GetFishorDieTryin

Ive heard the older model 150 MGLs are actually a little better, but IDK. Ive had the 70, the 150 and 200 in my hands and they all feel really nice. Im partial to the 70, and I use a Met 70 for chatterbaits in the spring. I like a bigger reel with a 100mm handle for burning a 1/2oz bladed jig in the summer.

Yes, there are differences. Tungsten by itself is a very dense metal and has properties that make it difficult to retain its shape as it cools. As hard as pure tungsten is. it has a tendency to become brittle after cooling. There are several formulas different manufacturers use to make tungsten alloys. The higher quality tungsten is generally 95-97% tungsten with a 3-5% mixture of nickel and or iron.
Lesser quality tungsten or tungsten compounds remain brittle and have poor tensile strength. JIgheads or jigs made of lower quality tungsten/ tungsten compounds that have collar on the shank, are prone to shattering with sufficient vibration of the hook or when the shank has enough pressure on it to flex or bend slightly. As much as I like Keitechs products the micro jigs and super round jigheads shatter often.
Tungsten naturally has a reflective surface. Unfortunately paint doesn't bind to it very well and has a tendency to chip very easily. Although it cost a little more money to produce, heating tungsten to extreme temps and immediate quenching in very cold water will produce a matte finish that is incredibly resistant to chipping or scratching. I think you can also add some kind of powder during production, that results in a matte finish.
Being that tungsten is incredibly hard, the interior of tungsten bullet weights that lack an insert can damage line easily if there is a burr or sharp edge that wasn't polished out.
Weights with inserts dont translate vibration as efficiently vs weights without inserts. I've had a few weights that damaged line, although it very rare, like 3 weights out of hundreds. 2 of them were from the same brand, but I cant quite remember which one it was. The shop only carried a few brands and I know i wasn't a R2S or Picasso, pretty sure it was Eco Pro or TD.
In terms of quality, there quite a few good companies. I really liked Swagger and was saddened to see they are no longer available on TW. I think Reins and Picasso have the best tungsten Ive used. Never had any issues and the weights are exactly the weight they advertise.
A bunch of companies offer tungsten with inserts. I know Picasso does and I think Reins all have inserts. You can even make your own inserts. There are a bunch of videos that show you how.

IMO, they each have a different action and obviously profile, to match the mood of the fish, time of year and profile.
The Easy Shiner is the most subtle of the 3. Its the most subtle of the 3, with a tight tail swing and little to no roll. The profile of the Easy Shiner imitates very small, slender baitfish or fry. Think herring, spearing, minnows and juvenile fish.
The Fat swing impact is on the complete opposite of the spectrum, relative to keitech anyway. The tail and body as larger the other 2, which causes the tail to swing harder. The body is round, which along with the tail helps the bait roll from side to side and give a little movement to the head of the bait. Now just because its more aggressive doesnt it wont work in colder water or on spooky fish. When the water cools down, the plastic stiffens. What made and still makes keitechs so great, is that the plastic is so soft it it still swims in frigid water. It will stiffen slightly, but still swim on a super slow retrieve. The Swing Fat is good at imitating fish with a stocky or thicker profile. Think taller (relative to length) profile, like Alewife, gizzard shad, smaller sunfish, peanut bunker, pinfish, pilchard etc.
The Swing Impact is like a finesse Swing Impact Fat, or slightly more aggressive bait than Easy shiner. The tail doesnt swing as wide as the Fat, but wider than the Easy Shiner. Theyre kind of a neglected bait, which isa sham because theyre really good. The profile is similar to the Easy shiner, unless the fish are looking at it from below or over the top of the bait. Think of it as a slightly more aggressive Easy Shiner with a rounded ribbed body.
When you compare the 2.8 fat and SI, the fat has much larger profile. The roll of the fat causes the fish to see more of the belly and top of the bait as it rolls. As the fat rolls, the fleck causes quick flashes as it catches the sun on the correct angle.

The first chatterbaits used single layer EZ skirts. They dont look as nice as a handtied skrt, but theres a reason they were used. Thinning out the inside layers of the skirt allows for better action and less lift. Simply trimming the skirt can cut the size a bladed jig in half.
The spunk shads are good trailers, but the density of the plastic and buoyancy of the plastic causes the bladed jig to run shallower than it would with other trailers. IMO the spunk shad works best on a burn and stop retrieve with a hunting bladed jig.
If you want the bait to run deeper, try Net Baits 4.5 flat sided shad. The tail and body to tail length ratio is very similar to a spunk shad. The flat sided shad just has a much thinner profile, so it stays deeper and casts a little better.

Depends on what ou want to throw.  The M power XT is on the lighter side, despite its 1/8-3/4 rating.  It should be closer to 1/8-1/2 or 5/8. 
Ive never fondled a Black Bass, but the SCiii builds out Fresnillo (formerly the FW mojo family blanks) are good blanks and the power/actions are consistent.  The SC more than likely has the higher quality blank, and is likely lighter.  So long as SC did a good job balancing them, they should be light in hand.  The ergonomics appear to be pretty good.  The rear locking reel seat and full EVA foregrip are comfortable, easy to maintain and will last longer than lower quality cork.  I hope SC made the grips thinner than those on Victory.  IMO a thinner foregrip gives me a better connection to the rod and is more comfortable. 
Try to get your hands on a Black Bass and see if you like the feel.  Barring a balance issue, defective blanks like the newer inshore Mojos, or spending another $35 to upgrade to Tatula Cork, I would think the SC just edges out the XT slightly.

Rubber has more buoyancy and a different density when compared to most silicone skirting.  When silicone gets cold it has a tendency to stiffen.  Rubber is as affected by cold water.  It still moves really well and being that its buoyant, just a tiny bit of current or small twitch of the rod gives it good movement, almost like its breathing as it expands and contracts.  There are drawbacks with rubber.  Its not as durable as silicone.  It can melt in really hot weather, and I don't think it can technically dry rot, but it does degrade over time, weaking cracking and flaking.  As far as I know, rubber skirting is limited to solid, flat colors.  To get a specific color or flash, you have to mix in silicone or tinsel.  I like the hybrid material jigs.  Both materials have a different action so there is contrast in the movement of the skirt.

I would want at least a 4/0 gap for a bait that thick.  You just don't want a longer shaft length, that could stiffen the bait up.  

One's a swimbait and the other is a strolling/twitch bait. 
There s a lot of overlap between the 2, I use both in similar conditions.  You tight line the ES in shallower water because that tail gives it more lift. 
I use the SI with hover rigs, wheel heads and other jigheads that create roll.  The SI is just kind of a more subtle bait than the ES.  I think the straight tail looks and feels more natural to the fish, but I could be wrong.  I do well on both.
Im gonna try the Great lakes finesse hover shads out.  The quality of them looks great and the way belly is shaped should give the bait great action on the fall.

Between the Tatula and Premier, I think the Tatula has it beat in every department other than possibly customer service, as SCs pretty good for the most part and I've never experienced Daiwas cust service. 
The Tatula is more comfortable in hand, particularly if you have a high grip on the rod.(all or most fingers above the reel stem)
The New Tatulas are actually going with an A O guide instead of the Fazlites of the older model, which is a downgrade IMO.
The 2pc Tatula will be slightly heavier than the 1pc, but Daiwa knows how to make a great multipiece rod.  
SC has certainly had some issues over the past few years.  I was really sad to them change the guide train on one of the most well-loved rod lines out there, being Avid Inshore.  IDC what kind of coating you put on SS, its not going to be as light or corrosion resistant as Ti.  Some of their new lines are kind of gimmicky.  The tri grip mojos are like a novelty.  Its already been done before on big game rods to increase comfort on long fights.  It was found the points of the triangle cause hotspots in your hand after prolonged fights, but that shouldn't be an issue with LM and SMB.
One nice thing about SC is that they have dramatically improved the balance of their rods when you compare the current lines to ones made in the early 2ks.
It really comes down to which one feels better to you.
     

I replace nearly all my SW plugs with inline singles.  They actually hold better than trebles, so long as you get a decent set.  I havent done nearly as much replacing trebles with FW lures.  Ive doe a little with JBs in the summer and they work better than expected.  I actually find squarebils to be one the more snag resistant baits, so long as its the right one moving at the right speed.  I have been replacing the trebles on my traps in late winter with duo hooks.  It makes a big difference when you're yo yoing them.  I have noticed that I do lose a noticeable amount more fish when even 1 treble is replaced by a duo, much less both.
Ive got a few older Yo Zuri plugs that came stock with circle hooks.  They do work, but the problem with circle hooks is they are a PITA to sharpen with the sharp angle they are on. 
I could definitely see them being useful in areas you dont want to blow out with a snag.  The problem with single hooks and snags is that they are much stronger than trebles due to wire size and shape.  If you do snag up, its going to be much harder to bend the hook out if you dont want to run the boat over and blow out the spot.     

Ichikawa Rick Clunn Kamikari lights in #8s work, you may even be able to go down to 6's.
Ichikawa has light wire round bend that will work in a #8.
 
Duo Spearhead Ryuki Treble #8
 
Hayabusa TBL 930s NRB #8 

Not as easy to get anymore, but the Hayabusa brush easy would work really well.  I jig worm with 1/0 on a 4" bubbling shaker.  The hooks tend to break instead of bend that and availability are the only drawbacks to the BR head IMO.

 

2/0 with a short shank.  Not too many around in the lighter wights I like to use 1/16 and 3/32.  Theyre expensive, but Picasso makes a really good one.  Normally I dislike screw locks, but these are pliable and don't really get in the way.  

 
Bite Me Tackle has great one, but the eye is horizontal instead of vertical.  They come with a Gami sproat hook and are perfect for finesse worms.  The keeper is really effective, but the baits dont last as long. 

For longer worms my favorite SH is Gamis Tricky head.  It does everything well and has that Oshaughnessy style hook which just sticks em.  The shanks are a little long for 4.5" worms IMO, but work great for 5" or longer.  Really like the keeper ass well, it hold traditional plastisol and elaztech really well.   

 

Bass X for sure

Didnt get to fondle a whipsnake until last year and was very impressed.  They were next to the new SC LTBs and IMO the Orochi looked and felt superior in every way, really liked how stout it was.  With a Luvias FC that must be one of the best combos for the $.  
If it were me I would go with the SH.  It would be a good soft plastic or deeper water finesse.  
If I were to need something heavier then SH I go to casting gear.

August-Nov can be really inconsistent as far as the bite goes.  Its a time of year when grinding the rest of the day with a couple baits that did well the week before is just a waste of time, IMO.  Ive found downsizing to be really effective.  Small JBs, 1/4oz traps, 1/4 buzzbaits and small spinnerbaits, more times then not, out fish their full size counterparts, both in term of quantity and quality.  If down sizing the paddletail doesnt help, try going to a straight tail swimbait or even a straight tail 4" worm.

ML is good for 1/8, but once you get to 3/16 and 1/4 then a M is more effective IMO.  Not sure what the budget is, but for the money a 7' M F Tatula is incredibly hard to beat.  They just do everything really well, better then quite a few rods close to double the price point.  They offer them in 6'6 and 6'8, but Ive only handled the 7'.  The 7' M F feels like a lot like a ML in the tip with a little more power in the backbone, which makes the rod really versatile.

If it was my rod, I would be ticked if he didn't offer to replace it.  Ive had the same thing happen to a few rods and losing just a couple inches can dramatically reduce the sensitivity, especially with faster actions.  The EMFT may not be as adversely affected by losing some of the tip section because its softer, but its going to make a difference.

Ive gotten pretty good at eying it, especially with the 2500 LT spools.  The other way is to reverse spool, which ive never tried.  
Go out any buy some 12lb big game or something you can actually use and use that as backing.  Since 10lb braid is so thin you will want to almost completely fill the spool with mono, then add the braid.  If you run out of room and dont have enough line on the spool then open the bail and wrap the braid back on the filler spool with your hand and take the appropriate amount of backing off.  
You can get a rough idea of how much braid you're putting on by counting the number of times you crank the reel multiplied by the inches per turn, then convert it to ft or yards.  Since the diameter of the spool is changing slightly as more line is put on, its just a ballpark figure.

I think I know the video you're talking about.  Essentially what it comes down to is the smaller bait will get more bites vs a bigger bait.  Although the smaller bait, jig in this case is likley to get more bites then a bigger one, he starts out with a bigger bait because hes looking for a better fish.  The jig just gets steadily smaller and the action of the trailer gets more subtle as he becomes more desperate to get bit.  

Theres a lake by house that is similar, it has a small fish population for its size, receives an incredible amount of fishing pressure and usually has 6"-18" viz.  Every fish you catch you have to earn, they're are good days every now and then but for the most part its always a grind.
Try downsizing along with using something more subtle.  Instead of using a real aggressive SB, throw a shad rap or a silent SB at the very least.  Since they see a ton of spinner/chatterbaits, dont throw them unless you have some cloud cover and or wind. 
When you do throw them make them look different, trim the skirt down to tighten up the profile and color in chatterbait blades with a black sharpie.  I know it was mentioned earlier, but those little pond magic booyahs can really do some damage.
On days where you dont have the wind/clouds or they just aren't responding to cranks or spinner/chatterbaits go with a really compact swimjig.  There are a few really good ones, but the past few months Ive come to depend on the Greenfish Chibi swim jig with a swimming fluke jr on it.  Its got a light wire hook and a thin weedguard which makes it a bad choice for cover, but its excellent for sparse cover and open water.  The hook penetrates so well most of the time the fish hook themselves, just make sure to use a M power rod or set your drag accordingly so it doesn't open the hook.   It just gets bit when other swimjigs wont and it gets a bigger bite on average then a swimbait of equal size. 
 

Start small, 3" keitech or grub with a 1/16, 1/20, 1/15 or whatever lightweight jighead you have.  If the water is cold, keep the rod tip high and reel as slow as you can without hitting the bottom so you don't get bogged down in grass or slime.  Just about anything will take a shot at that little bait, so it will tell you where the fish are.  Ned rigs and DSs will do the same thing, but you can cover water faster with a small swimbait.  Once you have an idea of where the fish are, pick the area apart with a ned rig, jig or DS.