rt dak

My main spinnerbait only rod is 7' H/F. I also have a 6'6" MH/F and a 7'1" MH/XF that i'll throw them on.

12 lb. McCoy Mean Green or Yo-Zuri Hybrid.

Wave Worm Tiki Sticks are a good second choice.

I think your rod is a bigger problem than your reel is. I would imagine the moderate action of the rod is what's hampering your casting distance with those light inline spinners. If you have any other UL rods with a fast or extra-fast action try tossing the spinner on that before you write off that reel. Just for some info, I have a UL setup that is dedicated to throwing inline spinners. The majority of the time it's 1/16 oz Rooster Tails but sometimes I bump up to 1/8 and branch off to Blue Fox, Panther Martin and Mepps. I've never had an issue with the blade spinning and i'm usually slow rolling them. Setup is a St. Croix Avid 6' UL/Fast and a Shimano Stradic 1000FJ. 6 lb. Sunline Super Natural to a size 10 Spro power swivel to around 15" of 4 lb. Sunline Super FC Sniper. The Stradic is 6.0:1, not sure about the IPT.

The majority of my rods are cork but I really don't care either way. If they were the same exact rods in every other way but with eva instead of cork I would have still bought them.

Lipless cranks, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, paddle tail swimbaits.

Biggest of the year so far. Swing Impact Fat on a Revenge underspin

I'd check out spinnerbaits made for pike / musky fishing.

McCoy Xtra Clear, McCoy Mean Green, Sunline Shooter Defier & Yo-Zuri Hybrid if it qualifies.

Kahara Quick Lock Snaps size 0. Split rings removed.

2/0 Owner Wacky Hook https://www.ownerhooks.com/product/wacky-hook/