Delaware Valley Tackle

A 6:1 reel is fine for all but the deepest cranks, then a 5:1 (Revo Winch/Chronarch E5/Daiwa Crazy Cranker etc) is nicer to fish all day. Depending on the type of cover you fish a Hvy flippin'stick or frog rod might be a good addition.

I don't want to say a reel shouldn't stand up to a 4-5 pound fish, but as a general observation too many people use their reels a winch to land fish. The rod has much more power and should be the main tool in fighting fish. It's much easier to move the fish toward you with the rod and use the reel to take up line & repeat until the fish is landed.

In general shorter is better for accuracy and longer adds casting distance. The difference between 6'6" and 7' rod for a general purpose rod is personal preference. For technique specific rods length is probably a little more critical. What are you doing with the rod in this case?

My belief is that bass are not inherently line shy due to visibility but rather line diameter. I feel that heavy line moves more water and affects the bait's action and can be a turn off in that regard. I fish braid on the majority of my reels and add leaders only for abrasion resistance, and in the clearest open water fishing finesse baits. I sometimes add a leader during tournaments so I can actually break off if I want to rather than ask the boater to hold up while I try to straighten a snagged hook. I'm experimenting with a hand tool that will allow you to grab the braid quickly and get a strong and safe grip to yank them loose.

IM is kinda like number of bearings in a reel. It's not meaningless but by no means tells the whole story. It is also not a scientific standard either. The modulus of the graphite in a given company's IM rating may differ from anothers. A blank consists of the carbon fiber graphite, scrim, resins and sometimes finish. The combination of materials along with mandrel taper and wall thickness all come together to make a quality rod blank with exceptional stiffness and strength at minimum weight.

The ratio of a reel's gears is just a spec, not an indication of the quality of the reel. Outside of personal preference ratio can be largely ignored with little to no real consequence. The most noticeable ratio (IPT) application is using a low ratio in the 5:1 range for deep diving crankbaits and other high resistance moving baits. The article linked above is good info but a longer read.

Bearing count is over rated. Quality bearings supporting the critical areas is much more important.

Smooth is a subjective term so the user needs to determine if there may be a problem. If there is an obvious problem right out of the box by all means swap it out. Other wise proceed as ghoti suggested and fish the reel for a bit and service/have it serviced.

I have some 6 footers for close quarters spinnerbaiting and spooks. I've build a few for others as well that had a hard time finding what they want over the counter.

There are too many variables for anyone to answer this for you. The best thing you can do is take the reel with you and mount it on rods you're interested in. Power depends on what you'll be doing with the rod. In general a 7' Med/Fast is a good spinning rod for bass. A 4000 size reel is a little overkill and could be used on a MH or even Hvy rod if need be.

An Albright knot joining 65# braid and 17#fluoro will pass #4 micros with no problem. The Albright/Alberto is the slimmest strongest leader knot you can get

You can save a few bucks and some weight if you can find vacuum tubing or conduit instead of the schedule 40 pvc. Either way pvc is the way to go.

Any mag only reel needs to be set up correctly and casted smoothly. The nature of mag brakes makes them ineffective for super fast spool start up (which isn't necessary anyway). Turn the brake off, set cast control knob to allow a slow fall, then set the brakes to 1/2 power and fine tune for conditions after a couple casts. The SX makes a better flipping reel than a cranking reel. The Winch, Curado E5, or Daiwa Crazy Cranker are examples of cranking specific reels and really only helpful for deep cranking. My personal choice is a 4600C3.

Ya, just for nostalgia Quantum could keep one model with the latch and call it the PITA.lol

First off, you got a graet deal on that reel. The most versatile bass casting rod is a 6'6"-7' Med-Hvy/Fast. Since you're fishing mostly open water you can probably get away with a Med power but I don't see the point since you also have spinning gear for the lighter stuff. I'd up the line a little also to around 15-17# mono or 50# braid. This would work for your main techniques but also give you lots of flexibility.

Quantums have some really good design and engineering features and some of thier reels are super smooth and free running. The problem with them IMO is quality control and finish. I see some reels that just don't fit back together as perfectky as they should and the finish blisters on some. The issues seem relatively minor and easily addressed. If this happend they could give the other big 3 fits. The rediculous latching mechanism on the nose piece has to go as well. Opening a new Quantum for the first time can take as long as the rest of the service.

If building a frog rod I'd use a light salt water blank. It'll have plenty of backbone with a little softer tip to help with long casts back into the weeds.

Spinning tackle is a more efficient way to fish light line and finesse baits. Spinning is easier when fishing vertical like dropshotting and I like spinning for skipping under docks etc. Of course skipping with a baitcaster can be learned but spinning makes it a no brainer and hassle free. You can get away with only spinning or baitcasting but mastering both gives you more options and enhances the overall fishing experience IMO.

When comparing feature for feature Daiwa tends to be the higher priced between Shimano, ABU, Daiwa and Quantum. Each has their design and engineering highlights as well as their quirks, and each has rightfully earned a loyal following.

Those are drain holes for that very reason. I'd take reasonable precautions to avoid filling the reel with water but some incidental contact isn't the end of the world. Rinse, wipe down and lay out to dray after use and do regular (annual or more if used heavily) cleaning and lube.

I worked in the lube oil industry for years including running a family owned distributorship. The main thing to remember is that there is no magic here and there is lots of hype. Incompatibility between products is a possibility but mostly between greases due to the different soaps (thickening agents/mediums) used. Cleaning/flushing parts before lubing is a good idea regardless of lube to be used however it is acceptable to add oil to bearings between cleanings. Throwing new lube onto dirty parts can do m ore harm than good by gumming up the works. Keep parts clean and lubed with any quality product in a proper application and performance and durability will be no problem.

Your right about REM Oil being super light. It's probably almost ideal for ceramics that could be run dry. As for SS bearings oil viscosity is a trade off of performance / longevity. The light oil will allow the bearing to spin more freely but will need more frequent application just as you stated. Any potential gain depends on the design and condition of the reel to begin with. Casting distance gains are probably modest in most circumstances. The largest benefit IMO is ease of casting which improves accuracy.

If memory serves, the bearings in your reels are already open. You don't even have to remove them. Just open the side plate / cast control & put a small drop right on the race (side) of the bearing. Being open all the oil penetrates immediately so use very sparingly the lightest oil you can find. The Bantam should be ok if you already have it.

Pretty sure the handle nut is a 10mm. Keep in mind that the schematic is mostly a parts list and does necessarily show order of assembly or orientation of parts. Bearing retainer clips and C-clips tend to take flight. A series of photos taken during disassembly can come in handy later.

Although the seals on Boca OSC bearings are intended to be "non-contact" that is often not the case especially after reinstalling. I run them open and dry for max performance and oil lightly to quiet or tame them.