Team9nine

Yeah - sometimes it's hard enough to drive a single barb all the way through a bass's mouth. Why would you want to have to try and drive 2 barbs though instead? Not a fan

Traditionally, they're best around the time that bluegill are spawning (and thrown around these same bedding areas), which usually means post-spawn in the bass world. Color-wise, that also means gill-like color patterns are popular, as are feathered rear hooks in some cases. Lots of options - they all work.

Yep - keeps life simple and has been producing great on my waters. I've always been more enamored with numbers than size. So wanted to get out Thu with those conditions but couldn't. If I catch it right, might pull out a bluegill swimbait one of these days just to see what happens. Gills are still doing some limited spawning in these waters.

Catching these fish just never gets old Quick pass after work before dinner accounted for over a dozen post-frontal bass this evening. Can't wait for the weekend - lol

Interesting...Here's a couple things to ponder; If my calculations are correct, that 7' segment of fluorocarbon only weighs 1/200 of an ounce more than the same length of Sonic Braid. I wouldn't think that little of weight addition would make that big of a difference by itself. You didn't mention whether you were using baitcast or spinning, but I'm guessing spinning. Either way, taking 10' of line off your spool would be equivalent to about 20-25 revolutions or wraps (times) around your spool depending on model size. Typically, lower spool levels lead to shorter casting distance due to increased line friction trying to get over the spool lip, though that 10' of line would only be about 1/20 of an inch difference. Perhaps the two things combined were enough to account for the decrease in distance you saw. Neat observation, regardless.

According to their website, that boat has a 16" transom, which would typically get a short shaft engine. I ran a 1648 with a 15" transom (Lowe) and also used a short shaft Merc. Long shaft, as you saw, is not ideal for that boat IMO.

If you have the signal, and the weather protection, it works just fine. Back in the early days of mapping, a few guys pulled laptops into the boats and set them up this way, primarily for the larger screen, and it has also been used successfully at the pro level.

Couldn't tell from OP thread if new, refurbished, or used, but can say American Legacy is a rock solid dealer/shop. They wouldn't sell anything that was knowingly wrong. Hope you get it worked out...Curados really are solid reels. If you ever do decide to part with it, you'll have no problems selling it.

Curado's are pretty much bullet proof. Certainly not an uninformed choice IMO. Sounds more like you got some type of bad deal from an eBay seller. The line spooling to one side is usually a worn pawl. External brake sticking doesn't sound right either. Sounds more like someone pawned off a used/defective reel on you. Probably too late to return. If so, I'd send it to DVT or similar and have them fix it up. If you don't want to do that, then sell it here and get a decent chunk of change back to purchase something else. As islandbass stated, they are workhorses. I've got a few that are nearly 20 years old and still going strong!

I ran Humminbird CH30 II and Eagle Mach 1 graphs...burned a lot of paper, but like you, saved the rolls for years with all kinds of notes highlighted on them. When the first LCR units came out, I thought they were crap compared to the paper graphs, so I ran paper just about until you couldn't get it any more. Lowrance finally coming out with their LMS-350A (GPS) and X-70 (non GPA) units (around 1993?) finally got me to make the change

Yes and yes...a cruising bass could easily cover that distance in just a couple minutes. Probably have some residents that just hunker down and other cruisers/packs that make sorties across such flats regularly in search of food, especially in summer when home ranges are near their largest.

Just guessing, but...back in the day, the only options available were flashers and paper graphs. "Graphs" was just a shortened and easy to use monicker that just caught on, and is much better than saying "liquid crystal recorder" or "liquid crystal display" once they eventually came out, maybe similar to Kleenex, aspirin or band-aid Similarly, guys out west that had a saltwater background still refer to their units as "meters" to this day (Any insight @WRB ).

Here's the backstory on Sabine...once anybody does something once, all the other guys end up knowing it real quick, including the ones who weren't even fishing the Elites Series back then These guys study past results and previous tournament history as much as anything else. They don't let any option/opportunity slide by, and will try and capitalize on it if it is viable. https://www.bassmaster.com/news/kriet-mcclelland-took-long-wild-ride-sabine-elite

Since we're going OT a little bit, I'll side with Tom on the 'fish eggs transported by birds' theory. Lots of biology types tend to believe this occurs, but there is very, very little in the way of actual studies to prove it. It's a polarizing subject actually, but when you lay it all out for what has to actually happen, the odds of it occuring start stacking up against it. Even two of the most experienced Pond Boss members are strongly opposed to the likelihood of it occuring. Not saying never, but certainly not to the degree that many envision. There are several other interesting and more plausible theories out there though. Here's the most recent science based piece on the subject I've come across from earlier this year: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180219103258.htm

Probably of little help, but they're they're just reels...a tool to help you do your job (catch fish). If you simply stick to any of them that have already proven the test of time, you're fine. I refer to them as "standards," and this applies to everything from line to rods/reels to baits. For baitcasters, anything 'Curado', 'Revo' or 'Pro Qualifier' depending on your budget will work great. Why that is or how they compare to anything else model-wise is irrelevant and meaningless at the beginner level (IMHO). Who cares? You shouldn't! Just buy any one of their many particular models and go fish...the fish could care less which one you use.

This is pretty much inline with my thoughts on the question...

A truckload of expensive Ranger bass boats being delivered somewhere. The engine in the pic on the top was a 250, and both rigs up there were tandem axle. Lower back was single axle glass,. and lower front one was an aluminum model.

Was able to get access to a new place to walk the bank at, so checked it out this weekend in-between passing rain showers. Got two short sessions in totaling just over 3.5 hours and managed to land over 60 bass. Caught everything on finesse worms and a spinning rod. I always enjoy fishing a new place for the first time, as each little lake is different, and it's always fun trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together, both the fishing and the biology. This one was shallower than most, had an inside and outside weedline, and a bunch of cookie cutter bass between 1.5 and 2 pounds, likely all from the same year class suggesting a possible kill event several years back. Did get a few small guys so some natural reproduction, but not many. Only a couple hookups with bigger fish this go round, so more to explore there. Also has a few stray carp in it which is interesting. Likely dropped in via an emptied bait bucket. Doesn't appear like they are doing any damage at this point.

Some fish, it just doesn't matter how you hold them - you just can't hide small

Nice channel cat that got in the way yesterday. Thought at first it was a walleye when I initially saw the light colored flash in the water - lol. Absolutely ate a jigging spoon. Could barely reach the hooks with the long nose pliers.

Nice shot from yesterday showing the thermocline setting up at 20 ft and the fish relating to it sitting just on/above that level.

A Zoom finesse worm and a little "old school" Buck Perry structure combined for 12-15 decent bass this afternoon on a local reservoir with air and water temps nearly identical at 85 degrees and a 8-10 mph breeze out of the SSE. Thermocline has set in at 19' on this lake.

Could always sell the board if it doesn't work and recoup some of the money...or just buy a v2 like slonezp mentioned.

Tom - similar to this? Gary Klein was the first pro I saw fish this way when worm or jig fishing (late 70s/early 80s). Hank also seemed to have that same (or similar) style.

This ^^ It sinks - easy to test, or simply go to Seaguar's website to get specifics on just how fast it sinks (once you break surface tension). Now the crankbait running depth thing...believe that is more myth than reality. The Precision Trolling guys tested this out extensively and found basically no difference.