OnthePotomac

I do not have your boat, but on my G3 Pro 175 I went to Lowes and pulled off a piece of 48" wide hard foam pad from the roller, trimmed it to fit the front deck and the reels and baits sit on that instead of carpet. Good on my feet to stand on also. It is about 1" thick and does not blow up under way. It also keeps the gunk from scented worms off the carpet and no rug rash on the reels. The 48" takes it about 6" back from the butt seat deck mount so I just cut a hole in it to fit.

I have only used the 14lb with a uni on the hook and so far never a problem.

Nope, quiet as a mouse. I have always done all of my own reel maintenance with Shimano ACT2, or Cal's drag grease on these high speed gears (which Shimano recommends). I have been dong my own reels for 19 years (cleaning, lubing and super tuning) and learned at the outset from a reel pro that spinning a reel handle is not much of a test for anything.

The reel will be released in August, 2020. I still don't understand Curado 70 "geary" complaints. My 70 XG's are four years old and never been "geary".

Every Shimano I own (Curados, Chronarchs) has 2 brakes on and the outside dial on "2" and no matter what I throw they never change.

Listen to DVT. Cleaned, properly lubed bearings with a quality bearing oil will keep bearing going for a very long time. I have reels 10 years old with original spool bearings still doing just fine.

Right now I am only fishing the whopper 110, which works well on 17lb XL mono.

All of my Texas rigged plastics are fished on a 7' MH fast tip with 15lb IInvizx and a really fast reel. Really thick grass mats.

Either June Bug or a Senko in green pumpkin with large copper fleck and a chartreuse tail. Summer Potomac bass seem to like that Senko and a bubble gum worm.

That works for sure.

If it is a hull with rivets be careful. If yes it would be good if you had a chance to put water inside to look for leaks. Probably also a good idea even a welded hull. A leak will sure show up.

I can only add that 12, 15lb Invizx have been my go to lines for over 5 years on the Potomac grass beds for plastics and always a uni knot to the hook. The 12lb on a medium, 7' fast tip Carbonlite and a 7' MH fast tip and the 15lb on a 7' MH fast tip Carbonlite. No breaking problems. No braid involved. Both come on a 1000yd spool.

Suggest you put your drained oil in a clear glass/plastic jar to hold up to the light to check for water in the fluid. If you have water it will show up milky and easy to detect. I drain mine in to a plastic shoe box and pour it into a large glass jar. From there it goes into a plastic jar with a screw top then off to the county land fill used oil disposal.

I do well on either a 3/0, or 4/0 hook EWG Texas rigged (depending on the bait size) with a 1/8th, or 3/16 slip sinker in front,

The A Walker size 100 has a nice tight wiggle and won't flop all over the place.

If this will help. I run a 55lb 12V variable speed digital Motor Guide on my 850lb 17'6" aluminum with a 60 Yammie and 21 gallon gas tank. The prop on it is pretty weedless and I use a 12V Deka Marine Size 27 with all the power I need on the river. This battery weighs 59lbs.

Green and blue is the color of a lot of crawfish.

I will second that. I have either 12 lb, 15lb or 20lb Invizx on 14 of my 19 bait cast reels. Love the stuff. Never understood anyone having trouble with flouro carbon.

My TM battery Is a size 27 DEKA Marine Master HD Deep Cycle, 575 CCA, 25 amp AVG 200Min. Just like my last one.

Can't tell you how many times I have had a "got to have this one" moment only to get home and there is the same bait, color and all. Then it is scary when I do not remember buying the one I have. My wife calls it "bass bait brain dead"?

Glad Glenn posted the video as I was about to say there are a ton of You Tube videos on this subject. Popular subject.

Try the A Walker on your swim jig in the 100 size. It is a little stiffer and has a nice, tight wiggle.

Deleted my comment since I already said my piece on the 70 grinding comments above. Still no grinding on my four year old 70XG's.

Right on DVT, the normal drag setting on that reel is quite sufficient for any thing unless you are fishing for a whale. Any way is is on my SLX.

Are talking a 2500, or 3000 size? The only difference is the 3000 has a larger spool. giving you more line. My choice would be a 3000.