Spro Aruku Shad, can't even count how many tournaments this bait has helped me cash a check in. Colors depend more on the situation, either natural colors to match the hatch or red craw colors in the spring are my go to.
If you are fishing open water I like blade baits like the silver buddy, underspins, big jigs with a pork trailer, or a jerkbait. It really all depends on the water temperature.
It really depends on what type of swimbaits and jigs you want to throw. If you are looking to throw big swimbaits that are 6"+ and up to 4 or 5 oz you're going to need a specialized rod for that. Likewise if you plan on throwing light jigs under 1/2 oz. that is going to require a completely different type of rod as well.
Awesome. I won't fish in the fall/winter from the boat without mine now. Battery usually lasts a decent amount of time, and by the time it dies the temperature has usually increased enough that I don't really need it to be on.
I've changed all of my freshwater reels and saltwater reels to various J braid from 10 to 65 lbs and haven't had an issues with the performance of any of them.