Tywithay

A used or heavily discounted Curado E or I. You can regularly find the Tatula for $100 and there's not a new reel in that price range that compares.

I don't much care for the Carbon Steel, but you can't beat free. The KLX is the best rod under $200 by a wide margin. It's one of the cleanest builds out there and the NFC blanks are fantastic. I'd say you made out like a bandit.

Get stuff from TW that's already on sale, then tack on the Black Friday discount. They always have a nice selection of stuff and you can get it for a ridiculous price.

Should be some good Black Friday sales in a few weeks, definitely take advantage of those. I would look at a Kistler KLX (easily the best rod under $200 and it's not close). A couple others that will be in your range with the sales are the Phenix Recon2 and St Croix Avid.

Durability is usually better. They typically use better materials the more you spend. Biggest upgrades I like to see are drag performance, line twist (quality roller bearing helps immensely), and smoothness under load (most reels are smooth, but few are smooth when you have a good fish on the line).

P-line fluoroclear is not fluorocarbon. The best low price one I've used is Sunline Super, but I wouldn't buy it again. In my opinion, it's worth a few more bucks for Sniper; or I'll just use a good mono. If you wait a couple weeks for Black Friday sales, you can get the better stuff at 25%-30% off.

Shimano 2500 and 3000 are the same diameter, the 3000 is just a touch deeper. I'd look around for a nice used Stradic 2500FJ. It's a little powerhouse.

Reel magic is basically just wd40. It does have uses inside the reel to prevent corrosion (not as a lubricant). KVD is a better product for what you want.

Technique specific is nothing more than a marketing term.

Supertuning isn't necessarily an upgrade, as much as a refinement. Casting distance may increase slightly, but casting ease will be greatly improved. That is, same distance with less efort. Retrieve will be more connected and much smoother. The drag washers are the biggest upgrade. It will start easier, pull smoother, and have a higher stopping power; over a stock drag. Whether it's worth it, is up to you. Most newer reels are plenty good enough, but if you want your reel to be a little better, Supertuning is a relatively cheap way to improve it.

Full grip for me. Don't care for split at all, you can have them. Not a huge fan of foregrips either, but I'd rather have a foregrip than exposed threads. Those threads look tacky and they are very abrasive on my finger after a day of fishing.

Ugly stik catfish rods, in this area. I worked part time at gander for a while, so I could get discounts. We sold probably 5-10 a week, when we were lucky to sell that many other rods combined.

My Curados were packed with grease. They loosen up a LOT with a proper cleaning. The spool bearings were especially packed.

I think the Curado is a better reel, but it sure the heck isn't a $50-$70 upgrade. The Tatula and Type R for $100 and $130 are about the best value you're going to find on the market, at any price point.

Tatula/***.

I order the 4x7x.5 or .25 from hobby shops as well.

Antares HG + NFC HM custom = $1250

*** is the best, but not for crankbaits necessarily. Premier glass is my favorite in that range. If you can wait a month until black Friday, you can get one for about $100.

Sniper

I didn't say it was necessarily worth the money. It is without a doubt the best non-fluoro line out there though.

The best copoly is Defier. Anyone that says something else is because they haven't used Defier. Out of your choices above, I prefer Mccoy.

If they were getting free rods, anyone would.

People on online forums make up a very small percentage of the fishing population. Most casual fisherman don't even know the benefits/disadvantages to using a left or right handed reel. They think a right handed reel is for a right handed person, and they far outnumber the lefties.

Even if they are exposed to heat, they'll be fine. Unless you're buying from some knock-off Chinese company, then the prepreg has already been cured. You can't cure resin twice.

I use backing to save money, not to keep the line from spinning on the spool. When you have to fill 30-40 reels each season, I'll save as much as I can.