Arv

Troll much?

I feel like I've mostly heard good things about them...White isn't really my color, but I know a lot of people out there like it. I'm mostly interested to see how long this thread stays open

I feel like a lot of people are staying away b/c of the aluminum handles.

Weight or weightless? Yes.

I wonder if this is indicative of the general population of fishermen. I've also seen similar results on other forums, however, it could just be because us left hand crankers are more passionate about the topic providing a voluntary response bias (I think that's the right bias...). I have a hard time believing that companies aren't aware that the majority of fishermen crank with their left hand, as that would put more money in their pockets assuming these polls are accurate, but who knows.

Regular old scissors

x2 6'6 - 7' MH/F or M/F, depending on the rod. Once you know your price range you should be able to find a ton of info on which rods are worth looking at. If you have any questions, ask away!

Recon is my favorite worm, easy

I have a bunch of higher end gear sitting in my house and it's not catching anything. More expensive gear can be beneficial as it usually performs better, but is it worth the money? That's up to you.

1. You're over working it 2. There are no fish where you are fishing

Lol! I don't NEEED a lot of things, but that doesn't always matter. You know how persuasive the bait monkey can be though.

I agree with considering the Mojo over the Premier. So, between the Mojo and the Veritas I would usually recommend the Veritas. I feel that the Veritas is more sensitive and balances better than the Mojo. However, since you are planning on using it for hard jerkbaits I would probably go with the Mojo (or Premier). The Veritas rods I used in the past were stiff rods so I was not comfortable using them with treble hooks. The tip on the Mojo was more forgiving which steers my recommendation it's direction. To throw in another suggestion, if you are willing to spend up to $130, I would STRONGLY consider the Fenwick Elite Tech Smallmouth rod. I think that would be a great versatile rod that would let you cover wacky rigs, hard jerkbaits and a number of other techniques.

The more I read and look at this reel I'm wanting to try it whenever I upgrade my Lews Tournament... Before it was a unanimous upgrade to the Tournament Pro, now I'm, at the very least, intrigued by the new Curado.

I've caught most off a zoom trick worn

Personally, I prefer centrifugal brakes over magnetic, but the combination, I feel like, really lets me fine tune the reel depending on wind, weight of the lure, etc. I pretty much set the centrifugal pins (like Shimano reels) and then just play with the mag brake knob from there. Not that only magnetic or only centrifugal is a bad thing. If you like one or the other, so be it. You'll catch just as many fish as the next guy if you're proficient with your reel.

Lews Tournament Speed Spool/Powell Max 683c, but I also only have 5 combos.

Tournament Pro > Tournament > Speed Spool. IMO, this is definitely a situation where you get what you pay for. I don't think you can go wrong with any of them, but I would definitely buy the best reel you can get as the performance, materials and features (depending on the reel) improve as you go up the ladder.

x2

I'll be honest, I'm just getting into hard jerkbaits so I'm not sure what I like yet, although I've read from some experienced jerkbait fishers that that is what they use

I like braid as a main line. If anything I just like the manageability of it on a spinning reel. But braid to an fc leader is my favorite combo add far as line goes.

Seems like you got people's opinions... seems like you know what you want too...

Sniper is awesome

Flip the prices, wait till a sale and get a lews tournament pro with a dobyns Champion

agreed, you need to keep the reel and get a nice rod to go with it!

Like most everyone has said, you can't go wrong either way, but I give the slight edge to the Lews