curtis9

I never go out without a spinner bait tied on.

Where'd you get those? I could use a couple for carrying rods from the basement?

I'm a mechanical engineer. I was in a similar situation in school as you. I nearly failed out. What saved me was finding a group of friends to do homework and study with. We met everyday after classes and worked on homework, then went to office hours to discuss anything we couldn't figure out on our own. Ended up on the Deana list for my last 5 semesters and got an assistance ship which paid for grad school. I wouldn't bother with the AS degree in engineering, too many companies expect a BS and MS now. I'm currently working in design in the energy industry. Primarily desk work now though we test every week or 2 and get to the field a few times a year. I've also worked as a manufacturing engineer which kept me on my feet all day. If I had to do it over I would have started as a field engineer and traveled for a few years prior to the family and saved up a bunch of money. Those guys work hard, but they're paid well.. Good luck to you and feel free to contact me.

I buy most of my gear on ebay, just do your homework and you shouldn't have any issues

You won't be too far from Hartwell, Jocassee, and Keowee, which are all great Lakes.

Go with PBR if your looking for a light beer the hip crowd will approve of.

I like the 70 much better than the 200. I never could get comfortable with the 200. I've been using the 70 for a few weeks now, and it's a great reel, but I still prefer the 50e series reels. With the 70 I feel like I'm always adjusting the brakes with lure changes, while the 50s are all set up the same. The 70s are cheap enough online, that if you like the 200, it's worth trying.

I used a jersey lanyard so I could connect to my wrist since I wore my life jacket all the time. I found that more convenient than connecting to my jacket everytime.

I've got the Columbia drainmaker and have been very happy with them.

Our new house has a basement so I'm working on a fishing room down there. Here's the start of my organizing.

Chrome is your web browser, earth is a stand alone program.

The historical maps are only in Google earth, you can't see them using the online maps, so you'll need to download Google Earth again.

What material is the reel made out of?

Congrats. The wife and I moved into our dream home 2 years ago, it's an awesome feeling coming home to a place you love everyday

I'd go with the 4 $200 rods and expand as my budget allowed. I had a large arsenal of cheaper rods and ended up selling the majority of them once I purchased a few more expensive rods. Ended up costing a lot more money than if I would have bought the expensive rods in the first place.

Finished laying carpet and installed the rod holders. Took the boat out today, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. The rod holders make a big difference

I took a family photo this afternoon.

If you want to spend money to upgrade a reel, look for a shallow spool. You'll notice a big benefit from that.

Typically just cleaning and oiling the bearings that came with the reel will give you some inprovement, but I agree with roadwarrior, I've never seen the benefit from upgrading bearings.

You want to check out the 852s as well. It will do well with those applications. Just depends on if you want the extra fast rip or not.

If you search enough you may find an older ci4 or ci4+ on clearance for less than $150. I doubt you'll find the new model. Unless you need the weight savings the FJ is s great reel and can be found under your budget and will allow you to spend a little more on your rod.

I use the Plano speed bag worm files. Holds 10-15 bags of plastics and zips closed. I'm not sure what your going to find to easily carry 50 bags bank fishing.

Can you use a mirror to see the lights, or just snap a photo with your phone?

I don't have any experience with the panfish series, but I'm a huge St Croix fan.

Academy has a kayak cart for around $30. You probably can't build anything for much less than that.