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Happy fishing!

As far as I've heard, when a state outlaws lead it's the purchase, not the use. Don't know about Mass.

Looks great. Have fun!

I tend to run with you, Outdoorsman. For slow moving bottom baits I generally use a high vis line. Most other applications take a low vis moss green or clear.

I have a soft spot for the old Bantam Shamano 150 and 250 reels. I own more than a bakers dozen of them. For one thing I like to back-reel when fighting a big fish and the Bantam lets me do that. I own several newer reels and while the Bantam isn't quite as smooth and doesn't cast quite s far as the newer ones, I've fished them since they 1st came out and never had one go bad.

Jig Spinnerbait 2 cranking rods(rigged with bass snaps or swivel snaps) Worm 2 spinning rods(one for drop-shotting)

Had one of the originals. Wasn't worth snot.

I use 4/0 for most applications and can buy BPS hooks 20 for 6 bucks. That's why I use em and have never had any trouble stickin fish. For smaller plastics like Robo Worms I use TruTurn, usually about size 1.

My guess is that whole business with 60hp minus people weighs 1400lbs.

Determining visibility is easy. Tie something bright (white) to your line. Drop it over the side and see how far down it goes before it disappears. Crystal clear water is usually not a fisherman's best friend. Technology is the easy way to discover the bottom and its depth. It can also be done with a Carolina rig or a jig. Tie one or the other on and start casting. You should be able to tell the difference between sand, mud, pebbles and rock. You will also discover cover such as logs, stumps, rockpiles, sunken boats.... Structure, the contours of the pond, is a little harder with this method. And no, there wont always be cover. If that's the case the fish will be holding on slight differences in structure.

I've been fishing more years than I care to admit with either 10# mono or fluro in open water and the same with 14# in heavy cover.

Yeah, I've had that happen once when I was hung up (Senko) in some rocks and the fish pulled it free. Several times I've had hang ups dangling in the brush and had fish come out of the water for it.

4/0 but it won't fit all.

Mine is a Tracker PT 185 with a Mod v hull that will idle in 9". Very comfortable in semi-rough water. I would think a Tracker 17, which I believe has a flater hull, would go a few inches shallower.

X2 on the Umqua.

Had the same problem. My first solution was to leave the long slack and secure the wire at both ends with silicon and tie wraps. Had endless problems with the wire at the lower end when stowing the motor. 2nd solution: move transducer to the back of the boat. 3rd solution: get rid of the V2.

Looks huge to me. Congrats.

This is slightly off topic. So Oregon locals are not exactly bass happy. We have a gin clear lake with a number of docks that LM hang around and under. I've heard the locals call them brown trout.

Get real. I'm too embarrassed to say.

Never had a tungsten line fraying problem. The line hole is nylon [or something] coated.

I wouldn't call the doc and the latex glove exactly boring.

Another from So Oregon.

I buy steelhead. Here[Oregon]steelhead tend to lose some of the bright colors of trout. But then state law makes it easy. Anything over 16" is considered steelhead whether it's been to sea or not.

I think you missed roadwarrior's point about "trolling" your line. If you're not sure what that is, just remove all tackle and stream most of the line out behind the boat. That wil remove all kinks and coils no matter how you have spooled the reel. If you don't have a boat, find a stream and run the line down the rapids.

I'll say that's nice. Congrats.