zerofivenismo

Welcome aboard.

Try to give Loomis a call for a free replacement tip guide. If it was a cheap/old rod, I'd pick up a replacement kit. But since it's a quality rod, I'd go rather go OEM.

I had a HSTA. Fine reel...easy to cast (never tried light baits tho), good distance, and smooth retrieve, but it was a bit wide for my mini-hands to comfortably palm. Traded the HSTA for an e7 and never looked back.

Hello and welcome!

There was no point in planning strategy or working a pattern. it was just cast and pray... That's my gameplan everytime I go fishing. Just curious...why were boats present at a bank only tourney? Thanks for the story and pics.

Another fix for your leak would be aluminum welding rods from the likes of harbor freight and northern tool for approx $15. You can weld using a propane torch. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=44810 Good luck!

Hello and welcome!

Welcome aboard Chris!

Welcome aboard from KS.

Welcome to BR. Keep taking your girls out and make it a fun experience for them, and they'll be hooked sooner than you think. My girl is only 1 so what do I know. :-/

I agree with thoroughly going over the boat and trailer. I'd go no less than a 42" bottom width jon boat for stability purposes. I would skip out on the outboards, and look for a working OB. Those non-running OB's could be easily repaired or real money suckers. Starting out is already expensive enough, so you need to allocate your funds towards registration, saftey equipment, batteries, rope, anchor, etc to get off the banks (your main goal) rather than pumping dollars in getting an OB up and running. The 3.5 merc is way too underpowered for your vessel. Just my opinion, but putzing around with a 3.5 hp OB is an overstatement. Recommend you to check out youtube to get a ballpark idea how fast you'll be rolling with a 3, 5, 9.9, 15, 20+hp OB. Also verify if the transom is designed for a short or long shaft OB. I have a 14' jon with a 15hp OB and modded with large front deck and floors. I fish waters ranging from 30 ac - 400 ac. It scoots along just fine, but more hp is always disired. Good luck getting the boat monkey off!

I went with submersible LED's @ wallyworld and never looked back. Just don't the have time to fiddle around with blown bulbs, corrosion, and leaking issues.

Welcome. Bass-fever is great!

welcome to br.

Welcome. It's a numbers game. The more you get out fishing and learning, the more you'll catch'em.

Welcome to BR.

I love my Bandit Footloose and Storm Subwart cranks. Have multiple bluegill and baby bass patterns in both brands. Of course, they're not as detailed as custom jobs or LC's, but they're still excellent for the $4 dollar range.

I use zip ties for my foot controlled tm mounted ducer. I zip tie the ducer cord pretty tight onto the tm but leave the cord a little loose in areas that requires movement for turning and tilting. IMO, it looks pretty clean and uncluttered.

I find the nearest rod and go Bo Jackson on it. Then I craw into the back of the boat and get in the fetal position and weep. Then tell everyone that I stuck a monster that broke my rod in 5 places. Cheer up and get back at'em.

What everybody says. Avid = excellent rod. I've traded and sold quite a few of my rods, but I never thought about off-loading my Avids. You cannot go wrong with an Avid.

I have the Stradic FI 1000 and it casts great and retrieval is silky smooth. Minimizes line twist quite well too. I mainly use it for panfish with 6lb test, but I'm sure the 2500's performance is the same. Had a bad exp with 2 Saros. Casting distance is similar to the Stradic FI. Fast and moderate retrieval was fine, but slow retrieval was not as smooth; I experienced a bit of resistance during slow cranking. Thought it was a lemon and exchanged it for another Saros, but with the same results. So I exchanged it for the Stradic FI. Never looked back. Also have Sahara spinning which I'm quite fond of. Sustain FE is too much $$ for me.

Yes, buy some. I use 10, 12, & 15 lb test on BC reels. I just picked up 2 spools at Cabela's and apparently you get $6 mail-in rebate when you buy 2 spools. Probably get the check some time in November.

That kind of defeats the purpose of the portable boat doesn't it ? I was thinking along those lines as well. Big ups to the mods. But IMO boat monkey just went rabid. One mod lead to another....and in the end you have a couple grand in a portabote. To each its own.

Welcome aboard.

I'll be the first one to wish you great success to you and your boy this weekend. Hope you guys slay'em.