LCG

Plano 3601 thin boxes or Plano double sided tackle boxes. Keeps weight down but still offers enough to keep a variety of soft plastics and lures to choose from.

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When I want to keep it light and simple I use a small double sided Plano box with zman plastics and various jigs, hooks, and weights. This is way more than I truly need, but variety is nice too. Always bring a multi-tool to use as a knife and pliers. One spinning combo.

My finnese rod is used for ned rigs, neko rigs, drop shot, and light Texas rigs. It is 6'8" m-xf, 1/8-1/2oz lure rating. It's a BPS Carbonlite 2.0 spinning rod and is pretty sensitive, very comfortable, and decently priced when on sale. I also use 10 lb yellow braid to 6lb yo zuri hybrid leader.

Spinnerbait, chatterbait, and plastics that are dark colored.

I believe they call that wisdom

I have wrestled with rod length for quite awhile and realized that it's best to use what works best for you, not someone else. Personally I find my sweet spot to be 6'8"-6'10". It feels best to me and is versatile enough to be effective for longer casts and more accurate shorter cast (primary focus).

I use a 6'8" m-xf spinning rod with 10lb braid to a 6lb leader and a 6'9" Mh-xf casting rod with 30lb braid to a 14lb leader. Probably more of a confidence thing with the leader. To me best of both worlds and offers the most versatility.

10lb yellow braid to 6lb yo zuri hybrid leader. So far so good.

Invest in a landing net. It will be far cheaper than snapping every rod you buy. Rods are meant to cast lures and help fight fish, not lift dead weight.

Yes works well is stained to muddy water and around grass or weeds. You can add a variety of soft plastics as a trailer, no wrong choice really.

Those guys are fishing tournaments from bass boats. I don't think that is most people. Bank, kayak, and small boat anglers are a little bit more versatile out of necessity. Can't bring 20 rods with you. The pros also get paid to push products too. They do offer lots of great advice but you do have to filter some of it.

Never thrown swim baits before, but best of luck to you. Caught some 5lb smallies up north of sault ste marie, lake simcoe and on lake st Clair using larger brush hogs, larger beaver baits, and chatterbaits. Great time. Should be productive for you I would imagine. Post some pics when you get them.

Spinning rod - 7ft, medium power, fast action Casting rod - 7ft, medium heavy, fast action

Shorter rods more accurate, longer rods more distance. In the end personal preference.

My go to combos are a 6'8 m-xf spinning rod and a 6'9" Mh-xf casting rod. Covers 99% of my needs. Casting rod is for spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, Texas rigged creatures, and jigs.

I would think it is highly dependent on the manufacturer and the old saying you get what you pay for probably holds true. Whether there is any real world effect on small variances is argumentative at best I imagine.

Just bought two bps carbonlite 2.0 rods this spring. Light, sensitive, comfortable. Got them on sale. Worth checking out. Haven't had them long so durability is to be determined but I have heard many positive things about them.

Trick worms by zoom

6'8-7'2 medium light - medium power, fast to extra fast action. I have good experience with fenwick hmg, St Croix mojo and avid, and BPS carbonlite 2.0.

Here in Ontario it can be $10k fines, seizure of boat, vehicle, all fishing equipment, and lifetime ban of fishing license. Should be that way everywhere in my opinion. People should respect the laws and regulations put in place to protect our resources and wildlife.

I practice at home regularly and I can consistently hit a target the size of a leaf at 20ft, accuracy drops off any further. But realistically pitching is for close up targets anyways. More than 25-30ft I just short cast.

I have tried both, prefer oil. Seems smoother.

I like to use a long leader for a couple of reasons. Stretch, visibility, less leaders to tie on the water. I usually tie about 10 ft. I also use extra fast action rods do it helps with the fight when the fish gets closer, allows more stretch for those last surges.

If you have a ml spinning rod already and you are interested in trying casting rods I would highly recommend looking at a mediums heavy rod with action and length of your choice. I have owned fenwick, shimano, st Croix, and carbonlite 2.0 rods all of which I would recommend. I only have Daiwa casting reels and they are very easy to use. Doesn't take long to get the hang of it and I have come to prefer using casting gear. Spinning still has its place though.