps, thermometer, and some hydrogen peroxide. You can find plenty of video on how to improve survival rates if you look at their site. http://www.sure-life.com/pro_CATCH_AND_RELEASE.html

I'm 100% in the opposite camp - I absolutely refuse to use a tungsten weight with an insert. An insert is a retrofit to a badly made product. Never have any issues with Excalibur, Strike King, or Picasso weights, though I have had several issues with weights that use inserts. Mostly the inserts falling out or wearing out. As far usage goes, I'm in NY, and sale of lead weights is banned here. That leaves bismuth, tin, brass, steel, and tungsten. Tungsten works the best out of these choices, unless there's special circumstances, like using a really thick headed worm or plastic, and a light weight. I'll use a 1/8 steel bullet with a 10" Power Worm. The bigger size matches the worm better, helps it come through the grass better. Pretty much! Oneida Lake Triple Crown!

They will hunt in the shallows. I've seen it too.

You were able to get it on a scale before breaking off? LOL, just teasing. Fish that break off, you can add several lbs. to the estimate. Back to the original question... You can use whatever you want for a leader. You have to decide what it is that you want that the braid isn't doing. For me, abrasion resistance is what I want in a leader, so I use Seaguar Fluoro Leader Material. What size depends on the gear, presentation, and cover. If you broke off at the leader, then you forgot to set the drag to 1/3 of the weakest link in the system.

If you're running into a lot of pike bites, chances are you're in the wrong spot for targeting bass. While their territories intersect, pike are usually in deeper cooler water. They are territorial, and will either eat or chase off bass. Bass can tolerate warmer water, will move out of the way. Lastly, there are some spots so good that they hold both, and the pike can be a nuisance. You can use tie-able bit proof leader like Cortland Toothy Critter without sacrificing the bass bite, while protecting your tungsten weight. Here's rock bass, where you can see the Cortland Leader. For every bass we were catching, we'd catch two pickerel, so we added a leader. The LMB and SMB were caught on the same trip, with the same rig.

I think too many blame the hook removal on the death of a fish, and therefore believe they should leave the hook in, and cut it off. I've removed enough of these cutoff hooks to see the effects: skinny fish that are able and willing to eat (they bit my lure, duh!), but cannot due to a hook blocking their esophagus. The real culprit in my opinion is time out of the water. You spend so much time trying to get the deep hook out that the fish suffocates. Be prepared!

In your price range, I'd be looking at something like Yo-Zuri Hybrid and a bottle of KVD L&L. This cover the bases most applications. If you're new to baitcasters, stick to something inexpensive and reliable, like Big Game, since you will likely be re-spooling a couple times.

I turned pro with that years ago

You get a longer port side rod box with the Z. Otherwise, it's a fiberglass boat, and you had an argument against that.

My favorite thing is when the senko flies off the hook on the back cast. Awesome.

Yeah buddy!

I know what it is. Haven't tried it. Hevicore and XP are typical braid. SuperCast is a fused and coated microfilament line.

Get some inexpensive mono to fill as backing. I'm sure Invisx would be fine as a leader, though I use actual leader material (Seaguar is my favorite). I haven't tried their 4orce line yet, but I like the lines I have tried: HeviCore, Tournament8, SuperCast, and XP.

Inline spinners only get a bay rap because they do not get through the cover that largemouth inhabit very well, if at all. The bent shaft or safety pin style protect the hook point from weed, wood, docks, etc. In places where this cover is not present, but fish are, they will get bit. Notice I said "fish." Any predatory species will eat an inline spinner. We use them for smallmouth quite a bit. I also have some huge ones for northern pike and musky. A bumble bee pattern spinner is a must have for anyone fishing pre-spawn brown trout.

What type of lakes do you fish?