bigturtle

#1. Daiwa #2. Daiwa #3. Daiwa

I actually find the PopMax to walk the easiest, noticeably easier than the xpod, slightly better than dog x

ya you are suppose to be able to feel a very noticeable vibration.

The taper of a rod can be very different across manufactures. A fast action usually indicates how much of the rod bends, not how it bends. It can be a very stiff slight bend, or a softer, whippy bend and both can be considered "fast action". For pure distance, you want a softer tip, but not uglystik kind of soft. As far as reels, have you tried the tatula series? For heavier baits, a reel with slightly heavier spool is a better option for distance.

Right now I only use decoy egg snaps (size 1 and 2) on my heavier lures (5/8oz+) and evergreen wide snaps (size 1) on my lighter ones Between the fastach and the speed clip, I would go with speed clip anyday due to the ease of use and slightly less snaggy design. I had the fastach clip before and I threw it out after an hour or so, I hated using that thing.

For a lure that heavy, i would step up the line size to 15-17lb, 8lb is way too light

swimbaits and jigs

I fish my mid sized swimbaits (1-3oz) on 30lb braid with 20lb mono leader.

if you want cheap and reliable, go buy better 2nd hand gear.

No, i still get the conpact profile and no need to worry about deforming the line hole when i bang it against cover. Ya i do lose some sensitivty but they are still sensitive enough for me, its not like they turn into lead lol.

I buy mine unpainted and color it myself. If I want some other color, I dip them in rubber paint. very durable and does not chip

I heat my weights to color them. Most of the time I will heat them red to turn it completely black, but sometimes i like to heat them slightly less to achieve a purple/blue color color.

any generic paddletail swimbait or bait with a flat surface to catch the water. If i want mine to run at super slow speeds I just boil it a bit and i can crawl my paddletails super super slow

Swimbait

30lb braid with 14-17lb fluoro or mono leader

Il buy one when a smaller size comes out

get a med/fast

use the size you borrowed from your friend

Is the LV 500GP the same as LV500, except the little blade on the chin? How different is the fall rate and the action of a straight retrieve?

Yum Money Minnow

gamakatsu skipgap hooks are light wire, and fish over 3-4lb will have a chance of straightening them out

when you are using a big swimbait like a magdraft, i highly doubt the color matters too much. its so big and makes so much vibrations and thumping, fish have no problem sensing it

I use the gamakatsu lightwire 1/4oz football head for swimming grubs and other smaller stuff. I find the football head makes it a bit more snag resistant when im fishing around wood, and seems to help it track just a tad deeper than ball heads https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Gamakatsu_Football_Jig_Heads_5pk/descpage-GFB.html?from=basres

personally, I use the 15lb on my ML spinning rod and its fine. On my baitcasters, iv tried the 40lb, and find it way too soft, would get wind knots way too often. I prefer harder braids on baitcasters.

i have one, i like mine. I throw everything from 1/2oz poppers and swimjigs to 2oz swimbaits and A-rigs on mine, never thought the spool was too shallow. I got it spooled with straight 30lb braid, and the most line iv had out was maybe 2/3 of the spool. I think the spool size is perfect for me.