Martyr

Not a quick question today more of a longer one. I recent purchased 2 rods, a crankbait and a flipping stick. I know both at the same time, my mother was not too impressed. But they are twins and they are purdy.

The crankbait is a 7' medium heavy with moderate fast tip.

The flipping stick is a 7'6" medium heavy with an extra fast tip.

So needless to stay I'm under supplied in the reel department. I have an extra Shimano Cardiff 401A floating around, might be spool in braid but beyond that i will need another reel. So i come to you guy asking, what would you recommend for myself in the $150 dollar range? Also any recommendation on your favourite line type and lbs for these applications? i"m always learning and i like to hear how you guys set up

I have the exact same specs on my Compre Crankbait Rod, which i think is great rod, i paired it with the new Shimano Citica in 6:5 gear ratio and i really like it, casts far and surprisingly smooth for the money. For my flipping stick (7"6 Heavy/Xfast) i am using the new Shimano Curado 7:1 gear ratio which i find to be not as smooth or cast as far as my Citica. In general i like 6:5 baitcaster reel for general purpose cranking and a 7:1 for any pitch/punch with as light a reel weight as possible. (the reel size is not as important here since the fishing is close quarters, meaning you can downsize spool size as long as you do not sacrifice max drag power.)

Well I was thinking of going for a 20lb fluorocarbon but I'm wondering if that will tie well to my 40lb braid.

 

I'd tie it to a swivel but the only disadvantage is that that won't go through the guides.

the diameter of the braid should be around 10 pound in relation to fluoro/mono lines. however since 40 lb braid is used for heavy cover i would use at least 15lb fluoro - 20 depending on how heavy the cover. 

Spinning reel for 100 or less my rod is new but the cheap reel I purchessed for it locked up once it got water in it just a heads up don't buy the rapala halos so I need a new one preferably from sail since it is my local store

The spinning reel im looking to acquire for that price bracket is the Shimano Symetre FL 2500: http://fish.shimano....Symetre_FL.html

This reel features the same X Ship technology as more expensive reels (Stradic, Saros) but seems to weigh a little less than both and at the same time costs less.  

1st time using braid 40 lb. what is a good knot to use for this type of line, ?.

Thanks

Depends on what technique you are applying. 

For pitch/punching i use a snell knot. 

For soft bodied frogs i use a loop knot. 

Everything else i use a double palomar knot, which is pretty much unbreakable using heavy duty braid.