Darren.

Welcome aboard! For ~$200 you have a load of options! You can split that $$ down the middle and get a great rod and a great reel. Rods in the $100 range today are fantastic, and pretty much the sweet spot. St. Croix rods are excellent, so are Bass Pro rods like the Carbonlite which are frequently on sale below $100. Pflueger makes great reels. I lean toward Shimano Stradics, but that's been my investment over the years. You can go baitcasting, but IMO, that's a debate that is not worth the time to get into. Some prefer them, some don't. Spinning, for the majority of people, I'd argue, is better in windy conditions, among others. I can cast a baitcaster in the wind. But I prefer to use spinning. For bass, and freshwater in general, 2500 size is the "standard" size. You will probably never get spooled. I use 1000 size Stradics, never ever once had a worry about line capacity (using braid for mainline and a leader). But be warned, you'll still lose fish, line, lures with expensive equipment.

Welcome aboard! I'll leave the rod length choice up to those who use the technique more than I do. I don't use rods over 6'6"...just how I roll.

Negative. Just a coating over copolymer line. Best use: anything. (cue the haters! ) I still have several spools. Used it religiously for several years, but haven't recently. Mostly due to the fact I have so much Yo Zuri Hybrid, and three spools of Gamma Edge fluoro that I really like. Goes more slowly because I only use 'em for leaders.

Congrats! No way to get a proper weight w/o measurements or a scale.

Welcome aboard! I'm not sure I'll be 100% accurate here, but I use all 1000 size Stradics for my freshwater fishing. That said, i recently bought a Pflueger Supreme 30, so I'd probably guess the 20 is closest to the 1000. Others with both might have a more accurate "guess".

Extremely well. I have zero problem highly recommending it. Keep in mind, the diameter is a tad larger than other brands. I consider 6# more like other brands' 8#, 8 as 10, etc. All depends on which brands since diameter and pound test is not agreed upon in the industry.

I am a braid mainline + leader guy 100% of the time. For me it is about saving my braid ($$) by not cutting into it a number of times per outing when I need to retie. A leader solves that issue for me. Plus braid is better with line management on a spinning reel. For me, leaders are Yo-Zuri Hybrid in 6, 8, 10, and sometimes 15. Also bought three spools of Gamma Edge Fluoro in 6, 8, 10, and enjoy using that as well. Works for all manner of freshwater fishing I do. 15# is for those times when I need more power when in the very nastiest of stuff. Oh, and I use 10 and 15# PowerPro Super Slick. I use a uni-to-uni knot most of the time, and also the Mod'd Albright aka Alberto knot to join braid to leader.

Can't help with your situation, but welcome aboard!

I will use M XF on some of my multi-purpose setups, i.e., mostly wacky rig, TX rig, etc. I was all XF all the time, but have enjoyed "Fast" setups these days as I've been using Ned rig, drop shot more than before.

Welcome aboard! The Stradic is a great start Since I have no experience with Dobyns I can't help there, but if we're talking ML power, that's perfect for what you describe. I've hauled in a lot of nice bass both large and smallies on ML.

Can't help you with rod storage on a boat (yakker myself), but seeing it's your first post, welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! Hmmm. Usually a positive for fluoro is abrasion resistance...curious.

Welcome aboard!

Welcome aboard! You'll know what he is when you walk thru the aisles at Bass Pro, or browse the online tackle shops and have an irresistible urge to click "add to cart" on more things than you can actually afford. And then you click "check out". And you get the stuff in the mail, have a good time using on the water.... And the process begins again. Bait Monkey. He jumps on your back telling you you always need more stuff.

2oz weights are what we use in saltwater, personally never used in fresh (don't do much punching), so really couldn't say whether these would do well. I'd grab the small size for more line compression. I searched my Amazon history and couldn't find the seller I used. Pretty sure I mentioned it in an older post here, tho. As mentioned, they all come from China, probably same factories.

Yep. Lifetime supply....below are just photos of one bag, got 3.

Let's see...many interests/hobbies which vary from year to year. Guitar, though I don't play as much as I used to. Mountain biking Tinkering with stuff (mostly learning car/truck repair on my own). Snake collecting, though this hobby is less collecting now and just finding them on hikes/walks/kayaking, handling them, taking pix, etc. Tennis - real and table But @A-Jay's real passion is doggie boots, you THOUGHT he meant dog sledding.

100% agree. We loved our vacation there a couple years back. We plan on returning in the coming years. Did OK, but I really needed more time since I fish from a yak.

1) 10# braid is fine w/o a leader if that's how you want to roll. Me? I use leaders 100% of the time to save $ in the long run. In the past I've lost significant amounts of braid to snags, not to mention cutting/retying all day. A leader will break on a snag saving your mainline, and so forth. 2) Do not set the hook hard. Proper drag setting and rod choice are essential. I lost a really nice bass once (10# braid + leader) because I had forgotten to back my drag down after tightening it to free a snag. The bass snapped my leader like it was a piece of spaghetti before you cook it. I always test it now before first cast to make sure I've got it set properly - like @Dwight Hottle said.

Beasts! Congrats on em both!

Congrats, Mike! Awesome hawg.

Great shot!

Welcome aboard!

So I guess "S" and "hawk" in your user name don't stand for SeaHawks!