Lower Niagara if it were me. Basically every species you could imagine. Lyle from HookedOnNiagara or Paul from Cast Adventures would be the ticket. Can find both of them on Facebook. Great guides.
I'd run rubber studs if I could. And I really think it depends on where you live if they should be mandatory or not. The entire province doesn't get the same weather.
I hope HB comes out with something like my buddies HDS12. I'm a HB guy, but that thing blows the Solix (Which is supposed to be it's competitor) out of the water. I'd love if they brought touchscreen to the Helix line.
Keep us in the loop Chris!!
Removing the lower end like you would when doing and impeller? I can't imagine there would be much besides the water pickup you'd have to disconnect (Besides the bolts that hold everything together)