Lead Head

Garmin makes a 6" echomap. For around $300 you can get everything except side view and touch screen. If you like the idea of maps more than side view its worth a look.

You can do whatever with it. As stated above, a sharpie makes it "low vis" and a 5'-6' leader of whatever line suits your application solves any other issues. If you aren't afraid of leaders, braid is a wonderful, long lasting, and money saving line.

You could just grab the Mudhole basic tool startup kit. Its $150 but gets you started up nicely. It includes reamers and a drying motor. I know DVT and a few others recommend dry by hand at first but if you do that with prokote you are going to be babysitting that rod for half the day. Mudhole has size B thread in most colors and its pretty good to work with. Its a nice compromise between A and D. I think they say the included epoxy and finish is enough for 4 rods but I would grab some extra... better to have and not need.

I will use KVD on anything 15lb and above (sniper and yozuri mostly). Its not necessary, but it really makes a difference the first 15 casts or so before the line starts to loosen up on its own. Especially for setups that don't see heavy use. I typically apply it the night before.

Lews BB1 is another reel you can look into. It is a solid, deep spooled cranking machine.

Since your already comfortable with leaders, its really hard to beat braid to leader on a spinning rig. Getting comfortable with leader knots and using braid is what got me to return to spinning tackle after about 15 years. Its just a absolute pleasure to fish (for me anyway).

You want distance AND a forgiving reel. Very few really long casting reels are what I would call forgiving. Admittedly, my experience is limited to Daiwa, Lews, and older Shimano reels. Tatula sv tw (or any SV spooled Daiwa) is always the first recommendation I make when someone is new to baitcasters. It is extremely forgiving, gives good (not great) distance, covers a wide range of baits well, and you won't outgrow it for a long time (if ever). Something like this could let you actually fish with minimal frustration as you get comfortable enough to bomb with the president.

On your spool tension, you want a teeny tiny side to side wiggle. Not loose side to side play. Sounds like you have it pretty much figured out now anyway. I cast in my yard all the time too. I've had cats sneak up and try to attack my jig many times, but no deer... yet. The coolest thing happened a few weeks ago. I was in the yard pitching to stumps and bushes just playing around. I was wearing a wide brimmed hat to keep the sun off so I couldn't see anything up in the trees. As I'm reeling in my jig a hawk came straight down on it about 20 feet from me. I managed to get the jig away before he could secure it, but because of the hat I had no idea he was in the area until he was (what felt like) right in my face... nearly had to change pants after that.

I have no experience with a DC reel, but I can't imagine anything being easier to learn baitcasting than a SV spooled Daiwa. My daughter got a tatula sv tw last year and it took her about 10 minutes to look like she had been using it for years.

I liked the feel of my Extreme rods so much that instead of phasing them out of the lineup, I stripped them down to bare graphite and rebuilt them. The H is an EXCELLENT frog rod.

Damaged packages happen. What is unacceptable is the practice of delivering a obviously damaged package. If no one else, the driver should refuse to release a crushed package on your doorstep when you aren't around to see it.

Braid will cut. I have pulled logs to the water surface with 50lb braid and had it cut with probably only 5lbs of pressure on sharp rocks. I haven't had any problems in gravel, but larger sharp edged rocks are a big no-no. Never had a problem fishing docks with it, but I know if I encounter something sharp its probably going to cut.

I walk a poppin pad crasher most often. If I decide not to walk it and work it like an actual popper for a bit, it will take on water. Otherwise my pad crashers only need to be purged of water every 8-10 casts or so, and even then they have little in them. The more worn they are the more water they pick up, but it usually takes a lot fish before it becomes bothersome.

Jig trailer in the California color.

If you are confident in that spool go for it. If you search these forums you can find a thread with a few other recommendations.

I'm pretty new to the Daiwa game and have limited experience but ill go ahead and share what little I've learned from my SS. I don't know what the inductor swap did to free up the spool in your SS, but my SS (103) is absolutely not a long casting reel. If distance is a concern I wouldn't use the SS without getting a longer casting spool. I have the 8.1.1. gear and carbontex drag upgrade from TT in mine and use it for pitching and skipping jigs, distance isn't a concern for me.

There are several people who will be able to help you out on this... I'm not one of them. I will however tell you they will need to know if the SS is a 103 or 105. It will matter.

I've used kastking, power pro, and 832. Of the 3 832 is my favorite. It really gives you very little to complain about. It is the only 8 strand braid I've used and felt no need to try another. I would have to say kastking is the best bang for your buck. It can be found for $6 shipped fairly often and compares favorably to power pro in 4 strand (in my opinion).

You can get a spinning rod at academy for about $15-20. It won't be anything nice but will let you fish neds and whatnot until you can get a better one. I caught all kinds of fish on one for about 3 months before I broke down and got a better one. You will definitely be better served if you can keep a medium spinning rod in your arsenal.

I don't know about your rod, but that spool is definitely going to degrade any line in short order.

Be careful using a 1/2oz jig + trailer on that rod. You will likely be right at or over its recommended lure weight.

I have both and prefer the mb. The bb1 is a fine cranking reel with more line capacity but is far more finicky, especially with large cranks. I honestly can't say one casts farther than the other but the mb is much more user friendly.

I pretty much only use the pointed frogs if I'm wanting less action or coming through emergent weeds. Popping frogs walk great (pad crashers do) and create a little more splash with the added bonus of being able to "stop and pop" whenever you want. Sometimes fish like a popping action more than a walking action and a popping frog allows me to present both without changing lures.

Very interesting. I knew there were two different versions and assumed the one he was demonstrating was the one used in the test. Well... you know what they say about assumptions. At this point I am happy with how the knot handles big hooksets. 2 trips, over 20 fish with setups where I was basically trying to fail the leader. It held up great. I'll stick with it until I find a reason not to. I'll keep this thread updated if I run into any problems and hope the other guys using it will do the same.

Tom- I hear you, I really do, but I have to try. I don't know if it matters to the fish or not but I can SEE a difference in the fall of a Ned or weightless senko when using FC as opposed to mono. My next experiment will be with copoly leaders. Most of my fishing is done in dirty water where straight braid works fine, but I spend at least 2 weeks a year on a clearer lake and leaders are easier than switching everything out. MickD- I'm interested to see if you are able to pass the GT just as easily as a Alberto through those 4's. Team9nine- This is what I was going from when I said it was stronger than a FG. This test was for mono and is why I was testing with floro. The FG is widely considered the strongest and that is why I'm asking for other people's experiences.