QED

Used for sure if inexpensive is an important part of your decision criteria.

BFS tackle - the elaztech stuff needs to be segregated or kept in original packaging.

I use the full range of range of the lighter Zman ned jigheads/hooks with their TRD worms. Weightless wacky rigged 4" senkos. Also, spinnerbaits from 1/8 to 1/4oz.

I landed this one on BFS gear:

Having fished UL spinning gear (2-4lb test) most of my life, I don't find true BFS gear using 6-8lb test particularly limiting or problematic in most circumstances. Where heavier gear is required, I won't hesitate to use that too.

Shimano Poison Adrena 163L BFS rod with Shimano Aldebaran BFS XG reel. The shiznitz for sure. But you have to purchase from a JDM site. And definitely not budget friendly - but totally worth it.

Try google or any dictionary site. It’s not a difficult search…

My undergraduate degree was in theoretical math, so with that context, I tend to use American English with precision. From the Princess Bride applicable to "minimalistic" [sic], "I do not think it means what you [all] think it means."

That's not minimalist. A small Rapha backpack (https://www.rapha.cc/us/en_US/shop/small-travel-backpack/product/BKP01SMBLKXXX?istCompanyId=84e44ee5-f92f-42a9-82a2-6b3807bf0da6&istFeedId=4f489548-d128-4898-96ef-b6c4186d4d83&istItemId=wlpxqrlwq&istBid=t&gclid=CjwKCAjw2P-KBhByEiwADBYWCvILNXT3EjpM1cKPw30gdTuAlJpIa2BoveyN05MscpdU0ig3APpgSBoCz0cQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds) and a single 3700 size utility box would be minimalist. As for lures, 4" senkos, spinnerbaits, hollow frogs, and related tackle will cover the entire water column.

Ditto. I mostly fish light and UL, so 2-4lb for spinning and 6-8lb for casting. Except at places like Lake Amador that is full of sunken trees. Only then 14-20lb test.

We'll just have to agree to disagree, as I don't find that to be a useful purpose. I can tell the approximate lure weight without regard to system balance. Plus my UL spinning rigs all have short tennessee handles, so you'd have to do some unnatural reel placement to get static balance with or without a lure. And the system mass is so low that static, unweighted balance doesn't matter one whit.

Not sure what message you are trying to convey. If you mean to balance the rig at a particular lure weight, then it will be unbalanced at any other lure weight. Not a particularly useful purpose if that is what you mean.

Disagree here. My spinning rod/reel holding position is dictated solely by line control considerations and not balance. All of my UL rigs weigh under 7oz so balance isn't even a consideration. Adding just a 1/8oz lure to the distal end will throw off the nominal balance point anyway, so why would anyone even care? FYI, the question is purely rhetorical, so no response required.

I don't make the common English usage rules, I merely follow them. And if words are misused often enough, the misuse eventually becomes part of the new definition, e.g., "disinterested" used to mean impartial but now it also means uninterested thanks to a bunch of miscreants who must not have studied for their SAT exams.

In American English, the thumb is considered a digit but not always considered a finger. Common dictionaries disagree on this point.

I hold the reel such that my index finger can feather or even stop the line against the spool's forward edge/lip. Holding the foregrip [only] puts one's index finger too far forward and since I don't use the index finger for holding the rod at all, 2x2 is the only viable hold for me that permits proper line control during casting. Purely a functional consideration.

You don’t set your drag to the line weight but rather a fraction of it. So you can use 20 lb drag with much heavier line.

I like the Team Lew's Custom Pro spinning reels in this budget price range. They are currently Lew's best spinning reels but well within the stated price constraint.

"Where have all the giant bass gone?" "Long time passing..." With apologies to Pete Seeger.

Well in the warm summer weather, lure fishing seems more productive than bass fishing. Stuff I've found since the drought here in CA:

Thanks for the fascinating history lesson. One of the great aspects of this forum!

Just so you all don't think I was a total ass, I was already accepted to the University of California, so even though I missed a ton of school, it no longer mattered. But I care about education and have a couple of professional degrees to prove it. So the lesson isn't to cut school, but rather to only do it if it won't affect your permanent record. BTW, you can tell which UC campus I graduated from based on the colors of my avatar cycling jersey!

Wow, no other scofflaws among us here? Cutting high school isn't like a felony. In fact, during two summers in the eighties, I worked at the SJ County and Sacramento County DA's offices as a graduate legal assistant (i.e., law student) prosecuting real bad guys.

I got the top score on the MAA exam in my city's high school district which bought me an automatic A in calculus. So I cut school 43/44 days in my final high-school quarter/semester(?) to go fishing. I lived next to the SJ County delta system so it was a 15 minute drive to good fishing. One day, I brought my fishing rig and tackle box on the school bus(!) to my morning computer science class and missed my afternoon calculus class. Good times. Tom Sawyer stuff for sure. Rebels without a clue!!!

Agreed that the Rapalas work well. The balsa ones were still available when I started serious fishing in the late eighties. Why were people hoarding them in the 60s?