Ya, I'm not a fan of baitcasters as an all round combo. If you were to stick to Largies and Pike then sure go with the 7' MH but if you throw eyes into the mix then MH seems a little over kill...
I would also suggest trying the 30# braid. I've been throwing spinnerbaits with a baitcaster for years and always go with 30# braid, I've had great success with Stren Superbraid, casts well, doesn't dig in and seems to last forever. If you find yourself in clear water you can always tie on a fluoro leader.
To help with the digging in, if you can, first time out in a boat troll out all of your braid with a lure that provides lots of resistance and then reel the line back in under tension. This will make sure that the base is nice and tightly wound.
When I started with baitcasters I also questioned the switch reel hand thing. I ended up going with mostly left hand retrieve (I'm right handed) and would never change that. The rod hand is the one to impart action to the bait, I want that one to be my dominant hand. The one exception is I prefer to throw spinnerbaits and such on a right hand retrieve but that is mostly chuck and wind.
As an example:
By baitcasters are spooled as follows: Heavy pitching/fliping 65# braid, Froggin 65# braid, pitching/ flipping clear water, lighter cover 20# fluorocarbon, Spinnerbaits, rattlebaits, chatterbaits 30# braid.
