J Francho

OK, good to hear that - same principal as my med/x-fast topwater rod. Usually don't want to use x-fast with trebles, but the give in mid section of a medium power rod is plenty to keep them on.

The charger works when the boat is in the driveway, plugged into a wall outlet. It wouldn't solve your issue with switching batteries now. For starting, you want a marine cranking battery. For the trolling motor, a deep cycle marine battery is what you want. They are different. My guess is the smaller one is a cranker, and the bigger one is the deep cycle. As was mentioned, just hook the engine up to the cranker, and the troller to the deep cycle.

No give, to protect against slack line. "Spinnerbait" rods are usually X-Fast, and offer little protection against this, and were designed with mono/fluoro/copoly in mind. Hooks can and will tear out with braid. You need to use a rod with a bit slower taper, like Fast.

Yes they do....It's just 5.5:1 now. Do you really believe that the extra 2" per turn of retrieval makes a difference?

Abrasion.... That's a double edged sword that I think may be a wash. With strong, large diameter braid tied direct to a jig, you can rip even a big fish out from under one of our zebra mussel encrusted docks before she has a chance to wrap you up. But, if she does get the edge on you, it's over. Lines like CXX can take quite a bit of munching before failing, but you may need to use a smaller diameter line which is weaker. I've had failures and succeses with both - no clear winner for me.

His insurance took responsibility. I have been assigned a claim rep/adjuster to the claim, but haven't heard from them yet.

My buddy uses 50# braid (I use 12# CXX) and we catch them just the same. No leader necessary for a moving bait.

Welcome aboard, man!

65 or 85# Power Pro, tied straight to the bait.

Short answer: NO!

About 2# is fine.

I use a spring scale, and put the handle in a vice. Then I tie the line to the hook on the scale, and pull. Slowly increase until you get the amount you want. That way, you KNOW it's set perfectly. 1/4 to 1/3 of breaking strength (not rated"test") is about right. After a while, you do it by feel, but it never hurts to check them once in a while.

My post wasn't directed to yours, just followed yours, but good point nonetheless.

After I verbally abused him, he hid in his car. He was a dippy guy in his late 50s, not elderly at all. He wore painters clothes, and was driving on a restricted license, which says "DUI" to me. He was "out there" and maybe huffed too many paint fumes.

I caught this fish in 6# Invisx on a medium-light rated rod. Drag was set to 2.5 lbs. resistance. The reel was a Stradic CI4 with a dry Carbontex drag upgrade. The fish made three runs, and then was netted. I credit my friend Noel with 3/4 of that fish.

If you aren't ready, you aren't ready. No need to throw stones at the guys, just because you've found what you were looking for. For whatever reason, it doesn't always work out that way. I'm divorced, have two boys. I couldn't have foreseen the circumstances that led to my situation, but things are better now with her gone. I thought I met the one, but it wasn't meant to be. I was only going to get married once, and I'm sticking to that, even if it didn't work out.

Time for some D-Con treats!

LOL, thanks.

Too funny!

Shouldn't be too bad to fix, but he did get the boat too:

Mike's a generous guy, LOL. Seriously though, last week I was looking for some Shimano parts that were back ordered, and he hooked me up without hesitating.

..when trying to comprehend what this fool thought he was trying to do by squeezing in to the right side of my boat at an intersection. I was turning right, and had my signal on. Thanks for ruining a perfectly good day, moron. He actually backed into the police cruiser when he left! He said he was trying to squeeze in, and didn't see my turn signal. Yeah, those bright LEDs are hard to miss. You don't see this every day!

Hmmmmmm..... from the wicked site: Red flags already. "Why not?" would be my first question.

Yes. http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Catostomidae/suckers.html http://fish.dnr.cornell.edu/nyfish/Cyprinidae/common_carp.html

Hundred Grand