Tywithay

I'd look for a good deal on a Daiwa Tatula 7' MR. It's $149 regularly, but you can find them on sale. Should be memorial sales soon as well. There's not many rods that are lighter or as well built, in that price range.

First thing I'd check is the spring washers under the drag star and make sure they're facing each other ()

Shimano stopped putting the 4x8 DC in their reels after that. Now we get the boring preset stuff. The Calais DC on the longest cast setting is still probably one of the furthest casting freshwater reels ever made.

For bass fishing, there's no real need for bigger than a 1000 unless you're using straight fluorocarbon.

I wasn't sure if I would like the blue, but it catches my eye every time I walk through my back room. It's a good looking reel.

The main advantage to the small eyelets is weight savings. There's some that claim better casting or line management, but weight is the only advantage I've seen.

I haven't gotten to use it a lot because the weather is not cooperating, but the little I've seen has been impressive. I have an SV, Coastal SV, and 3 Elites, so my bias is pretty clear. That said, the Coastal SV is a really nice blend of the two others. I don't think it'll handle light baits as well as the SV, but it'll manage. On the flip side, I didn't see quite as much distance as the Elite, but it was very good distance with little effort. The performance of all 3 reels is plenty good enough that you're not going to miss out on a ton of performance buying one over the other, in my opinion. I prefer the Elites because I like the little bit of distance and don't really require the control of the SV. If you like the looks of one over the other, that's probably the one I'd pick. And yes, I just asked mine about bass and the reel has no clue what kind of fish it's catching.

Assassin has slightly more stretch, as far as I can tell. As a result, it's a little more manageable. I still prefer Sniper because it seems to have better abrasion resistance and sensitivity, but I haven't tested them side by side extensively. If you put both on a rod and didn't tell me, I don't know if it'd be a big difference.

Swimbaits...he mentioned it in his post. Your best bet is going to be inshore rods. The Tsunami Carbon Shield 8' XH is rated 1-4oz. Penn Squadron is only like $50 and has a 7' H rod rated 1-4oz. I'm sure there are comparable rods from other manufacturers. Just have to look around the google.

I have baitcasters that I use for bluegill and spinning reels that are used for 50lb catfish. There is no right or wrong. Catch fish and have fun.

Legend Xtreme aren't that light either, compared to the nrx and Conquest. The weight is in the handle though, so the balance is excellent.

Only rod I have out of the bunch is the Black Widow. I don't think it's worth the retail. It's a really nice rod, but the blank is really thick and not that light, though it does balance well. If you're interested in Edge, I'd look at the Silver Widows with the xray blank, or even a Kistler Zbone with the xray blank.

Edge NEO, Kistler Feel N Reel, Lews David Fritts, Phenix X, Okuma EVX There's a few out there.

Might need to remove a washer shim under the spool, if theres more than one. Daiwa abs spools should have a tapered line lay, not flat. That could result in line piling towards the bottom of the spool, rather than the top as it's supposed to.

Mono rebounds up to a certain point and fluorocarbon will develop microfractures when stretched too far. Wouldn't advise either personally, as neither seems necessary.

I had a chance to use the Coastal SV a bit the past couple days. It's not as free as the Elite, but it definitely feels a little less braked than the Tatula SV with 1/2oz. I don't think it's leaps and bounds better, but if you find a deal it's worth it for a little added performance and the zaion star. I don't think it will handle light baits as well because of the added weight from line capacity, but I have no reason to believe it wouldn't handle them well enough to get by. Need to do a more apples to apples comparison on the same rod to really gauge the performance.

Never seen a need for it. Mono is soft as it is.

Ask in the for sale section as well. A lot of guys change them out for aftermarket knobs and have extra knobs of all varieties laying around.

If you're looking at split grips I think it's worth getting the Mojo over the Premier. Made in USA is nice, but you get a much better blank on the Mojo.

I don't think any fluorocarbon is as manageable as braid, but they're not that difficult. Main things are don't buy the cheap stuff and tie a good wet (like dripping wet) knot.

Probably because of the SV. It's geared towards inshore finesse.

If you already have a Bantam, you'll always wonder about the Metanium

For that money, I'd look at the Expride, or even a KLX. Both are noticeably more sensitive than the dobyns, in my opinion. For skipping, I'd look at shorter rods in the 6'10" range. You can do ot with a longer rod, but it makes it less precise.

It's not really thick, just labeled incorrectly (like most US lines). If you compare the diameter vs. actual breaking strength, nearly every line is in the same ball park.

I had a trigger break off so I sanded it smooth. It felt pretty good, but I like having the trigger. Edge rods made flipping sticks without triggers. Forget what their reasoning was, but it's supposed to be good for whatever reason.