Boomstick

I would probably step that up to at minimal 14lb to get the best out of that rod, 16lb would be my recommendation. There is a pretty big difference in abrasion resistance going from 12 to 16 and baits like spinnerbaits, chatterbaits and jigs will need the thicker line.

I have a Subaru Outback, not sure how big the battery is but to charge anything I have to keep it on accessory mode and that shuts off after 15 or 20 minutes (been doing that to charge my phone all week camping) but I’d probably have to run it to get a significant charge or to keep my battery from dying. I’ve been trying to find a solution to charge my fish finder battery camping, this week I plugged it in at the restroom even though you’re not supposed to do that. I’ll probably buy a cheap generic amazon backup, who cares if they last for fewer charges it’s only getting max 5 a year.

The Lews Speed Spool is one of the few good combos out there. You did good. You can use it for Texas Rigs, 1/8 to 3/8 oz weights, spinnerbaits, chatterbaits, football jigs and swim jigs pretty ideally. You can throw arky head jigs too but not in much cover. You can use it for crabkbaits and jerkbaits too as long as you have line with stretch (not braid) of it’s all you have although it’s a bit stiff but this is why MH/F is the all around bass rod. You can rven throw hollow body frogs in open water if you run braid, but I’d get something heavier for lily pads.

I am pretty happy with my Old Town Bigwater 132 PDL. The only thing I am missing is spot lock but then I’d have to motorize - I like being the source of power and getting a little cardio personally. I also camp 3-5 weeks a year, and what do I do when the battery dies?

4 strand tends to be better for brute force applications. Some costed 8 strands may fare better than others, but you’re probably best off with 4 and living with the possibility of the noise coming through the guides.

I don’t have a power pitch but I had a 7’1” H/F Tatula which follows the Daiwa formula for power and action. That is a heavy rod that you can use for heavy rod applications where the Bottoms Contact is a general purpose jig rod that can handle some cover. It also casts really well despite being much heavier in power. If you want a flipping and punching rod for real heavy stuff they have a XH too bit the power pitch should work for most stuff.

My thought is that line has to be rubbing something sharp when it’s in the rod locker. Braid isn’t great with abrasion so it might snap so that would make sense.

Most of my rods are mid grade rods. There is definitely a big jump in sensitivity going from $100 to $150 and again from$150 to $200-300, depending on the brand and line, but past that there is a large value drop off. I have one high end setup. A Daiwa Steez Bottom Contact rod (first gen) and a Steez SV reel. That reel is honestly amazing, all the control of the cheaper Tatula SVs but casts further and weighs nothing. The rod itself is 70% backbone and 30% tip but a fairly stiff tip, a MH-H/F that is perfect for all around northeast jig fishing. It’s a little heavier than some, but balances near perfectly with a light reel. I could get something close for cheaper, but I got a really good deal on it, and now it’s part of my arsenal forever so no complaints. Around the same time, I got my kid a St Croix Victory Full Contact Finesse rod (H/XF), which has maybe 20% tip but a softer tip. It’s more geared towards pitching jigs than football jigs, but a very good rod for them. We traded rods for a half a day. After using the Steez, it didn’t feel all that muted in vibrations, and I was very pleased with its sensitivity especially for the price point. When he fishes a football jig, he usually uses his Victory “The Marshall” a MH/F where the Steez runs both types of jigs well which is another perk. Most of my rods are Tatulas which I got around $100 on deals and they do the job well I have a few Tatula Elites, a St Croix Mojo Bass and an Avid X. I generally get better rods for vertical presentations, for moving baits if the power and action is good that’s all I care about - some people may like lighter rods too but to be honest some cheaper rods weigh next to nothing. Hope that provides some insight.

My Daiwa Tatula 6’10” MH/F is perfect for swim jigs with 16lb fluorocarbon line. It’s also acceptable with 40lb braid, but the 7’2l MH/R would be even better with braid since it’s more forgiving.

For the most part, thinner diameter line will be more invisible than thicker diameter. I don’t think any one line is really that much more invisible than the other, and how much does it really matter? I would suggest using what handles right and is cost efficient to your budget.

Sufix Siege is the best I’ve used myself. It’s a little pricier than Big Game, but worth every penny. Elite is good too, Siege is the more abrasion resistant line. Maxima Ultragreen also has a great rep but is priced more like fluorocarbon so I haven’t tried it yet. Yo Zuri hybrid is a really good copoly line as well, also worth checking out.

I thought I would mention that kid is on year three. I noticed today his is a little stiff but still very serviceable, probably not a lot of KVD line spray which I use maybe two or three times a year. Still no complaints from me.

Interesting. Mine has yet to stiffen up on me. My youngest kid has some on two reels that I believe is also season three and no issues there either. I had a spool of hidden concept as well, that seems identical to the regular Samurai just green colored to me. In the past I've gotten mine from ebay at the end of the year for $20 a pool until a couple years ago I just bought large spools from TW's black friday sale

This is a good point. I tried some Invizx on my crankbait reel, and I probably got about a season and half before the line was pretty beat up and I ultimately changed it before I broke off. Of course, with 12# line that is more common but this wasn't fished heavily over rocks or anything either. Still good line. I've ran J-Fluoro Samurai since it came out, and I believe I've had it on my Steez SV since June of 2023 and it's still going strong (I had to respool after I snagged on a laydown and was had to cut off a lot of line). If J-Fluoro didn't exist, I might run Tatsu or Shooter because they hold up too because I'm lazy and would not rather change line if I don't have to and can refrain from hitting a tree.

Someone tested stretch in lines a couple years back. I do believe Sniper was the best fluorocarbon, but the difference between the rest was not really significant either.

I will say no because I have had the same pound of Tatsu, Shooter and J-Fluoro on three reels concurrently and the J-Fluoro has consistently handled the best out of all three even on year two and three. Tatsu might be better with abrasion resistance, and Shooter is known to excel there but I rarely have issues with 16lb line so I'm not the best test bed for that. I see no reason to change from J-Fluoro Samurai, especially at its price point.

Could try a higher linetoo. The Curado MGL 70 behaves almost identical though

Sufix Siege 10lb or 12lb for me.

I pretty much run fluorocarbon on all my reels, 10 or 12# mono and 14# mono on a couple for topwater, and braid for frogs/flipping. We have some cover but a lot of open water. Fluorocarbon wins because if my line is not perfectly tight it maintains some sensitivity. If I lived down in Florida where the weeds are thicker, I'm sure I'd run braid on a number of reels too.

I'm keeping my Steez SV. That thing is amazing

The Daiwa 70 spool would be too small, but the Tatula 80 would work. As an admitted Daiwa fanboy, I would actually suggest the Shimano SLX MGL70. They cast light lures exceptionally well. Also they're rated for up to 85 yards of 12lb line, but the line rating they use is fairly thick as well. At one point I did the math and figured they hold over 70 yards of 16# fluorocarbon (I don't recall the exact number, just know you can run up to 16# with most fluorocarbon brands)

I often use a palomar for drop shots too and rarely have issues. A correctly tied palomar will often hold but it’s a little bit of a wildcard so I recommend the uni and you don’t have to worry about it If you’re worried about abrasion resistance, I would go with Shooter. I rarely have abrasion resistance issues with any of the three I mentioned but Shooter is supposed to be the best for that.

Tatsu is very good line. So is Shooter and Daiwa J-Fluoro. I ended up getting bulk spools of the latter on TW’s Black Friday sale a couple years back but have plenty left since I get multiple seasons from it

That is just the near invisibility factor. There are other benefits on top of that. See my first post, I tried to cover all the pros and cons of fluoro so you can decide if fluoro is right for you. The thing I didn’t mention us that certain knots tend to slip. The palomar is not recommended with fluorocarbon. I would recommend the uni with 4 or 5 turns, knot slippage for me is almost a non factor.