J Francho

I just signed a contract for 2023. No more lawn mowing bologna for me!

I'm aware. My Merc Racing 2.5 had just a disk, but no fin. My 115 on the Xpress had two rectangular anodes on the sides of the lower unit, and the torque fin was painted black. I assume it was cast aluminum. I didn't bring it all up because it was mentioned already earlier in the thread.

This ^^ 100%

Locking and unlocking wasn't intuitive for me. I actually got some coaching from Glenn on how to do it. It seemed like it worked backwards of what I expected. It isn't an issue anymore, one hand operation now.

It's supposed to be offset a bit to counteract the torque from the rotating prop.

Once I got over my issues with locking and unlocking, the boxes grew on me. I really like the terminal and jib boxes. For hard baits, I'm still using the Hydro-flo vented boxes.

Unless there's some major weak point or hull breach/leak, this seems like much ado about nothing.

No way am I paying that for a 10-12 year old kayak. A brand new Compass would be a better deal.

The 50 size Calcuttas are special reels.

My favorite reel for this is an OG purple Alphas, 5.8:1 or around 22-23 IPT.

I refuse to accept this refuse as an answer.

Or herpes, lol.

How much material do you think you can remove before the hull is compromised?

I don't mind tangling with our stockies.

Three pops and a pause. Repeat.

The other phenomenon I've seen is blowups around the frog. Once I could see what was going on, I realized they weren't misses at all. Bass were picking off blue gills nipping at the skirts. A Mattlures Hard Gill floater absolutely cleaned house in this situation. Northerns? Jeez, that's from overharvest of the big ones. Most of the northerns I catch here are over 30". Take one big pike out of the system, and a bunch of hammer handles fill that slot in the biomass.

Pickerel are pretty large here due to the smaller ones being eaten by northerns, tigers, and musky. Average size is 18-24".

Finger Lakes picks must be more in tune. I've had so many frogs ruined.

I use 12# Tatsu for what you're describing. Mid depth cranking is and should always be a contact sport. Otherwise, you're hauling water.

Picks don't miss usually.

Getting tackle for review has opened my eyes for some companies and yet also confirmed my biases for others. No one is truly trying to sell you junk, but you have to realize the what the product's purpose is. A $40 baitcaster just isn't gonna hold up to more than occasional use. A $600 spinning reel isn't six times better than a $100 reel. As far as baits go, I like to use baits that are original, or unique to that company. Ragetail, GYCB, Lucky Craft, Jackall, and Roboworm are a few that come to mind. I've been very loyal when it comes to Seaguar. Their products, and specifically fluorocarbon line, have shined for me long before they became a sponsor. I'm also pretty invested in St. Croix, having over three dozen from various ranges - some are over 20 years old now! That all isn't to say that I don't try new options. Pinnacle was putting out some seriously nice rods a few years ago. Okuma continues to please me with excellent rods and reels. Spro and Fish Labs have both really expanded their lines to a point where you could pick one you like, and they would cover all your bases. Jigs.... Siebert all day long, and for many years. No need to go anywhere else for them. So, yes I'm brand loyal. That loyalty doesn't come with blind faith in the product. The companies I'm loyal to have made mistakes, but always learn from them and those mistakes end up improving future product. Those are the companies that deserve my loyalty.

Consider that some of those misses might be turtles, not bass.

Beno, caught a ton of bass on them.

I have two, a spinning and casting model - no issues. The internet is apparently full of people with issues. Out of the 40 or so St. Croix rods I own, one had an issue with a down locking hood stripping after around 17 years of use (a preproduction Avid demo made in 2000), and St. Croix made a guaranteed repair for $65 including round trip shipping.

Are you on shore or have a boat?