mrpao

That abu is a beauty. Has that clean vintage look to it. You should definitely keep it.

Go with a dark green color braid. It will look more natural in the clear water that you fish. Bright color braids will look like an anchor rope in that clear water. Also I like a 8 strand braid for spinning reels. It will be much more smooth on the cast and retreive. Its usually much more limp than the 4 strand braid. Lastly, I would probably go at least 15lbs if not 20lbs on the line weight. Braid is pretty thin so you can get away with heavier line. And braid frays fairly easily so the thicker line will be extra insurance in case of any abrasion.

Since its a daiwa reel pair it up with a daiwa rod. Check out the Daiwa Procyon castings rods. Around $80. 24 ton graphite rating. They seem pretty light and sensitive for the price.

Check out Cats and Carp on YouTube. Luke will give you all the info you are looking for.

Never had an issue with any of my shimano cast control knobs becoming loose. Or any reel for that fact. There's usually a rubber O ring on the threads that hold it in place.

I use mine for jigs. I dont see why it wouldn't work for frogs, unless you like a slightly slower tip. The tip on the FMJ is fairly fast. My primary frog rod is a 7'2" Jackson Supertrickster and it has a pretty fast tip but works well for me. I like a fast tip to help move the fish out of cover.

If the reel is still in good shape a tuneup or rebuild is probably not necessary

Yes. They are daiwa OG corks. I prefer them over the tiny stock flat shimano knobs. Funny. So far my reels haven't blown up yet. I have daiwa knobs on most of my shimanos.

I have my 7'2" med light expride paired up with a Aldebaran HG. Its a great combo. The expride fishes more like a medium than a med light. I use mine for 3/16 to 1/4 T-rigs with 12 lbs P-line tactical. This rod and my GLX 852c fish about the same. The expride tip might be slightly more stiff but not by much.

Line depends on what you are fishing for and where. Around cover you may want heavier more abrasion resistant line. In clear water, thin clear line. For example. If crappie fishing with jigs in deeper water I usually go with trilene XL #6 clear. When crappie fishing around heavy cover in stained water, I might use daiwa J-braid green #15 so I dont lose so many jigs.

The majorcraft nanoace is also a good rod. They are super light and pretty sensitive for the money. I have the med 6'9" jig/ worm and two 7' cranking models. Wait for TW sales and they can be had for cheaper.

The 7' expride is a awesome rod. Dont let the low line ratings fool you. The expride blows the curado rod and zodias out of the water. Super sensitive and light.

For spinnerbaits - trilene big game #15 For jigs - P-line tatical flourocarbon #15 or 17.

Sorry about the neighbor. Nice collection though

What he said here. Plus, I like a faster reel. At least 7:1 gear ratio or more. It's easier to keep a buzzbait on top. And the rod needs to be 7' or longer to help get those longer cast out and better hooksets.

This.

Spinning or casting? Also what is your idea of finesse?

Adding shims or washers is quite common. As is removing them, to get proper line lay. That why they include them. I think all spinning reels should include extra shims. Some cheaper reels dont include them so if you get bad line lay on the spool, you're just out of luck. Even different lines will lay different on the same spool. I've had to remove or add shims when switching line sizes before, so it doesn't bunch up on the spool.

The med hvy crucial rod tends to be fairly stiff and not a very good rod for treble hook baits. The expride 6'10" is great for topwaters and jerkbaits. It is a much softer rod. I hear the megabass one ten special is also a superb rod for those techniques. Any rod that is not quite so stiff and fast would probably do well.

The main difference is the spool size. The really weight almost the same. Also the 3000 has the T knob not the I knob. Personally I prefer the T knob but alot of people like the I knob better.

Try adding spool shims to even out the line lay.

I have the 7' ultralight Presso. Decent rod but definitely pretty limber. It does has some backbone though, once you get pass the soft tip. I have mine paired up with a daiwa QG750 reel with 6 lbs test. Very nice looking combo. I have been throwing small crankbaits with it for crappies.

I like many of my older reels. Core 50, curado 50e, calcutta 50b, conguest 50, Core 100mg7, etc I also like my newer reels. Aldebaran MGL, conguest 100, Lews TI mag, Lews hyper mag, curado 70, etc. If I like a certain reel, I hang on to it. No need to get rid of what works for me just because something else came out. Just buy the new reel too.

I probably bass fish 80% of the time but I am game for pretty much anything that will bite. I just enjoy fishing. I'll fish from at small creek to deep sea fishing. And not just fish. Crabbing, netting, frogging, etc. Its all fun to me.

The Lews TI is a decent reel. I have one that I am using as a frog, whopper plopper and buzzbait reel. Is it worth the asking retail price? Proberly not. But then again what reel really is. Especially the higher priced reels. To me, most of the Lews reels that I have had feel all about the same. Granted, I have not had any of there low end budget reels. I have owned most of their offerings from the Tournament MB ($140) on up. They are all great casting and smooth. If i was to close my eyes, it would be hard to tell which reel was in my hand. That being said, I only own three Lews reels at the moment- Lews TI Mag, Hyper Mag and a older Tournament MG. All are great reels. My choice is the Hyper Mag, mainly because of the lighter weight. And its a littler cheaper than the TI Mag. It looks like Lews has a few new reels that they are adding this year also. They may be worth checking out. As far as the other two shimano reels, I cant say a whole lots about them. Even though I am a Shimano fan boy, I am not a fan of DC reels or the Antares. To me the DC feature is just something fancy to break later down the road. And the Antares up until recently has been a very heavy bulky reel. They new antares may be worth a look at, but for the money shimano has many other reels that would preform just as good.