Lead Head

In my experience, the Pro Qualifier and above reels are solid but only a great value when purchased on a big sale. At regular price I feel like they are below average compared to other brands in the same price range. As far as rods, I liked the crankin sticks for moving baits and loved the old green extremes. I actually liked the extremes so much that I stripped my old ones down and rebuilt them when I got into rod building. To sum up my opinion, there is nothing wrong with BPS gear. It performs similar to other brands in the same price range and they never gave me any trouble when I needed to exchange stuff.

Braid always gets a fish-n-fool knot (uni twice through the hook eye) from me. It simply doesn't fail. I use 30 or 40lb 832 and only use a leader when coming through wood. Cuts down on the noise braid makes running over branches.

I love to fish, being on the water is my "happy place". I enjoy playing with my toys and relaxing ALMOST as much as catching fish. My fishing time is for me, and I'm not trying to prove anything to anyone. Im very competitive, I know if I were to tournament fish it would destroy the things that I love about fishing. It's not uncommon for me to fish where and how I want, knowing that the chosen presentation (conventionally) has a low likelihood of success. But hey, I'm out there for me... Having said that, I'm definitely trying to catch fish. If someone hits 3 and I'm at 0... I'll definitely switch to what they are throwing (at least until I've boated a few). In my opinion, anyone who pays a tournament fee and isn't doing anything and everything possible to legally catch winning fish is wasting their time and money. But its their time and money, not mine, so my opinion should mean absolutely nothing to them. I do get a chuckle when I hear someone suggest "I knew how to win, but decided not too". All I hear in that statement is "I don't mind to lose, and like giving away money".

I feel the same way about drop shot.

Pfft... very little skill involved. Main river point with a ton of surface activity almost straight across the river from where I launch. Can usually pull a spot or two off it, but the WB will absolutely stack up there. If you happen to be there when the WB are stacked, and eating... If I were actually skilled, I would never hit that point looking for easy action.

I've ran into them on the AR River a few times where I could catch as many as I wanted... I always get bored with them after 20 or so and continue on after LMB. They are fun, and can definitely save a day, but for some reason I just lose interest in them when they stack up like that.

The reels recommend are probably going to be so much nicer than what you used in the past that you will love any of them. The Daiwa/Shimano debate really is a Ford/Chevy type thing. It usually comes down to which brake system you like the best. Don't sweat it too much. If you are on the fence, pick one based on price or cosmetics. You can always try the other one for your next combo... there is ALWAYS a next combo.

Typically, getting to the worm gear isn't a "small cleaning job". I like cals drag grease for gears and tsi 321 for bearings.

I haven't been on Conway in years, but going from that to clear DEEP water is about as drastic a change as is possible in fresh water. Sorry I'm no help with your project, but I do wish you good luck.

I can't say for certain that I have ever made it through a reel without making at least one trip to the floor.

Upgrading the trolling motor is great advice! Many people feel like light boats are fine with 12 volt 45lb trolling motors. They are... in no wind or current. I have found that a light boat getting moved by wind and current forces me to use my trolling motor near constantly. If you plan to be on the water more than 3-4 hours at a time, I highly recommend a 24 volt system.

For a "do all" rig, that tatula sv will check pretty much every box you have. It will handle both light and heavy lures and have the added bonus of being extremely user-friendly when you first start casting again. In my experience, about the only thing the shimanos will do better is maybe get you a bit more distance. My experience however, does not include the mgl spools. The key take away for me is you are wanting a "do all" rig, and in my hands nothing is more versatile than a sv spooled Daiwa. Personally, I would go with a 6 speed retrieve because I find it much easier to reel fast when needed, as opposed to reeling slow for entire retrieves with moving baits. This is a personal preference thing. As to rods, I'm not much help. I will suggest you avoid anything labeled extra-fast and look hard at rods that have a reputation for being more on the moderate side of fast. Again, this is another personal preference thing, but I find rods like this to be more versatile and it sounds like that is your goal.

Just a random thought... If I were looking for a budget jig rod, the overall weight of the rod would be something I paid close attention to. Maybe not the determining factor, but something that would definitely carry... weight, in my decision (sorry, I couldn't resist).

Where, what, and how you fish matters a great deal. If you are really curious to find out if you are missing something take jbrew's advice. Grab some Sunline sniper, or Seaguar invizx and give it a shot. If you don't like, or feel you get an advantage from one of those two lines, floro isn't for you. If you do decide to try it out, I strongly suggest you use one of the 2 lines suggested so far.

NFC x-ray, NFC delta, Rainshadow Immortal, American Tackle Bushido, Rodgeeks Bass4, and a couple of old green BPS Extreme stripped and rebuilt.

I'm the direct opposite of most who have commented. I find slowing down to crank or spinnerbait speeds with a 8 agonizing. The instant I lose lazer focus on reeling the bait is blowing out. Especially for a "do everything" reel, I MUCH prefer to reel a little faster than normal taking up slack on a t-rig over having to constantly focus on slowing down for a whole retrieve with a moving bait. Not to mention I will most times be making far more casts with moving baits. I absolutely love 8 speeds for jigs, t-rig, and frogs but find them extremely bothersome for pretty much anything else. You ruled out frogs, and we had no issues catching bass on 5 speed reels using t-rigs and jigs for years. I find that I don't need any help fishing faster, I'm probably fishing too fast most of the time no matter what reel I use. This is all just me personally, we are all different. For me, given the choice between a 6 or 8 for a "all purpose" reel, I'm grabbing the 6 and not looking back.

When people ask me what I will do when I retire, or what I would do if I hit the lottery or something similar, my response is always the same "Well, I don't know how much fishing it will take for me to get tired of fishing, but I aim to find out".

After a lot of trial-and-error, I have discovered that I prefer a moderate-fast (or just a slower than normal fast) graphite rod with FC line for cranks. I don't crank anything deeper than about 10-12' though, if I was going down to 20' I might feel different. I'm not sure what they would compare to off the shelf, but the American Tackle Bushido popping/cranking blanks make (in my opinion) the best cranking rods.

There was a time that put a lot of effort into not handling my food too much with fishy hands. After a few times where I was meticulously using a napkin trying not to contaminate my food, only to shove a pinch of tobacco in my mouth that had as much fish/powerbait flavor as wintergreen... I gave up. Now I just rinse my hands in the water, wipe them on my clothes (for better or worse) and tell myself I like any extra hints of "seasoning" that show up.

@Skunkmaster-k My experience with vanish. Random knot failure using a knot I can't remember ever failing with the more expensive FC. High memory, even by FC standards. Almost any subtle wear or kink would fail the line very quickly. Like I said, it felt to me like all the common negatives usually associated with FC were greatly exaggerated. It required too much of my attention, I would easily prefer mono over it. It wasn't impossible to use, just that for me, the negatives outweighed the positives. For the other lines, the positives outweighed the negatives.

Personal experience is all important. If you guys are happy with vanish, that's awesome. I really wish I could find a floro I am happy with at that price point, but all my experiences with vanish have been... less than satisfactory. So much so that I hate to see it suggested to someone wanting to try floro for the first time. In my personal experience, the other lines suggested in this post (Sniper, invizx, and tatsu) are so far ahead of vanish that it isn't even fair to compare them. This is all just my opinion however, so keep that in mind. Having said all that, keep in mind all the suggested lines come with the positives and negatives of fluorocarbon. It is just my opinion that the negatives are subtle with the more expensive lines, and glaringly obvious with the cheaper line.

Sniper, or invizx are your best bet. As mentioned previously, you should probably go up a size compared to what you typically use in mono (line diameter will be the same or possibly smaller). Pay extra attention to your knots and confirm that you are using one that plays well with FC. I prefer Sniper over Invizx but they are pretty similar, I would suggest going with the one that you find the best price on. If the price of Tatsu is a non-issue for you just go that route and be done with it. As always, my advice is if you can't get along with one of these three, fluorocarbon probably isn't for you.

3/8oz Siebert dock rocker with a rage bug trailer.

Dedicated cranking rod = straight FC (14lb sniper) Multi purpose moving baits rods = 30lb suffix 832 6' mono leader for most topwater 6' FC leader for spinnerbaits, cranks, ect... (14 or 16lb sniper) Jig rods = 40lb suffix 832 with a 6' FC leader (25lb sniper) T-rig rod = 30lb suffix 832 with a 6' FC leader (16lb sniper) Frog rod = straight 50lb 832 I was straight braid for years, but sharp rocks forced me to start using FC leaders. Success led to confidence in leaders and I started using them anytime I feel they give me an advantage (most of my waters are dirty, the advantages I get from leaders rarely involve visibility). This system has also been very budget friendly for me, I buy 14lb FC 1, sometimes 2 times a year. I buy 16-25lb FC every 2 years, and braid about every 3 years.

For me, nothing out produces a 5" grub.