NBR

I have 3 or 4 of their reels and they have all served me well.

10 to 17# limp (easy casting) mono. Ligher side if your water is pretty free on weeds, pads etc heavier side if not.

In recent years I haven't had enough large mouth action to comment. Smallies are a different matter and I think a fish on the line excites the others. When fishing with others when one has a fish on the other guy gets his lure in and pitches it right behind the hooked fish. More times than not there is another smallie right there. On a trip to Ontario a few years ago my partner caught the biggest of the trip that waas right behind the fish I had hooked. Smallies are very competitive.

It's mechanical advantage like in a lever. The longer the lever arm from the pivot place the easier it is to lift something. In gearing the lower the gear ratio the longer the lever arm and the easier to crank. I don't crank deep so I don't have any low gear ratio reels.

Call or Google the MD foundation. They should have a listing of those who could help. My wife teaches all sorts of challenged people from youngsters to adults to ski and it is amazing what can be done.

140 Water is pretty hot to the touch. Before I spent unneccessary money I'd catch a sample and check the temperature with a thermometer. If the temp of the sample is 140 or less you should be just fine.

I would go with a high gear ratio. This results in picking up the slack from the rod tip to the sinker and then from the sinker to the bait. I use my flipping stick so I get a long rod sweep on the hook set.

Almost any soft plasatic with my favorites being french fries, Senkos and bait fish look a likes.

I've had 4 or 5 of their reels with only one problem and they replaced it quickly and without any hassle!

I have used it for 3 or 4 seasons with no trouble!

Others have addressed the rod issue. So I will mention line. Gradually I have switched to fluoro for all under water presentations except Crigging where I use braid with a fluoro leader. For surface and shallow presentations I use mono which I will use on spinner baits from time to time. The lakes I fish are very clear with little cover except for rocks.

Hey if you can't cast with it you might be able to use it trolling ( I can't believe I used the T word ) or you can put some real heavy line on it and tie your bait knocker to it thereby having every thing neat,

The brakes put a load on the spool as it is revolving. The more brakes the larger the load. The cast control is alway on the spool shaft and in part compensates for the weight of the package you are casting. i.e. bait, sinkers and any thing else. You are correct to keep the cast control tighter as you learn you will be able to loosen the cast control and the brakes and get more distance.

I believe they are all supposed to be evacuated,sealed and filled with nitrogen at the factory. I would call the manufacturer for suggestions.

Reel Mechanic has a great tutorial go to his web site to find. Then practise!

Since I started with egg beater reels when I set the hook with my bait casters I automatically put my thumb on the reel spool pretty hard. I can get a good hook set and keep a lighter drag setting.

In some states it might be. Look at your local laws or if you have a Marine Patrol or Sheriff's water patrol ask them. Too large a motor might nullify your insurance.

As I remember Don Iovino said in his book the structure would be 6 to 8 feet behind the transducer at slow boat speeds. The deeper the water and faster the boat speed puts the structure farther back.

I prefer bait casters over spinning for every thing except baits under 1/8 ounce, drop shot and skipping. My reasons are more accurate casting and better fish control. I have one fishing buddy who switched to bait caster about ten years ago and now doesn't use his spinning gear at all. Another decided he should use a bait caster and bought a Curado paired with a St. Croix rod and a Pflueger on an Ugly stick. The first guy practiced a lot and got very good with the bait caster. The second never practiced and never developed the skills needed. Number 2 and I have fished together for several weeks in Canada and I would bet he has not used his bail casters over a hour a week. My take is that bcers. have advantages over spinning gear but if you are not willing to go through the learning curve don't bother.

I am near the reverse. I rarely change lines unless the reel spool needs more line for efficient casting. Rods, reels and line are kept out of sunlight and exreme temperatures. The only time my reels see sunshine is on the boat deck and ocassionally casting practice. I do watch for nicks carefully and cut the line back often. The last time I was broken off by a fish was during my light line phase nearly 50 years ago. I lost one fish that took a light jig and a pork strip and wrapped my 2 # mono around some weeds. Shortly after I hooked a monster northern using 8 # braid(not todays braid). In those days there were no drags bait casting reels. The fish was headed for a big tree laydown and I figured I either turned it or it would break off in the tree. I hadboth thunbs squezzing down on the reel when the line popped. I've been bit off a few times but that is to be expected when you fish where there are toothy critters and don't use a metal leader of some sort. I will check line from time to time by tying it to some thing pretty stout and pulling until it breaks. If it doesn't break at the kn ot the line is suspect.

The longer the rod the faster the tip is traveling with the same effort.If the tip is going faster the lure is going faster. Therefore it will fly farther before it touches down.

Reel Mechanic should weigh back into this one for good information not my memory but here goes. I seem to recall RM writing one time that all reels used the same quality bearings. So to improve bearing function you would have to upgrade the bearings. Before I retired my employer supplied components and I worked with many bearing companies. So as I recall bearing are numbered with letters followed by a number. If I recall correctly the letters are AFBMA, Antifriction Bearing Manufactures Association. I believe the numbers might start as low as 1 and get larger with a 3 being about average and a 7 being high quality. For a given size bearing you can only get so many balls into the race. Increases in quality and therefore cost is in the tolerances in the races and ball diameters. They will select fit some bearings to make the balls as close to the same size as possible. We are not talking measurements you do with a hand held micrometer but far more sophisticated equipment. Maybe into the millionth of an inch certainly into the .ooo1 inch range or closer. Many other things come into the quality such as the spherical tolerances and material. I guess what I used a lot of words to say that it would be pretty hard to look at a class 3 bearing and a class 7 with the naked eye and tell the difference.

I much prefer baitcasters to spining gear but when it gets to less the 1/8 ounce or a little more BCers are just not worth the extra effort. BC rods also are very important. Don't try light lures on MH or H rods and use light line 10 pounds or preferably lighter.

I moved from an area with many flippin opprotunities to one with chrystal clear water and the cover almost exclusively rocks. Now I use my flippin out fit for Carolina rigs and it works great.

Many if not all marina's have gas without ethanol. It is more expensive but I use gas from a marina just to eliminate the ethanol issues.