bigturtle

No, they arent all the same. Hard to choose? Not for me, but since you seem new at this, go but 4-5 of the popular baits and try it yourself. Do I normally use one type? No, I use a few different types.

Your question is way too vague, asking for difference between all the creature baits on the market. Go grab yourself a few different ones that has really good reviews, or you hear about a lot. A zoom brush hog, powerbait power worm, pit boss, rage craw, etc all catches fish. In fact, pretty much all soft plastic baits iv used caught fish.

I personally prefer made in Japan things above anything else, because Iv lived in Japan longer than anywhere else. USA, China, Malaysia, Korea, Canada, its all the same in my eyes, all got bad stuff, all got good stuff.

I dont think I have owned a bait in the past 2-3 years that had a dull hook. That's not just luckycraft, im talking every hardbait Iv bought. Strike king, megabass, deps, river2sea, livetarget, heddon, rapala, etc. All the brands I buy have very good hooks out of the package. The only times I change them right after is to beef it up to a 2X hook. I don't know if you are just unlucky, getting all the sub-par hooks, or you are way too picky. This is the first time I heard someone having problem with lucky craft hooks.

What problems do you have with lucky craft's hooks?

i use the rubberband trick a lot

Cool

Hi, your question is way too vague. That's like asking "Hey, looking to buy a car, what model would you recommend, something cheap please" Why dont you start by telling us your preferred rod length, budget, and type of structure/vegetation present in your body of water.

I read your post three times, have no clue what you are describing

Your point system is partially flawed because you are basing it off of quantity, not quality for weight and bearings. Light weight and more bearing does not mean a better reel. For example, I would rank the Tatula CT above the Orra SX and Revo SX, near the top. The Curado 200 should also be in the top 3. Your topic is one that comes up on this fishing forum at least once a week. Google search them, and read the responses there.

I dont care what the secondary color is, if its chrome I throw it in clear water regardless of the weather.

Do not do this. You may warp/damage your spool if your line is heavy enough. Always wrap it around something else, a stick, your pliers, whatever, and pull with it instead. This is especially risky with finesse or thin walled spools

What kind of hook keeper is that? looks homemade

Hes asking bionic blade vs crankin stick.

Sounds fine for a 3 rod setup. Your 7'3" MH rod has an extra-fast action, so it wont be the best for any sort of treble hook baits like crankbaits, jerkbaits or topwater, but your medium spinning rod can do those, maybe #10 instead of #8 line.

Theres was a big thread on those, and has reviews, might want to search for it

Daiwa Ardito. only available in 7' and 7'6", but a good rod. http://www.daiwa.com/us/contents/rods/ardito_tr/index.html You other option would be Fenwick Methods. You get 5 pieces (1 handle, 2 back section, 2 tip section) and can configure the pieces to whatever power/action as you see fit, basically giving you 4 different rods in 1. http://www.fenwickfishing.com/fenwick-travel-rods-fenwick-methods/fenwick-methods-spinning/1363875.html

doesnt look like the reel can take abuse from the reviews online

There are tons of bull shad imitations, most swims in a very curvy s action. I dont know about that one, but if you are so interested, try it.

As far as your soft plastic rod is concerned, go with LT. It should be more sensitive, but not because of full vs split grip, those dont make any difference.

vertical line tie is favored for grass because it parts the grass easier, horizontal is favored for other stuff because its slightly harder to get wedged into small cracks and whatnot

I use Daiwa reels, and even when I set my breaks to 0/20, its not truely 0 like shimano reels. There will always be a bit of magnetic break no matter how low I set the dial due to the nature of the system. I have fished at 0 a few times when casting 1/8oz minnows using 8lb braid, and I honestly don't see any casting distance over 2-3 breaks.

If you are using braid, the only thing a bigger spool offers is a bit more line intake per turn of the handle. line memory dont affect braid, so an increase in casting distance that would be seen on mono/fluoro isnt there for braid. I guess the other thing is heavier reel, if you need that for balance.

Remember when the Zillion SV TW came out, they discontinued the regular Zillion TW? Same thing might happen with the Tatula line, but Im leaning towards no. If you arent in a hurry, just wait it out

Iv fished it, and so have many of my friends. It doesnt sink, thats just marketing BS. Tackletour even did a review on it, read it.http://www.tackletour.com/reviewsufix832braidpg3.html Sufix advertises gore fiber helps with abrasion resistance, tackletour and myself both found it to be questionable. Is not bad, but certainly not better than any other braid.