It is really a personal preference but we started swapping out some of our 8'6 rigger rods for 7's and working with the smaller rods is much nicer IMO.
We always did the reflective tape thing for our tip-ups and it worked great, I never got around to using tape on our planer boards, but I have no doubt that it would work great.
I am looking at making a custom fiberglass cooler for our boat. Right now we have a stainless box built into the deck that we put fish in with no insulation so we go through a lot of ice. I want to make the cooler so it fits into that box.
Here are my top from the year. Spoons: Stingray size NBK, Mag Moonshine happee meal Plugs: Didn't run much for plugs this year Flashers: 8" Glow Frog SD, 11" White glow Hotspot Flies: ITO lime bubble, ITO green bullfrog