Phil77

I'm not a fan of their dual brake reels but I did love the older green extreme baitcaster models. I think most of their house brands are good quality you could fish tournaments with.

I've never had the need for a heavy jig rod, I'll take a 7 or 7-1/2MH any day.

You should look at the Lew's CCBR1 it's a 7'2M. It's a tad bit above your price range at $159 but is a great stick for square bills and shallow cranks. The TP1 Black are nice but I don't have one soft enough for cranking. I have no experience with Dobyns rods but a lot of people on here rave about them. As for the reel anything in the 6 or 7 GR with your preferred braking system.

Get a Hypermag, Tourney pro, or a super duty with the mag brakes. I wouldn't go faster than a 7 GR.

The new BB1 looks pretty slick. I use the Hypermag for traps and square bills, it has done very well.

Lew's Tourney Pro in the 6 gear ratio. It will palm well and you can adjust it externally and not have to mess with brake blocks.

I'm ambidextrous but have always fished right handed, even spinning reels. I've known a few guys who have switched to lefty and prefer it. I'm a simple creature and have no desire to switch.

I'd take a 6 gear ratio over an 8 any day of the week. I only use the 8 GR for jigs and top water.

I like them both, I use assassin for shakey heads. Sniper is great for T-Rigs and a little tougher so you won't break off as much.

A shielded or unshielded Abec 5 stainless bearing would do just fine. The hybrid bearings are loud and don't really add much if any increase in casting distance.

Lew's TP-1 Black 7-3MH. Has plenty of backbone and doesn't feel like a pool cue. Wont break the bank either,think they are going around $100-129 at the moment.

You can put a new nut on but you might have to remove some of the guides.

Shouldn't be that hard to replace. If you're not comfortable doing it reach out to Shimano, they had a problem with the first run of them losing the thumb bars. They might cover the repairs under warranty.

Looks a lot like the tourney pro. Might have to pick one up.

I hate autocorrect.

Try P-Line CXX, it's the toughest mono around or go straight 30-40# braid. Then again some quality FC in 12# would do fine. Same here, lost a trophy stripper due to not retying after wrapping a steel dock line. Still kicking myself for that one.

If you're not mechanically inclined pay someone who is to service your reels. I do a complete teardown and clean all the internals with an ultrasonic cleaner once a year. I clean and lube my centrifugal brakes each week, takes about five minutes to clean the brake ring and a light coat of oil.

Straight braid 50-60# or 15# or higher mono or co poly would be fine. Nice looking bait, just glue some eye's on and put a black dot on the sides.

I tie a loop knot like you would use on other top water walking baits. I've caught plenty of LM, Stripes and Whites without knot failure. I know it doesn't give the ploppers any extra action but it's just habit for me to tie a loop on any top water bait. Also Academy has a house brand plopper bait for $6-7 that caught more numbers for me last year. Much less painful to lose one of them than a WP.

I would go with a Cardiff or Calcutta if your budget allows. I think dobyns and daiwa both have low priced swimbait rods that will handle that weight if you don't want to spend a ton on a rod.

MH/F P-Line CXX #10 or 12.

Good luck with the clots, that sounds like a lot of no fun. That's a nice reel, I'm just not a deep crank guy so that's the only reason I haven't got one of those.

Try dead sticking it around docks and submerged cover. Most my fish are caught while the bait sits still with a little wiggle of the rod tip. Zoom trick worms are cheap and durable, I've also had good luck with the net bait T Mac. I prefer good FC like sunline.

Spot remover jig, 3/16 or 1/4 with a zoom trick worm. I like a ML casting rod. Let it sink then jiggle it a little and wait. I keep one ready all year long, works in the shallows and deep.

Honestly you could use a Corvalus and be fine.