MotoSD

Most of my success has come with the roboworm ez-shad and a weighted owner beast hook or similar style. Ive caught plenty of fish on the fat swim impact style swimbaits, but the ezshad consistantly works at most of the lakes I fish.

Not sure if it's large enough for you but how about the papa pit boss? Those and the magnum rage bugs are my choices when looking for a versatile larger profile creature type plastic. I'll thread them on a skirted jig if I want even more bulk.

I picked up a colt 734c, mostly out of curiosity. I have only used it a handful of times...but so far so good. Youll have a hard time finding a better $80 rod. Almost all of my other rods are fury and savvy series

Ive settled on 12lb fluoro for my sv and love it. Next time around I may even try a smaller diameter.

As others have said, both the curado k and tatula sv are great reels. For me, the SV shines on lighter lures but wouldnt hesitate to throw something heavier. My favorite thing with the daiwas is how the lure falls vertical without stripping line by hand. on the curado k, with the brakes and spool tension set correctly, you may have to strip line by hand depending on the lure weight. I use both everytime im on the water, but for different presentations. If I had to pick one brand in the <$200 class for all my reels, id probably go daiwa. If you asked me 2 years ago, id have said shimano all the way.

My vote is also for either the legalis lt, exceler lt, or fuego lt. Always been a fan of the shimano spinning reels but a local big box store had the legalis lt on sale for $55, figured it was worth a try. I got the 2500 and couldnt be happier. The.exceler lt seems to be almost identical except with a screw in handle.