As mentioned by a couple of guys above, LISTEN to the skipper and crew when thy tell you how to rig up and where to put your line into the water. Also, if you talk to a deck hand before leaving the dock, let him know that you have no experience fishing in salt water (whether true or not doesn't matter, just tell him) and ask him for help. If he is like deck hands from the 60's and 70's he won't be alongside you the entire trip but he will have his eye on you for most of your fishing time and may even help you get hooked up, or hook a fish and hand it off to you.
Another thing, before leaving the dock ask for the belly meat from any albacore that is caught. Other fishermen who know will also ask for this meat as it is the best tasting meat on the fish, but if you ask first you get the belly meat from almost all the fish caught that the catcher doesn't wish to keep.

The banana thing is due to the banana boats form way back when. The cargo was bananas period. And tarantulas made their home in the bunches of bananas so these boats wound up with infestations of tarantulas that were almost impossible to get rid of.

When I was about 8 my stepfather took my brother, sister and I to a different church each Sunday. In a couple of these establishments the offering was collected as almost the last agenda item. In 2, the offering plate was passed every time anyone entered after the service was started.
Then in the 60's and 70's the televangelists were sending the message "send me your money and you will be saved!" Somewhere around this time (I think it was Oral Roberts) one of the televangelists said on TV that he needed 8 million dollars by a specific date or "God is going to call me home!"
Due to these events my opinion is that organized religion is more about money than it is about the word of God.
IMO calling a man made structure the house of God is somewhat blasphemous. Go out into the house that God built and study His word and/or pray to Him. Then make your donation to a charitable organization that is helping the truly needy in this world.

I was born and raised in the Los Angeles area. I started fishing at the age of 3. I have over 69 years on fresh water and over 62 years fishing the salt. I wouldn't trade either for anything. I love them both, equally!
I agree that the variety and possibilities while fishing salt water are better than fresh water but it is very difficult to beat a 7 pound brown trout on a 4 weight fly rod.

My name is Ed and I live in Cheyenne, WY. I have a 14 foot tracker for sale. Send me an email at edkealer@gmail.com with your contact information and I will call you to discuss what it is that you are seeking.

If I had to leave all my flies at home except 1, the 1 I would take is a wooly bugger. And I would probably catch fish on most days. The operative word here is MOST.
I have fished for over 69 years, and I can not think of a single fly or bait whether artificial or live that will produce fish every day no matter the conditions.

And I am not buying any bridges from you either! lmao

Not certain where your rule of thumb came from, but let me say this: I have fished for 69 years that I can remember and have seen some pretty weird things happen when fish are actively feeding. Catfish on the surface, walleye on the surface. Of all the fish you mention, the only one I haven't seen feeding on the surface is Carp. All the other species will feed from surface to bottom with enough regularity that trying to set a rule of thumb doesn't make sense.
As for setting your bait 6 inches below a bobber, I haven't heard or seen anything about so can not make any judgement or comment.

Here in Wyoming, the Game and Fish Dept. posts that information on their web site. You might want to give this idea a try.

If it is just 1 eye that is busted, why not replace it yourself. The cost is considerately less than replacing the entire rod and you will learn how to make your own rods (another huge savings) when you need new ones.
mudhole.com has videos on rod building and repair, plus they have all the parts you need to fix that broken guide.

Since curly tailed grubs work so well in both fresh and salt, this would be my choice. Chartreuse seems to be one of the better colors, but motor oil is almost as good!

I have been using the San Diego Jam knot for over 40 years and have never had a problem with it.
25 years ago or so I went on a multi-day tuna trip out of San Diego. The skipper gave a short briefing on some of the details for our trip. In this briefing he mentioned that there were 2 knots recommended for big (over 100 lbs.) tuna. One was the Bimini twist and the other was the San Diego Jam knot as both of these knots are noted for their strength.

When using to water baits, it is important to wait until you feel the fish on the line before setting the hook.
And as a Cajun once told me "When ya set da hook, ya don jerk his a** inta da boat, ya jerk his a** ober da boat!"

Walleye, Yellow Perch and any trout with salmon colored flesh!!! In that order.

Depending on the length, it is either an X-Rap or a Jointed Shad Rap (JSR). The X-Rap is around 7 inches long and is a sinking bait. The JSR is from 2 1/2 inches to about 5 inches long and is a floating deep diver bait.
I have a couple of X-Raps but have not caught anything on them as yet, however the JSR is very versatile. I catch LMB, SMB, Walleye, Rainbow Trout and Brown Trout on JSR 4s and JSR 5s in perch and Fire Tiger colors.

With the quality built into spinning reels these days, there is no NEED to own a baitcast reel! If you have the DESIRE to learn how to use a baitcast combo, then go ahead and buy one and then practice, practice, practice. In a couple of years the overruns will have almost disappeared and the pleasure of almost mastering this new outfit will be yours.