Czorn

I hear ya. I feel like I'm the odd man out when it comes to deep cranking. I use a 4.9.1 with 8# F/C. My buddy's all use a 7.1.1 and 12# F/C. But I'm the only one digging mud at 25 feet lol and I can crank all day long without cramping up.

I use about 12 feet of F/c on my braid. Unless I'm fishing around suspended bass. It that case I may go up to 20-30. If a fish is fallowing my bait down, I don't want braid to suddenly appear in front of it.

I use leaders on my spinning set ups for dropshot. The only other rod that has braid is my flipping stick and I don't use a leader on that. I crank with F/C and top water gets mono. Most people think I'm crazy but I hate top water fishing. If I'm fishing top water I'm most likely walking a weightless fluke on top.

On a pond I will always start with a weightless senko. You don't need cover to fish it weightless. Make some long cast with a c rig and you might be surprised with what you find.

This^^^

https://www.academy.com/shop/pdp/h2o-xpress™-lure-wrap?storeId=10151&catalogId=10051 I love these^^^ I use them to store all my spinner baits also. Just get 6 or 7 of the same color spinners, stack them up and close them. Works great on treble hooked baits to keep them out of the carpet.

I use 8# flouro for all my deep cranking. If you are snapping off cranks while casting I would change rods. I can cast a 10 XD all day long on 8#.

Only rod I have under 7' is my jerk bait rod. What do you fish for more? What's the possibility of you adding another combo into the mix?

17# mono is kinda big for cranks In my opinion.

F/c for backing and mono for leader line?

I use flipping hooks for flipping creature baits. For tricks and ribbon tails and brush hogs I use offset round bend 3/0-4/0. Everything else I use EWG.

Bass Pro Shops Tourney Special Baitcast Rod and Reel Combo it's 80$ and the reel has the dual braking system.

Yum craw papi the smaller one or standard size.

Another vote for 6th sense

I change my hooks every few years so it's a non issue for me.

I have a separate box full of them. They are awesome for burning through stick ups. I use them anytime I think I might snag up on something. If you have a academy sports and outdoors around try the H2O cranks, they are cheep and come with vmc hooks.

Lipless crank for sure. Cotton cordels super spots are like 3$ at Wal-Mart. They look like a rat-l-trap. Chrome/black is my go to.

Most of my set ups are line specific. When fishing a dropshot I use 10# braid with a 8# F/C leater line on a 7' med rod spinning. C-rigging is 20# mono on a 7' 4" heavy. Football jigs are fished on a 7'6" med heavy fast with 17# F/C. Flipping jigs are fished on a 7'6" heavy with 65# braid. Shakey head is fished on a 7' med spinning with 10-12# F/C. Texas rigs are fished on a 7'6" med heavy with 14# F/C. Jerk baits are on a 6'8" med fast with 10# F/C. Deed cranks are fished on a 7'6" med heavy with 8# F/C. Square bills and shallow cranks are fished on a 7' med mod with 12# F/C. Weightless worm is on a 7' med heavy with 12# F/C. Frogs are fished on a 7'11" heavy fast with 50# braid. I have several more to list but you get the point.

Gamakatsu Dropshot Hook size 1. i only nose hook when I fish a dropshot.

It doesn't, it's a bad choice because of the reasons I mentioned.

FC sinks and will not allow your bait to float or flutter over obstacles like mono. Cheep mono is bad for memory and stretching. Braid is no good with rocks and if you snag a brush pile it sucks trying to break it off without dragging the whole pile.

Motor oil finesse worm with a little jj on the tail. Drop shot or Shakey head. Very little movement, I mostly just drag slowly.

A quality mono is definitely preferred. It gives the bait more action I use 20#. 10" ol monsters in green pumpkin magic work best for me. I use a 3/4 ounce finesse weight. I never skimp on a rod for my c-rig, it needs to be very light and sensitive. Most of the bites will feel like extra weight. Feels like you hooked a t-shirt under water. One last thing, I will only use a offset round bend hook for c-rigging. My hook ups are around 80% with the round bend. The EWG for me takes to much pressure to get a good hookset on a long cast and 40 - 50 feet of water. The round bend (when rigged correctly) should have the point already facing out.

Drag and spool break are way different.

Falcon for sure. If you don't catch 100 bass a day, you ain't trying.