Delaware Valley Tackle

Yes, gear oil, sometimes incorrectly referred to as "rear end grease" I use it on everything except the drive gears. I find it the best compromise on levelwinds. It lasts and doesn't gum up

The difference is that a spinning reel spool doesn't spin when cranked or casted. Your reel is fine.

You can turn it by hand. Just baby sit it so it doesn't sag. The prokote is slow setting.

Cut the butt off flush, trim the length accordingly then reattach the butt using a short splice inserted into each piece. A thin scrap blank, rod, or dowel will work. Just arbor whatever you use to match the taper.

ABU is their flagship brand. Pflueger is their price point brand. One way they keep Pflueger prices low is not spending big bucks on marketing.

The most important thing is to clean parts and use an appropriate lubricant for the application. There's no magic. Ex: Boca Lightning Lube, or Tsi on spool bearings, blue marine grease on gears and 80-140 gear oil on frame bearings and levelwind, Cals on wet drags.

I can see how it's like walking a tightrope for a rod company to sell blanks. The price they need to get to protect the brand of the finished product really isn't competitive. I think they struck a compromise that will work for everyone.

"Fast" and "stiff " tips are separate things and often confused with each other. Trimming a blank from either end results in a slower action by definition. How it feels or fishes only experimention can tell. I don't advise trimming a tip but I know it's done. In this case, at most I'd take an inch off the tip and the rest off the butt if overall length is critical. There are so many good blanks out there I seldom need to trim anything

Mick is right, but if you don't feel up to the CCS setup and testing go by specs over rating labels

All the terms are too subjective for raw analysis. Best you can hope for is to find someone with hands on with both models. Barring that, if you can handle either prior to purchasing I'd do that. On the water performance is the only true barometer.

Pretty clever. There's a lot of cool organizational gadgets out there.

It won't hurt anything but not necessary either. Grease helps dissipate heat in applications where big fish make long runs DNA to bass.

Only The spool should be different.

It all depends on the actual guides and the implementation. Keeping the guide train as light as possible helps maintain as much of the blanks inherent properties as possible. The optimum guide size is always a matter of opinion and there is no one size fits all.

I meant pass on the bearings, at least for now

Deep cleaning and lubrication with a marine grease including a film on the inside of the cases. Rinse with clean water immediately after use and lay out to dry before storing.

Call pure fishing direct.

Swapping bearings won't do anything for longevity in general. Ceramics hold up better in salt water use but maintenance is still key. If it were mine I'd pass.

I can hook you up with drag kits and bearings if needed. If you want to email me I'll give you some pointers

They're a nice little extra but I agree not a game changer.

Sensitivity is too subjective to be definitive. The 610 mlxf is one sweet rod though.

They're the same sciii material but I think they came out with a new resin since and may have played with wall thickness and/or diameter. It would be interesting to reach out to them directly with your question. I'm confident they'd be responsive.

Whipping the handle around is an unnatural motion for a reel and not an indicator of anything.

60-75 yards of braid should be plenty to bury the splice knot and leave some for re-tying. I can't see spooling on yards of expensive line that will never see the light of day.

Nice. Looks manufactured.