LCG

Wondering if I remember what a bite felt like

You can tweak most baitcasters to not get a backlash, but at the cost of distance. Which is not always a bad thing. I can cast my Curado K mindlessly with 3 internal brakes on and the outside dial at 6 without backlasing with a loose spool tension and still get decent range.

BPS stick-o in watermelon red and junebug are my go to stick baits. Stock up on the bulk packs.

Spinning is probably the best to learn the basics. When or if you want to get a baitcasting rod for heavier lures and to learn a new tool.

I have an old Shimano compre 6'10" MH-XF and a Carbonlite 2.0 6'9 MH-XF casting rod that I use for Spinnerbaits. I prefer a xf action, personal preference. One rod has a spinnerbait and the other a weighted texas rig.

ML-XF or M-XF for my style of finesse fishing. 6'8"-6'10" is my ideal length.

I am waiting to see the review of the new 70 K MGL. They are both appealing, but I think I will be going with the K if it's as good as the 200 K.

Marketing pure and simple. Design a bait or technique that they can tout as the new secret. Build some mystery to it, some professional media attention, and let people pick up the trend. Ie the Ned rig, old tried and true technique reborn with elastic soft baits. And it works too, I got really into the Ned rig and am successful with it. But I also got away from the core ideology that midwest finesse is based on frugality. I like nice gear and lots of baits, but at the end of the day it's not necessary. But you gotta have a little fun in life

Today I was out at a local pond for 5 hours. Threw a weightless senko, texas rigged baby brush hog, spinnerbait, Ned rig, and a weightless trick worm. Nothing, not even a nibble. It happens sometimes. Focused on high percentage areas such as under overhanging trees, lay downs, deep pockets, etc. I guess they didn't want to play today.

No surgery, but took 9 months to heal from a rotator cuff tear from kayaking. Luckily most of the time was during the off season. It hurt so bad that I could not do anything with my dominate arm. Physio hurt but helped a lot. Take it slow and easy, you don't want to re-injure yourself.

I have used 10-30lb 4 carrier braid in their superpower series. It's good line but it's thicker diameter than listed. Holds color well enough. Inexpensive in the 500yd spools. Giving 832 or power pro v2 super slick a try soon as I want to try an 8 carrier braib in 40lb for my casting set up.

I use 20lb braid to a 8ft 6lb mono leader and have no issues with casting distance. I use 20lb braid because I found that 10lb gave some issues with wind knots. 20lb braid is equal to the diameter of 6-8lb mono so I don't think that's the issue. Your rod is rated 1/8-5/8oz and the sweet spot is probably in the middle 1/4-3/8oz. That's a pretty heavy Lure rating for a ML rod. My Medium extra fast rod is rated for 1/8-1/2oz. But 25ft is very short, maybe try letting out more line to gain more momentum during the cast.

Zman TRD. Things last forever and catch everything.

4/0 EWG hook rarely sees a gut hooked fish for me. I have gut fished fish and it sucks, but sounds like you are doing everything you can to preserve your fish. Maybe just more time on the water.

I like 832. Used 10lb and got wind knots. Went to 20lb and have no problems with knots on my spinning set up. Will be going with 40lb soon on my casting set up.

You could use a screwdriver to hammer a nail, but there are better tools for the job

I was just out throwing a zoom trick worm with a 1/8oz weight on a MH-XF rod rated 3/8-1oz with a Shimano Curado K spooled with 30lb braid to a 14lb mono leader and no issues. Total weight around .30oz. Your DC reel just needs to be dialed in by adjusting the spool tension with no side to side play and the appropriate brake settings for the Lure your throwing. Also cast smoothly and avoid whipping the rod. The cast should be a smooth, consistent motion and your thumb ready to react to stop the spool when the Lure enters the water. As for brands of reels, I would stick with Shimano or Daiwa personally. Lots of solid choices with those two brands.

Curado k 7.4:1, I find this gear ratio a nice middle ground that is versatile for most techniques. Easy to slow down or speed up as needed.

I had the 6'8" M-Xf spinning rod in the Mojo series. Nice rod for senkos. However, it was a little to powerful for other techniques. I probably would have been happier with the 6'10" ML-XF. I ended up selling it and replacing it with a carbonlite 2.0 6'8" M-Xf with is similar to St croix ML. I imagine you will be happy with the Mojo for awhile though. It's a solid rod overall.

I keep things fairly simple. Senkos, baby brush hogs, beaver style baits, finesse worms, and TRD's and Crawz (all in watermelon red for clearer water and junebug for dirty water). Also carry spinnerbaits, a chatterbait, frog, jig, and in line spinner for hard lures. Mostly throw texas rigged soft plastics due to vegetation and cover. Usually bring one spinning combo and one baitcasting combo, sometimes just one combo. I keep terminal tackle for Ned, neko, drop shot, texas rigs, and various weights 1/16 - 1/4oz. And mainly fish small bodies of water with less than 10ft of water. But same stuff works deeper too.

This ^

I have a 6'9" and a 6'10" MH-XF casting rod that is my do it all rod. Senkos, texas rigged creatures and Beavers, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, frog. Perfect length for me.

#3 Mepps in gold is one of my few hard lures I throw. Very successful Lure.

I had the same rod and sold it. Loved the rod but really wanted a faster action. Went with a BPS Carbonlite 2.0 6'8"M-Xf. Lure rating of 1/8-1/2oz, so it similar power to the Fenwick hmg ML-F, but with a faster action. Love the rod and have it paired with a Stradic FL. Great versatile set up. A st croix or gloomis ML-XF would be good as well.

I usually rig the TRD with a size 2 EWG hook and a 1/16oz bullet weight pegged. I fish in water that's less than 10ft deep. Cast it out, let it bottom and hop it or drag it slowly. Not much luck with the swim glide shake technique, maybe I need more practice. The slow drag or hop works pretty well though in slightly stained water. For murky water and I usually go with a senko or brush hog style plastic.