OnthePotomac

My grandson uses this one. It holds 8 combos,zips all the way down to expose all rods and reels. Close,zip it and good to go. https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-extreme-combo-caddy-rod-and-reel-carrier?searchTerm=Bass Pro Shops Extreme Combo Caddy Rod and Reel Carrier

Zona was drop shot smallie fishing this morning with a 7'2" Diawa with a really soft tip and kept repeating how important the soft tip is for drop shot.

Handle up can provide better brake performance.

Depends on the water you fish for clarity. A leader is not required on the Tidal Potomac on any line. Kinda nice not having to mess with it. Now watch Toxic say he uses one (but he is far more expert with longevity on the river than me). LOL

When I retired and got into bass fishing 20 years ago I started with a nice Quantum round reel, not knowing what I was doing, but after three years gave it up and bought my first Shimano reel, a Curado 100B. Ended up with three in short order and still use them on a regular basis. Not a mark on them and fish like the day they came out of the box.

I don't have to clean anything out of my AR bearings, but if I did I would use CRC Electronic cleaner in the spray can. It dissolves oil, or grease really fast, dry fast, leaves no residue and is not corrosive and won't blow you up. I use it clean my regular bearings. Great to have on the boat also. Wally world sells it in the automotive section.

ShortFish, that is what I have. The metal arm sits in a slot for two positions. It is not attached to the base. As I said it has served me well for 15 years. Some people are just hard on equipment I guess. You can see by the size of the moveable arm that it will hold a 1000 yd spool as I have done. I have a large plastic C clamp I use to stabilize it on my work bench because I spool directly on to my reels mounted on the rod. Not needed if you mount the reel on the spooler as shown in your post.

My frog rod is a KVD 7' MH fast tip, 1-1 1/4, 10-20lb, with a Curado E 7:1 with 50lb 832. Works fine

Get a Berkley line spooler, clamp it to a table/work bench top and it will do every line and spool size for $20. Mine will hold a 1000yd spool. The instructions will tell you to spool baitcasters from the top and spinning reels from the bottom. I have had mine for 15 years and could not live without it. For the jumbo spools with really big holes I just add rubber washers on each side of the large spool. The regular spool holders tighten sufficiently on regular line spools for tension control.

Walked into our BPS three years ago and they had a KVD 7' MH, 1/4-1/14. 10-20lb rating on sale for $80. On a long shot I put 50lb 832 braid on a Curado E 7:1 and started throwing a frog and it turned out to be a perfect set up for the Potomac grass beds. I already had the reel.

Out of the box I clean and lube the spool bearings only, make sure the spool shafts are clean and shiny and run a pipe cleaner through the pinion gear to remove any grease/oil which may exist. The rest of the reel goes on the annual teardown and lube schedule.

It should be great for spinner baits and top waters.

When I clean my reels each winter I simply put a touch of reel oil on a real hard QTip (do not use the big fluffy QTips) and run it around the roller bearings a few times. Good to go. Listen to DVT guys on clean spool shafts, oil or grease on spool shafts will only slow things down. I even polish my spool shafts and their ends with a dremel.

I had a 7'6" years ago but would only go down to 7".

You are correct on your comment regarding 50lb braid on a spinning reel. 50lb braid is usually the equivalent of 20lb line in diameter.

Trailer too long, or weed guard too stiff?

Thanks for that web site. Very nice.

If this will help, I use 15lb InvizX (.013" Dia) on my two 70XG's with a little 10lb mono backing and if I do want a long cast I have never had a problem with not enough line. Most of the time however I throw about 20 yds in heavy grass beds with weightless plastics.

I fish a lot of plastics in heavy grass beds and you do not want long casts in this environment. Maybe 20yds at most.

The Tidal Potomac on a good day will be 1-2ft visibility and those who like braid just use braid and it works for them.

Depends on the reel. I have them on some of my reels, but not all. Depends on the handles. On those with them I like the feel.

I have several rods with same specs (different make) and use them for everything under the sun from weightless plastics, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, swimbaits and jigs. Different reels on them of course with lines including 10, 12, 14, 17 and 20lb mono; and 10, 12, and 15lb Flouro.

I am a mono fan for top waters, but I am fortunate to have a Rick Clunn top water rod to keep it on. Years ago when he was affiliated with BPS he developed this rod for top waters. It is a 6'6"MH with a really soft tip for this purpose and of course BPS and he went separate ways and dropped his rods. One day at that time I went into BPS and they had his rods on clearance for $80. I got the last one on the rack, not sure what it would be like, but he knew what he was doing and it has been an incredible top water rod. I just like the feel of the rod with 14lb BPS Excel mono on a Curado 200E7. I do not do frogs on it.

If this will help, I had a Pro Qualifier for three years (got $50 for it on the BPS trade in for a Chronarch) and loved that little reel. I had it spooled with 20lb BPS Excel mono and used it for plastic swim baits and plastic frogs. It never missed a beat.

I would pull the line off the reel for a good distance straight out, remove the bait then crank the line back on the reel while gripping the line between your fingers with a cotton ball soaked with KVD Line and Lure Conditioner. Once back on the reel, spray it with KVD and this should work to remove the "coiling" from being on the reel so long. Thank you Lord for children's hospitals.