STK001

I think you must be right about the Laserlure name being the money difference. I held one of them in my hand at Gander the other day and was blown away by how light that rod was! I'm sold. I'm going to order the Micro 7'11 for my deep cranks. It's longer than I wanted but the light weight should more than make up for that. Thanks!

Does anyone know the difference between the red Boyd Duckett Crankin series rods(laserlure editions) and the white Micro Magic Crankin rods? I see the price is 189 for the red one and 169 for the white one.....Is there a quality or weight difference there? Thanks for your input in advance.....

I'm in the market for the same kind of deal my friend. You can get that new Bass Pro Crankin Stick for around $70 which looks like an awesome deal. For the money that Bass Pro stuff is pretty darn sweet. I have some of the Extreme rods and I really like them. You might check out those Wright and McGill Skeet Reese Rods. That crankbait rod is around $90. I have the Spinnerbait/Worm model and it's been a great spinnerbait rod......As for the reel, I'd look into spending a few more bucks and get the Curado E200, you can get it for 148 on Ebay and I promise you it's worth the extra 48 bucks to invest in over anything in the $100 catergory....you'll be happy. If you pick up a Bass Pro Crankin stick and that Curado you're looking at around $220 total.....sounds like a great combo to me. I may have talked myself into right here! ;D good luck! jmo.....

This is a great topic indeed and I'll surely take it to heart the next time I'm cranking. It's funny that I never "set the hook" but only do the sweep to keep pressure on crankbait fish....even though I've lost very few cranking I notice that a lot of the fish come off instantly once in the net. If it's only the pressure I'm putting on them that's getting them in the boat that's kind of scary! And I have lost some hogs doing this so it's going to be a good snap set the next time! Thanks

Thanks man, I will. It's funny, it hasn't been all that long since the rating on the boat we have finally changed to 175. I wouldn't mind the extra hp but I'd be happy just to get my rig working properly. Thanks again.

Thanks for your responses guys, I do appreciate it. I am smelling gas at the front of the outboard where the lines and steering cables go into it. I do smell it in the bilge which is a concern for me. I haven't done a thing to cause this of course. It's only just started over the last month so something has definitely changed. It looks like a trip to the dealer is in order. Thanks a lot.

Oh, no. I meant that I didn't end up buying from them. I bought it from a dealer in SC who had the best deal in the country that I could find on a new Triton with an Optimax 150. Drove 5 hours but saved about 3K. I just hate to have to run it to SC when it could be fixed here. Hopefully they will be kind We shall see won't we. Thanks again. I wouldn't have a clue about doing any real work on that outboard. I love boats but I have no clue how to run tests or change this or that. I'm not a mechanic or even close! I add oil and gas and fish...that's about it. Thanks!

Some other issues that can contribute to low speed is amount of gear in the boat, and Operator weight. I have a 18 ft stratos with a 150 and it tops out at 63 running 5500 RPMs. Maybe a diet is in order Well d**n, I do have 10 rods and plenty of lures but I only weigh 175....I don't think it's me!....I didn't know I had to work out too....fishing is tough! Ha!

Thanks a lot, I'll call the local dealer and see about getting it up there. Only thing is they were fairly difficult when I was interested in buying a boat and I sort of let them know how much I didn't appreciate their lack of respect and kindness....yeah, I was an ***. Hesitant to roll up in there with my boat. Ha. We'll see how it goes! Thanks again.

Let's say if I had 25K sitting around in the bank I wouldn't have payments on my boat. 6 years financed....payment=pain

Thanks, I appreciate it. I don't even know if it's finished with the break in though I would imagine I have 11 hours on it...not sure. I don't run that much really. They said once break in was finished I would notice higher rpms and speed but can't break 60 yet. My buddy's TR186 does that no problem and he has the 150 EFI. You could be right about this. I suppose a trip to the dealer is in order. 5 hours on the road. That sucks. Thanks!

One more question for you guys. I noticed that when my livewells are full that my boat will NOT come out of the hole. I have to reduce the water to half full in the wells to get going again. Found out that the pitch on my prop (25) was incorrect. Problem solved? No. We tried my buddy's 4 blade 23 pitch prop which is correct and it actually was just as bad or worse. It did give me more rpm's which is correct but not more top end(actually less) and still wouldn't get it out of the hole with full wells. Is this because there is no jackplate? It's also mounted a bit low in my opinion. There are at least two levels it could be moved up higher. Would this help at all? Thanks again fellas!

Hey Triton guys, help me out if you will. I have an 08' Triton 18X2 with the Mercury 150 Optimax. I bought it back in March and have used it at least a few times a week since then. I did get a letter from Triton a month or so ago indicating there could be some kind of gas line defect or something like that and I should have it checked out before taking it out again. Funny thing, 3 weeks ago I'm out fishing(couldn't happen to me..not my boat!) and we smell GAS. It's been smelling up my compartments and everything...who knows anything that might help me get this solved? Is it something I can do myself? Thanks guys! I appreciate it!

I certainly understand what you're saying about "wanting to catch em' on a particular bait so badly". I wish my spinnerbait was producing like it was back in the spring myself!! I doubt many of us can say we haven't thought about it or felt the exact same way. As far as deep cranking is concerned I think the first thing is building confidence in the bait. Of course that goes with any bait. I too was frustrated with deep cranks and had almost given up on it until a couple of months ago. I knew I was in an area that this presentation should work and bam! I caught two nice fish in two casts with my DD22. Now that's exciting. Here lately that's been the only bait that I've wanted to fish and can't wait to pick up once I'm on the water. It's been producing! It will for you too. And of course, as much as you want it to work on a particular trip, if it isn't working where it should it's time to go with what is! It's never too disappointing to catch fish even if it's not on the bait you want to catch them on! Good luck. Work that crank on rock bluffs and points and bang the heck out of it. You will catch fish. It will take patience but it will happen.

I've used the War Eagle to catch almost every fish over the last month and a half. I use the White 3/8 Tandem Willow Gold/Silver blade combination. I swear by this Spinnerbait all year! It's better than any spinnerbait I've seen for consistently catching fish. I've caught a ton of largemouth on it this year as well as catfish, stripers, and big crappie.....This bait is really hard to beat! I wouldn't use any other spinnerbait...well, I do like the Karu spinnerbaits too...don't use them often but I like them.

Never tried that stuff but I hear it just isn't as good...if you know first hand that it works can you recommend one to use?

Anyone have any idea where I can get my hands on some of these? Thanks in advance!

Thanks, that's great to know! I'll find out. Don't want to damage the Opti...Thanks for all of your help!! I really do appreciate it!

I just looked and it's a Tempest Plus prop with a 25 pitch...I spoke to a guy from Mercury earlier and he told me I should probably be running with only one of the three plugs in the prop...Why wouldn't they have one of the lowest pitch props on there to begin with anyway? Should I go back and ask them to switch it out?

where do you usually fish these? Points? Rip Rap? Docks? all of these? Where can I find these jig heads? Does Gander or dicks carry them? Thanks in advance! Oh yeah, my home lake is Smith Mountain...we don't have pads or grass mats, we have rock, brush, and more rock and brush for the most part.....lots of docks too....

The E5 is sweet and very versatile. I love it! You will too!

Good info guys, I appreciate it. I can imagine that a pike would thrash that bait after what I've seen the bass do to it. It's funny, I caught a big cat the other evening and I thought , oh no..it's done..but it didn;t even put a bend in it. I was still mad that it was catfish though! As far as Terminator goes that was pretty much the only spinnerbait I would buy for a long time and they always produced. Last Thursday at Smith Mtn(my home lake) I was catching quite a few fish on my last War Eagle and it finally broke on a fish...I was crushed. I did get the blades back...took a terminator and added the War Eagle blades but It made no difference. I got one short strike and nothing after that. I bought more War Eagles at 7.00 a piece and have been catching fish ever since...I'm not throwing my Terminators out just yet though Good fishing everyone!

Thanks everyone, I appreciate it. I guess I'm looking at a 5 hour drive to SC unless I can figure something out on my own... I will check it out. I didn't have a chance to look at last night, too worn out..just lazy I guess. I'm not sure what the pitch is, not that familiar with these technical things. How do I find out? Yes, I'm ready for more RPM's indeed. The whole rig was $31,095.00 with a LMS-520C added to the console and the X-135 moved to the bow. I was just curious about the price since yours had the ProXS. I think I got a pretty good deal, I ended paying 25K for mine with the LMS520C at the console. It came with the best feature package available but still no finder at the bow which bugs me. I picked up a used Garmin that will do the trick but haven't had it put in yet...need to do that soon!

I absolutely love War Eagle Spinnerbaits. I haven't found a more productive spinnerbait yet. I know they designed it to flex a bit more than most to add vibration but the wires bend up so easily and eventually break. A fish broke one of mine the other day. Now I remember last fall when I was paying around 4.00 at Sportsmans Warehouse. Okay, they catch fish, no biggie....but now they are frickin' 7.00 a piece at Gander Mtn. SW closed here sadly. What happened to drive the price up so much? Even BPS is asking 6.29...Anyone know what happened here? Walmart has a few off colors and off sizes for around 5.70 but not what I need...

Thanks a lot, I do appreciate it. Yeah, I tell you, I'm still only getting about 5100 rpms trimmed out and WOT, got about 60 out of it but I feel it should give a little more. I think I must still be in the break in period anyway, not 11 full hours on the outboard yet I wouldn't think...not sure how that is figured. I would like the smartcraft gauges to put on it. I'll take a look at that prop. I agree that I shouldn't have problems getting out of the hole with full wells...that is what it's designed for. I do like the boat though, been using it quite a bit. I hope you're loving yours. I know you have that 175 ProXS Opti. What did you have to give for your rig if you don't mind me asking? You can send me a PM if you're more comfortable with that....