Phil77

NRX + Antares.

I use 50# on a couple of striper setups and distance has never been a problem. I used to fish a small private lake that was nothing but sunken timber and used 50# straight power pro for everything from a t-rig to crankbaits. If you can get by with a lighter one go for it, I just prefer something a little stronger for if the need arises.

The spider wire might be your issue, I've never been able to cast it very far. You can get a spool of berkley solutions braid or daiwa j braid at big box stores for 10-12 bucks and they cast very well in 30lb I cant speak for any of the lighter ones. I dont do it every trip since I try to go every day but it is a sunday night ritual for me.

Yes it is in the palm side cover and is usually a brass ring. Take one drop of oil an spread it around the whole ring, should boost your casting distance. Depending on how much you fish it's recommended to clean the ring with rubbing alcohol then oil it every 30 days or more frequently if you fish often. This goes for any centrifugal reel, don't put oil on magnets.

From the pictures online it looks like an SVS system but the description says it has the VBS so no telling.

Did you oil the brake ring?

If you haven't had a hard freeze over there yet and the water is still in the high 50s-60s there will be big schools suspended. A deep jerk bait like the one plus or strike king kvd deep work really well. Look for hard bottom as well, they will be sticking to it in the 20-30 foot range and a paddle tail on a Tokyo rig will clean up. Let it hit bottom and reel slow enough to run it along the bottom, long casts and a 3/4 bullet weight will work wonders over hard bottom. Pound the banks parallel with spinnerbaits T-rigs and red eye shad, there will always be some stragglers 1-10 ft. I always had a harder time on Norfork.

Custom SLP will be the smallest on your list. All three you mentioned are great reels, the tournament pro is probably the best all around/workhorse of the bunch.

Keep one fairy wand for drop shot, 7MH casting for everything, and 7M casting for cranks or topwater. I don't see how all of your gear would fit on a 17 ft boat without stepping on or tripping over rods. Your main focus should be fishing what you're most confident in not having 20 different setups on deck. I've fished over there years ago, focus on jigs/T-rigs for rocks/timber and a deep jerk bait this time of year and you should limit out fairly quick.

St Croix Bass X or lews tp1 black are in your price range and are great rods.

Try tightening the pawl cap with a flathead screwdriver, also sounds like an issue with the clutch pawl assembly for the thumb bar. Could be some grit in the worm shaft. Should be an easy fix if you're comfortable taking the reel apart, if not just send it to a professional. Be sure to leave a negative seller review on Ebay to warn others. Good luck.

Still don't know how this happened but lews sent me a whole new spool for free. They also sent me a free spare spool for my pro ti and custom lite.

Do some reading on the 4x8 DC brake system and see if it would benefit your fishing style. My brother has one and it's a Cadillac of a reel but I would rather have the non DC personally for the way I fish. Then again the curado and slx mgl reels make parting with $600 for a chromed out version hard for me. Don't be afraid of buying JDM, the DC system recharges itself and the most you would have to worry about maintenance wise is lubricating it yourself unless you break something internally.

Should snap on and off the ring on the spool. If you're not comfortable doing it ask shimano for a complete spool that way you have a spare.

I'd return or see if shimano will send a new spool. Might not be a problem now but could turn into one.

Don't fish a frog but lews super duty lfs has a 150yd line cap and are about $150 on amazon. The 8 gear ratio models have a flipping switch, I picked one up for a spare football jig reel. Or you could get another K with a higher gear ratio, those are solid reels.

About to go that route myself.

This or 12# P line CXX.

I'll take the sol and zillion off your hands, shoot me a price.

I use a 7 or 8 gear ratio mainly to get the bait back in if the school moves so I can get the bait back on top of them. It can be done with slower reels but I just like being able to burn it in if needed.

This or a curado MGL. I would also recommend a lews reel with the ACB brake system if your budget allows. I prefer a 7 gear ratio for lipless but the 6 gear ratio is a great all around speed.

Yeah that deep surgical cut really smarts. I'll tie a cleat hitch and use the trolling motor. I am interested to see if this works. I use the cheap j braid or Berkley solutions stuff that's 10-12 bucks for 150yds.

Academy used to sell 500yd spools of vicious fluoro for around $20. It worked well for me but haven't seen it in a while. I've been using Berkley 100% and Vanish this year because it's easy to find local and does ok. I only use fluoro for t rigs, football jigs, and senkos. P line cxx and cheap braid for most everything else.

Watched a guy in my old yak tournament club absolutely smoke everyone with those ugly white and orange Walmart lews combos last year. He still uses them after all the money and higher end hear he won last year. It's your money, there are worse ways to spend it so keep feeding the bait/gear monkey.

The SLX DC is a good starting point if you want to try a DC reel without breaking the bank, plus it sounds cool. The Mojo Bass rods are good rods, my daughter has three of them and I have tossed them around a bit. The 7'1 MH Jigs/Baits rod she has for jigs and senkos does a great job, I've watched her pick apart docks with it over the last couple of years with no troubles. She has the 7 ft plastics M rod she uses for t-rigs but I think it might be good for spinnerbaits with the softer tip. Shimano and St Croix have been around a long time and are both good choices in my book.