J Francho

Someone butchered the system. Looks like a simple overflow setup. You'd "T" into the left (port side), and run a pump to the spray bar, I think. Hard to tell - you might enlist another boat owner that knows what's up. The only that can happen with hoses just lying around, is a possible sinking. Even if you don't resolve this immediately, please leak test all these lines from the transom.

Yes, three lines. Recirc in and out, and a fill/drain. Some have a push pull valve on the recirc jet which either rpumps the livewell water out, or recircs in the well. An actual photo or five would help. It might just be a simple overflow system.

Any livewell system I've used has a recirculating pump, and a fill/drain pump. At the very least, there should be a fill pump. The water would run out of the livewell when you pull the boat out. There should also be a shut off on the fill line.

The jig gets a trailer. The only trailer I put on a chatterbait or spinnerbait is a hook.

Not sayin'

Voodoo dolls....

No, that's backwards. Not always true, but 90% of the time it is.

My live bait rods back when I tossed soft shells for smallmouth were 8-10', and had a moderately fast taper. That allowed you to use lighter line (4# XL in my case) and toss a crab on a SS rig pretty far with a lob cast, and not rip the hook out of the crab's back. Otherwise, a 7-something rod isn't all that long, unless you're in tight quarters. I like a shorter rod, but it's just preference.

To me, that's as painful to watch as someone fising a spinning reel upside down, LOL> Glad you figured it out, Chop! If you had an aggressive blade like my AT Oracle, you'd really see the difference.

Generally, shortening at the tip slows the action down. I'm willing to bet that just an inch won't change it too much. Those Fuji kits are great for this.

The belonged to a friend of mine. Added different gears, Carbontex, upgraded and additional bearings, drilled idlers, and a handle from a one of those giant Revo winch reels. It was sweet. No idea where he got it.

I've had a few baits break on bad casts that left me scratching my head as to why. Then you smash a bait on a bridge abutment, and nothing happens. Why, man, why?!?

10# fluoro is a bit much for a spinner. I don't go over 6# on a 2500 series reel.

I use straight 6# Tatsu or Invisx.

An Ambassadeur with 5:1 gears would be good for this. I built a pretty sweet wiffle spool model for this a few years ago.

If you're honest and upfront about how you smashed your nice bait against some rocks, they MIGHT take pity. But really, do you think it's Megabass's fault?

Cheapest way in a minivan? Jam it inside, and leave the back gate open.

Bent rod pattern is strong on Erie.

I stopped at "Calcutta." (and I'm actually a Daiwa guy)

If I can't see it, it's not on top, lol. That's the point of the bright dot.

I like a frog that I can see easily at a distance. I've even put pink dot stickers on the back, just so I can see it better. Really big bass tend to slurp a frog, and it can be subtle. Can't see your frog? Set the hook!

Catt, just leave it... Here's something relevant to the discussion:

It looks a bit like the first pic below. Or, you can get a Fish Grip, as shown in the second pic. They're nice for squirrelly pike under 10 lbs. Over that, and I prefer to handle them by hand, so as not to hurt them. 10+ pike take a long time to grow, and when they're removed, they are usually replaced with a bunch of smaller fish in the population. The really big ones cannibalize the smaller ones. Dwight, now you have to get towed around in a kayak by one of these, lol.

Saint Croix sends this powder, that when heated becomes a fast drying, strong adhesive. They send so much with each tip top, there's plenty to do a bunch of repairs. I don't know what the actual product is, maybe Mike @ DVT knows?

Post spawn is usually when weeds peak up here. Jig or Texas rig plastic is my "search bait." As they move even deeper in summer, I add cranks to the mix.