SirSnookalot

No right or wrong way, just preference. I use braid for everything always with leaders and always swivels, gave up on f/c leaders long ago. I never tie line to leader except for a few species, none of which are bass. If I'm fearful of using too much leader by retieing I use a duolock on the end of my leader.

I want to add that I work my fluke as not to turn it over, I really concentrate on that and it's help. At present I'm using super cast 12# and using a spro swivel.

Both barrel and crane swivels rotate very little in the water, BB swivels are better and a ball chain swivel is best. None of them will prevent line twist as twist is caused by the line being wrapped around a fixed spool, normal for spinning gear. Some reels advertise an anti twist bail, always been a bit skeptical of those claims as mine have not eliminated twist. The turning of certain baits like spoons and flukes will add to the twist already being caused by cranking line it. Keep the hook centered and try to have the swivel in the water so it it's rotating, keep your rod low if you can.

Being primarily a saltwater fisherman myself I do see the point of carrying a number of rods whether it's bass fishing or saltwater. Fishing from the bank in either environment I will have but 1 rod with me and just a few lures. I no longer fish in a boat for fresh but I do for salt and I take 3 rods. When I'm on the jettie (I have a place to set them down) I'll have several rods depending on the species I'm targeting, but still just a very small handful of lures, just don't really need much. All spinning for me too. I do see conventional rod and reels used for bait fishing for larger species, but have seen no more than 1/2 dozen low profile b/c in the last 10 years of being out there everyday.

I have an agility I bought for my grandson, stuck it on a 6'6 med rod and I was using it for jigs and trailers a for a couple of months, caught bass in 25" range with it, reel works fine.

Maybe they saw your pic...............lol, j/k

I'm not so sure we can classify peacock bass as invasive any more, they were stocked on purpose to control other invasives.

There is no substitute better than getting the rod repaired locally. I would not use the rod, for a day or 2 I'd be using the ugly stick. I recently caught a 50" cuda on a mh rod in a 6- 8 knot current, after the catch I noticed I had missed one of the guides, luckily the fish was landed and no issue with to the rod. That said I think it's an unwise choice to use equipment that is not in perfect working condition, not worth it to press your luck.

The 2 most comfortable freshwater combos I have are a supreme 35 on a 7' med 8/17 inshore rod, and a supreme 30 on a 6'6 med 6/12 rod.

I can't seem to figure out what you're saying. Of the 10+ inshore and surf outfits I own I have never had any premature closing of the bail in the last 30 years. I do close the bail by hand most of the time, but not always. Closing the bail by hand does not prevent windknots, more windknots are created when casting, not retrieving. Whipping the rod is exactly what should not be done, line coming off the spool too fast then hitting the first guide is a major cause of windknots. There is a video on the Spanish Fly website illustrating that and why some of the rods are using K guides to help prevent windkots. A long flowing cast with a follow thru like a golf swing letting the rod load up does work out much better than a snap cast. In golf they say " swing with ease into the breeze", it applies in surf casting too.

New one, I also own the older one in the 30 size.

Called Disco Violet, I gravitate to that color quite a bit, it's done well for me.

I know that the web site indicated snakeheads in Palm Beach county, I'm in Delray and have yet to see them up this way, at least based on shore access. As it stands I only fish for them about a half dozen times a year, don't care to put that many miles on to go find them, I'd like to find some closer to me.

When I'm fishing my goal is either to catch fish or have fun, it's nice if I can accomplish both. I have my few baits that will usually produce, but there times I forego them in lieu of putting a little variety into my life.

You could have bought a stella sw30000, list $1419, lol. I had initially considered a stradic 5000 fj for an 8' inshore coastal rod, why I didn't buy it was the weight at 10.8 oz was lighter than I wanted and the 6000 was too heavy. I bought a Cabo 40 at about 14 oz, nice balance on my rod, good line capacity (250 yds of 30 lb braid) and max drag of 30 lb, not that I'm going to crank it down any way. Had I been shopping for a reel for a little lighter rod the FJ would have been a strong contender. I'm happy with the Cabo.

Your math is not accurate, it may be an estimate. As line is added to the spool when retrieving the spool becomes thicker and the IPT changes with each revolution. I believe when manufacturers list IPT it's with a full spool, casting say 30 yds your IPT will be less than 31" increasing with each crank. My suggestion, forgot the math and just go fishing and don't worry about distance.

1000 or 30 depending mfg.

This is the exact answer, along with tieing the knot correctly in the first place, they do make a singeing tool for about 10 bucks. I use nothing but an ordinary clinch knot on my leaders, improved clinch for braid. I learned it from charter boat capts in the ocean, they also showed me to put the reel in a bucket of fresh water to take the limp out.

line is fine.

I've got a both a trion and an older entry level cardinal, don't use them anymore but both are still very smooth, I do have a shakepsere agility (my grandsons) and it's as smooth as the other 2. The noticeable difference between these reels and ones slightly more expensive is the refinement of the drag. As mentioned I think a smaller sized reel would be more appropriate.

I think the only allowable pictures should be with the fish next to a tape measure, I don't think fish of different species should be lumped together, the profiles are totally different.

I don't fish for them too often but I did yesterday afternoon, they seemed to be pretty active. I don't have an overly strong feeling one way or the other for them, just a variance in my normal routine. One thing I found to be quite similar is a comparison to barracuda, I had each yesterday. Both are not considered gamefish, yet both are great table fare, both fish can be aggressive and both can be followers and veer off at the last second, and both are exciting and give a good accounting of themselves. I've been on this sight for a number of years and I still wonder at this gamefish vs trashfish comparison. Many of these gamefish are not the best on the plate, don't fight all that hard, not all that wary and not difficult too catch. The so called trash almost always gives a great battle, some are vary wary (if I catch 2 or 3 larger cuda in a month I've done well), many of these fish are tasty, and some can be cut up and used for bait, I don't call any of those uses trash. I mainly c&r, I know what I prefer catching, I'll take the trash.

Never seen or heard of it either, had to be great fight, fish with those profiles usually are.

You may want to try Palm Beach just north of the Flagler bridge, can park on most streets there and big jacks are known for that area, up to 30 or 40#.

Besides crime there, a group of fisherman there that feel it's their's, try and run you off. You many want to try the boca/delray spillway, not too many fisherman. I caught 33 incher this morning, then went cuda fishing and had one about 40".