Angry John

if your rod is a MH and rated up to 1.5 oz it must be a MH pitching stick. I throw the 168 on my avid heavy with zero worries and its rated to 1.5 but st croix is known to run powerful. The good news is that the hooks on the 168 are beefy and you can give them a little juice without tearing them out like on a crankbait. Longer rods work better for big baits because they dont load and unload as fast. (knowing that rod speed is a function of percentage of length) An optimum rod for throwing that bait would abe a heavy, Medium fast rated up to 2 oz.

The alphas is a great reel for this work. It's what I use. There is a spool for bfs if you want that later.

I'm in love with a very light coat of the daiwa space age grease. It even does well in the 30s. Colder than that I'm inside.

Hooks are kinda a personal choice. As an example I fish 5" worms on a 2/0 ewg. Most use a 3/0 for that bait. I dont normally catch bass over 4 or 5 lbs, and the biggest bass I landed was on a tiny crankbait with #6 trebbles. Good thing it was spring.

If you have a bearing you should clean it during your down winter time. When it gets full of junk the line twist increases. Bushings work well and should also get some love. The bearings are more Sensitive to buildup imo.

I use mustang survival as well. Good enough is never my.position when it comes to safety gear. I also spent 600 on a motorcycle helmet.

I have a 16 tacoma and towed an aluminum bass boat hundreds of miles Last year during the season. A glass boat really needs a full size truck and powerplant. I have the tow package and at highway speeds was getting 14 mpg. If your going 5-10 miles on backroads go for it. If your really towing get a full size.

Dont try and learn everything at once. If your going to get on the water, spend time learning your vessel, boat control, loading unloading and how to pack your yak/boat so you have what you need and know where it is. Spend that sonar money on a better rig and upgrade to sonar next year. Reading the conditions, boat control and a good plan is important regardless of the other gadgets you get to help you out.

3 colors. A solid. A clearish and a reflective like silver or gold. After that get a different bait. Action is the most important part of a jerkbait.

The lure no but the 64 million different color options yes. May need 2-3 colors of the same lure max.

I'm going to go a total different direction. Learn to spot fishy areas, the yearly migration patterns and your local food items. This will guide your bait choices, presentations and where you want to be on the lake. You can have a billion dollar tackle box and still catch nothing if your casting to empty waters. These skills are free and are the keys to repeated success. It's the gold of the fishing world that people want to buy.

That bait looks great. We each find a place in these hobbies we make our own. Best of luck in further ventures.

If your casting baits above 2 oz I prefer a round reel. I use a Luna 253, but the shimano reels work just as well. 20lb yhb and never have casted off a bait. I picked up my reel used for 100 bucks and it's ready to own anything in fresh water. The reel internals of a round reel are better up to the task of big bait fishing. There are some low profile options like the revo winch but there is nothing light and easy about big bait fishing.

If you start with a 6 soon you will want an 8. Its truly a sickness

The action speed to set the jig hook on a 68 hud is very different than what most desire for crankbaits. The gold standard for many years was the dobyns 807. The standard 6" weighs more than 2oz so I think you will be underpowered going with a rod which also be good for cranking. Jmo

They work great on verticle jigging spoons and even casting spoons.

If your a shimano only kind of guy hunt down an older core.

The 103 was wild the 100 not so much. A little Jeckle and Hyde

Sounds like a place for weightless watermelon red worms, very light weight natural color creatures like grubs and craws, and ayu keitechs. Tubes would also be high on the list.

I would recommend one of the zillions for that money and a sv103 if you can find one. You also may be able to slide into a steez if your really looking.

Dont limit good choices just because that bait is not present. I have caught tons of fish on huddleston shads and grass minnows on ponds with no shad. What kind of fish does a keitech or rage swimmer look like. Both are huge catchers for me. If your instant on matching the hatch you have hard and soft mattlures gills, and hud gills.

Full carbon. They provide the reduced weight of the split grip while providing all the function of a full grip. The size of your hands, what feels good, how you fish all matter. I got a cfx carbon grip on a custom rod and I have never experienced anything better. Sure wish my mb white python had them.

The keitech swimbaits rigged on owner weighted hooks are wonderful. A frog works well also.

I have no idea what your size or transportation limits are but the original grumman's aluminum canoes are very nice to fish 2. They paddle well and if you add an outrigger very stable. How much modifications along with setup and teardown time is up to you. The more you do yourself the cheaper you can pull off a killer rig.

If you are bass fishing and dont go under 3/8ths a custom on a pheonix x13 is amazing. It's a wonderful casting rod and my last. The handle on the production rod is to short for me and I throw a lot of 6 8 and 10xd cranks. You really need two rods and a spinning setup for under 3/8ths works well.