MichBassMan

spinnerbait

I did when learning jigs. As for sencos, well in my opinion there isn't too much learning involved. Put em on a hook and throw em in the water. hardest part is learning to not let them swallow it.

Unless your trailer has brakes on it, the biggest issue is safety. The added weight of the boat behind you will tend to push a smaller lighter truck in an emergency braking situation.

Lighter line ( like 8# to 12#. Lighter rod ( like a medium )

Untill you get your backlash issues worked out, I'd use #12 or #14 soft mono. Trilene XL is one of many good ones. It's more forgiving, and it's MUCH cheaper when you have to cut off a half or whole spool of line. With enough "thumb" practice you'll be ready for more expensive options if you so desire.

In Michigan there is a law against anyone "harassing" fisherman. Your state may have one also. The angry man and wife could possibly charged with harassment. Have your parents look into it, call your local fish and game dept.

Ha ha, notice I said " generally go unmolested "

I've been on both the giving and receiving end of many of the above mentioned shenanigans. More often before GPS became popular, but still now on some occasions to mark a spot on the spot,( an underwater stump, hump, or brush pile), prior to a tourney, I'll place a duck or seagull decoy as a marker buoy. Conventional markers attract attention, seagulls generally go unmolested.

Whatever you buy, I'd try to get a twin cyl rather than a single. Singles tend to be more noisy & vibrate more, especially on an aluminum boat.

Please forgive me for being the devils advocate here. I'd hate to see your ruin some of your rods. I do think you have a great idea and are on the right tract. However I think you very well may damage your rods on rough roads or rough water. The graphite on your rods is going to be "stressed" just ahead of the handles, also because of poor balance they are going to bounce considerably when they get a rough ride. Perhaps you could move the handle support to the other side of your cut-out so the handle supports the weight of the rod and reel, and also will balance better. Good luck

If there are bass in there, they will eat jigs.

Good question BassCats, I also like to know when my lines were manufactured .

This is by far the strongest knot I've ever used on fluoro. It's well worth a little extra practice to use it.

Tube, grn pumpkin or white, hop it, drag it, skip it, it doesn't matter just keep it in the water.

X2 especially the part about calling or e-mailing "David" at Wyvern Creations. He will explain everything you'll ever need to know about selecting ,shooting, and maintaining EVERYTHING that has to do with a crossbow. He will always take time to answer your questions both before and after the sale. I bought a 10pt Wicked Ridge Invader from him in 2010, am very pleased, and still call or e-mail him when I have a question about anything crossbow related.

Just curious, did you ever find what was causing the "screeching" ?

Quite possibly it's the disk that the centrifugal drag weights are mounted in. It's somewhat common for the disk to develop a small crack causing it to slip on the shaft. Typically if it's this condition you will also notice a few more backlashes than you normally would get with this reel. Sometimes they are even cracked when they are assembled at the factory.

"Alka Seltzer in tubes." "How do you get the Alka Seltzer to hold onto a jig and pig so it does not come loose?" X2

That scenario happens more often than you think. It's a bummer it happened to you. I have friends AND relatives that I won't bring to certain spots. Additionally I've learned to be selective in who I show how to catch bass. It takes a long time for a bass to reach 5lbs.

I use both seguar invisex and sunline super sniper. Both of these flouro lines seem to get more supple with use.

Not only trolling motor shaft and big engine prop shaft. This year when checking my wheel bearings I had about 15yds of line all twisted around an axel and an inner wheel bearing seal. I noticed it because there was grease everywhere.

I have a small net I use. It's made for trout fishing but fits a livewell nicely .It works very good. I got mine from Bass Pro about 10 years ago. They still sell them for about $12 . It's about 8" wide and about 13" long. I've done #7lbers but nothing bigger. It gets the head half in the net and that's all you need. :>)

Regardless of make, nowadays you can get a very good sonar unit that will be accurate, show depth and the bottom, and show you fish for under $200. If you want fancy bells and whistles, side scan, or gps you'll have to dish out more cash.

If it had water in the fuel you may need to dump the water from the filter cup.

In Lake Michigan I strongly prefer flouro #8 to #12 (invizx). Flouro has much better "slack line" sensitivity than mono does. Braid has none. Knots and flouro is a learning curve but well worth the effort. I use Shaw Grizbys no-name knot. It's FAR superior to any other knot I've tried with fluorocarbon line.