PressuredFishing

Monos way more versatile and stronger+more supple, both get bad line twist that can be annoying, if you want to splurge and get a little more sensitivity and higher strength to diameter ratio copolymer line is a great alternative, it's still a nylon line but is two monomer strands fused into one line.

If you don't like it I'd just take it back, nothing worse than a reel you don't like.

Why not go, you can also go for so many other species of fish.

Are you serious about throwing cranks? Like at least once a week for an entire trip? Or do you just want "a rod" that gets better hookups when you want to throw them more often. If you want a serious one I'm probably not the guy, but if you want a dirt cheap reliable rod, any rod that is glass, composite, or a graphite moderate action should work, one of my favorites is an ugly stick, they are softer, any rod that has a deep blank bend will work fine.

Good thing I don't pay 300$ for a fishing rod ?

You just fixed the problem completely lol, too stupid to think of that...

Got a reel I really love, the only problem is that it's somewhat hard to take it on and off, this is somewhat of a problem because I got a spare spool. Any reccokendations? I tried Teflon oil and grease to help it be smoother but no use, seems to be getting better with use as it is brand new.

This is just my opinion, I'm assuming you know the standard idea ,such as lower durability and twork with higher ratios, but with all that aside, gear ratio for me is really simple, I buy faster because I can always slow down but it's uncomfortable to speed up. Try walking a zara spook on a 6:6:1 reel, than a 7:6:1. Now use that 7:6:1 for a slow technique and it still works fine.

I feel a ethical and moral obligation to protect fish from being pierced in the mouth by a byproduct of cringe...

I use toothpicks, I don't think it makes a huge difference, I'm not tournament fishing so I don't care either, plus they are free at most restraunts... you just get that look when you take a few dozen more than you are supposed to... maybe if I go pro olive garden will sponsor me with toothpicks.

This ^^^^^ Damiki has beautiful laminated colors, they are just pricier than keitechs, got mine on black friday for something like 40% off, I love the green hues so I went with Tennessee shad, also love their little flukes

Have had this issue with chinesium spinning reels from KK and piscifun, sent them back for full refunds, wish I could help but I'm lost as well

Been overwhelmingly dissapoint with 99% of all Berkley products from their floro to mono to fireline to rods. I would honestly fork out the extra 5 bucks for diawa j braid or power pro braid, or if you really want to buy a cheap braid I would even say buy KK braid, piscifun braid, runcl braid, but that's just my experience, the stuff is good for the first few trips but gets extraordinarily weak fast, went fishing for 1 week and the line was unusable day three of all day fishing trips because I could not keep tying knots without breaking... i have had this experience multiple times on the trip and had used four full spools of their floro and mono to get me through the trip because it only lasted 14-16 hours of fishing. Maybe I just got 6 spools of line bad in a row, but the stuff is fine for anything over 15lbs for bass fishing, alot of guys here like the big game, I just think there are better options for the same or cheaper price, anything lower than 10lbs I'd stay away from

A good starting lure, you will hear guys say spinnerbaits or crankbaits, maybe even a chatterbait. I would reccomend choosing the lure based on a multitude of reasons 1. Forage 2. Water clarity 3. Speed of retrieve 4. Temperature 5. Light conditions 6.wind/current There are hundreds of videos, But in a nutshell dirtier water overcast/rainy windy conditions in spring-fall do better with more rackety lures, and clear, bright, no wind days do better with more natural and subtle baits. Colder weather usually means slow, hotter normally means fast. This is all just theory though. Finally think about what you are fishing through so you snag less grass: Swimjigs spinnerbaits and chatterbaitsswimbaits come through grass decently Wood: squarebill crankbaits spinnerbaits and swimbaits come through wood well Rock: squarebills, spinnerbaits, swimbaits, jerkbaits come through well Topwaters can be intimidating but they come through all submerged cover well. Open water: everything can work but I really like baits with treble hooks because the hookup ratio is nice.

Mh casting and medium spinning can do almost everything, and the things it can't do it still can just not great. Personally line type and size makes a bigger difference than rod type, plus line is way cheaper, or spare spools, not saying I don't own a swimbait or frogging rod, but I didn't invest a ton into them

The issue for me is that the grass usually catches on the blade and not the actual hook and malfunctions the lure, I would rather choose a swimjig or another moving bait, although around wood they could be a good option like AJAY said.

Poppers, light trips, dropshot anything you would really throw on a medium or medium light spinning rod

Don't really worry about it because if treble hooks on mono I don't need to do anything the fish just hooks themselves, for trigs/jigs mono+composite rods delays the bite detection and hook set a bit and has helped build a very good hookup ratio. I hear about guys setting the hook too fast with braid/floro and graphite fast action rods, with mono and a medium heavy moderate/fast action composite rod just sticks em and pegs em. Sure I may miss those "subtle" bites from time to time, but I loose alot less fish once the hook is in compared to other people. I'd say I have a 90% hookup rate using this setup, and half the ones I miss are usually smaller bass. The only con to this is with heavy wire jigs, swimjigs, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits, the combo just can't drive the heavier gage wires into their mouth

It's personal preference, feel what you like, I am reasonably new to swimbaiting as well, only caught a few small handful on larger swimbaits, but the best advice I can give you right now is focus on the major parts of the setup over slight nuances, (line test, floro/braid, hook size and strength, etc) I have already had multiple swimbait heartbreaks using the wrong equipment and I promise you the last thing you will be thinking about is your handle when you are landing a swimbait fish, or loosing it.

1. Buzzbait, in fact, call me crazy but I have never owned one and don't plan too soon. My lakes are on the smaller side so I don't need to cover a TON of water, and they tend to lean more on the 2+ vis up to 40, I do better on Spooks, poppers, frogs if nessesary. I have confidence in anything else, and have way more confidence throwing big swimbaits and even rats in comparison to buzzbaits, it's a regional thing but it's very practical and will sometimes even get equal or more bites than traditional fishing

How often depends on what I have put the reel through, my frog/flipping and pond reels I do a light cleaning 3-4 times a year and a deep cleaning every year. The light cleaning is basically getting all the vegetation and crap out of the line guide worm gear, and line guide itself, plus cleaning it off the bearings so the spool spins like normal. For spinning reels I do light cleanings and hesitate to completely take them apart. I will take apart the bail to put oil on the line guilde to reduce line twist. I have successfully taken apart spinning reels but they are MUCH more persnickity and if you tighten a screw or nut down to hard the thing won't work or feel goofy, to light and it will fall apart, so it's a fine fine line

I've been out fishing a few times, I just prefer springsummerfall fishing. Been fishing for panfish/trout/salt instead, much more productive.

All reels are different as well as bait weight, some reels are gussied than others, for lighter baits 1/8th-1/4 I like faster spool drop with breaks medium-high, and for heavier 3/8th-1oz I like tight spool tension at a creep with medium-low breaks. This is VERY general but everyone has a personal preference for settings, I'm no expert caster but this pretty much eliminates all backlashes unless there is major wind or something

Roughly your age, this was a good start for me...

Trick worm, works in almost all water clarity, can be fished top to bottom, slow or fast, senko is also a good choice but I prefer a trick worm just because I like em.