The Next KVD

I guess it depends. how thick of cover are you fishing, what brand did you previously use, what baits are you throwing, ect. Agood line that I use is 15lb P-Line CX Premium. Your going to get a lot of different answers as everybody has their personal preference.

I just bought 2 of the old generation. One 30 and a 35. Did if for the $ savings and the spare spool!

I'd personally use the mh rod for the frog and the heavy for flipping. I can't comment on the line as I have not tried the Fluoroclear.

I tried using a left handed baitcaster for a year and I just couldn't get the hang of it. Loved the idea of being able to use both but I just felt like I had horrible control over all the motions. I had hook setting problems, fish control during the fight issues, ect. I would set that reel down and pick up the same rod/bait/line combo just with a right hand reel and the issues went away. However, I can cast as well as flip/pitch with both hands. I gave it a fair shot for a year and glad I only invested in one lefty reel to begin with.

Like said before, huge price market in that range. I would say a Chronarch ci4 which can be had on a certain site for under $250.

I'd probably do 12lb for jigs unless I was flipping into wood in which case I'd go with the 15lb.

If it worked for you last year, this year should be no different. Although my personal preference would be to throw the spinnerbait on the 15lb and the texas rigs on the 12.

You can get a Bass Pro Shops Pro Qualifier spinning reel for under $50. I got one and its a nice reel.

Built on the same frame and components as the Curado. Just has less bearings. most people such as myself replace the bushings in the reel for bearings which is a cheap enough upgrade.

Especially when there is a huge line of people waiting to get their boats in. They spend 30 mins trying to find the cooler in the vehicle when its clearly on the ground next to them. Worst of all is people who clearly don't back the trailer down into the water far enough and they try to winch the boat onto a trailer with carpeted bunks. Than to top it all off they pull out and decide to pack all their gear back into the vehicle while the rest of us are still waiting to put the boat in or to get ours out.

Funny you mention this. The guy that got me into bass fishing has 20 of these Curados, most of them from when he first got on the Shimano pro staff 15 years ago, and he abuses them and does a horrible job at maintaining them. After about 7 years of not having them cleaned or lubed I finally talked him into letting me do it for him. Long story short, of the 20 reels only 2 needed new gearsets and the rest felt just as good as the day they came out of the box with a good cleaning and lube job. Not the best in terms of palming but THE BEST durability wise, kinda like the old Abu Garcia round reels. They just keep going. Want the best bang for your buck, these are it.

They are excellent reels. I have 4 of them and never plan to get rid of them. They are probably THE MOST DEPENDABLE reel ever introduced. A good majority of the important parts are still available and cheap. A new gearset is about $20. You can get them all day every day off of ebay for $60-80. $50 is a good price.

Personally I would probably add a 6' 9"ML St.Croix Avid spinning or equivalent for dropshots, shakeyheads, real finesse stuff that demands 4-8lb test with a Shimano Sahara 2500 reel. As far as replacing your reels, I'm love the Shimano Sahara 4000's for spinning and for the casting reel to replace the Quantum KVD, Its hard to beat a Shimano Curado 200i (6.2:1) or an even better bang for buck, you can get a Daiwa Tatula (6.3:1) online for under $100. I choose the 6.x:1 reels in your case because of the overall versatility. I personally only own 1 5:x:1 ratio reel for deep cranking, and 3 6.x:1 ratio for moving baits. Any bottom contact bait, I'm going to use a 7.x:1 ratio reel. I'd say atleast 50% of my rods are 7'MH/F just because of they are just the right length and power to do 80% of the techniques in fishing.

Well, in terms of setting yourself apart from the competition in a cosmetic way, yes it definitely does that. Performance, can't judge until I try one. However, I think they went alittle too far in the cosmetics to make me want to buy one to try. From a engineering standpoint, I don't think that wire stem is the best route. Just my opinion though, it may be the greatest spinning reel built but I highly doubt it going off looks alone.

Nope. I own three Veritas; a 7'3" MH, a 7' MH, and a 6'9" ML spinning. Never had an issue with any of them. They are the best $100 rod I've used. All of mine are atleast 3 years old at this point.

7'MH Abu Garcia Veritas. Best sub $100 rod there is.

I love frog fishing but I don't own many due to the fact that its not all that often I lose a frog. That and I don't carry every colored frog under the rainbow. I usually have a black pattern frog, a white pattern, and a yellowish orange pattern. With that in mind I only throw Spro Bronzeye and Bronzeye Popping frogs one in each of these colors. I know that they work and do the job well and they just simplify my approach, as well as I can store them in one small utility box. I use to be a diehard Scumfrog guy.

I buy all my reels off of ebay, mainly because most sellers are offering them cheaper nib with free shipping. Just buy from a high rated seller. If an issue does come up, most of them that I have dealt with will make good on the item.

I replace as needed as well. Depends on how much use the line on a certain rod sees. I got some 15lb P-Line 100% Fluoro that's been on the same reel for the last 2 years now.

50lb and I wouldn't think twice about it. Can do just about anything with that.

Don't like that reel seat so I have no plans on buying one.

they are nice reels. I own 1 g and 7 e's. I prefer the ergonomics alittle better than the e but I feel like the e's are just a bit smoother, and I like the color a lot better.

A Shimano Chronarch D7 with a St. Croix 7' MH/F Legend Elite.

I spend more on the rod. However, that's mainly because I'm building my own rods and I like to get the best components I can. Reels for the most part I don't spend my money on anything under $100 except when buying on ebay. Mostly its curados and chronarchs for me. However, I do like to pick up good deals on rods on occasion, such as the gen 1 Veritas when they where on sale.

For $50 the PQ gets the nod. However, if you were going to get it for full retail price, than no. The Tatula can be found online for cheaper.