>>981607>trying to stop the line with my finger before closing the bail.That's a good way to bugger your line up. If you wanna stop your lure short carefully cup the bail with your off hand. Or even close the bail with your off hand. Just don't do it really early into a cast. Stopping the line while the lure is still flying fast could cause the line to snap provided there is sufficient speed and lure weight. It's better you continue to get your practice in working on accuracy so you don't have to worry about over-shooting your target.
>>981941>What are your favorite rods and reels?Can't speak for takedowns though I should probably start looking. In the market for a dual sport and wanna be able to pack a small tackle box and rod or two. One of my favorite setups is a 7' Abu Veritas 2.0 M/F paired with a Revo S. It's the first time I've put over $200 into a combo and it was my first purchase from the Revo series of reels. The difference between the Max series reels is night and day. I use it with 12# mono for my heavier topwater poppers and spooks/walk-the-dog baits. It even can cast some of my lighter poppers (Pop-X, Rapala SP-7's, etc) that'd I'd usually use on spinning tackle at the cost of some casting range. I run an identical setup with 12# Fluoro for jerkbaits and medium suspending swimbaits. Those tend to benefit from the same slack-line technique used for "walking the dog." It's wild to watch shadow raps flicker a full 180 with the pop of a rod tip.
'course all that said pic related is my number one choice. I've an old Quantum (Array?) rod from a $20 combo whose reel long since bit the dust. Put another $30'ish into an Abu Cardinal SX10 and some 6# mono. I'll throw jig spinners all day long and have rarely had them fail me.
