webertime

Be careful with the added weight of the bigger hooks adversely affecting the action. I use a tip up retrieve. I let fish tell me what speed.

I'd still go with a Tatula for $110-140

Sierra and Savy are the same blank. Different guides and cosmetics. $200 for a Jig rod? Daiwa Tatula or St Croix Avid. Or find a lightly used Champion XP 744.

Great and very popular hull. Glass Transom and potentially stringers at that age. Has the Ranger deck insert. Pro-Tec products should bring back that gel coat. It's a 26 year old boat it'll have a bit of haze. 4 Blades are popular on the 300 series (and MANY other) boats in the North/Big water areas as they bite a bit more and help in chop. Windshields are still available for something like $60-100 I can't remember for sure. I can see the aftermarket stuff that shows the guy cared about it's fishability (Ninja Grassblade, Aftermarket TM handle). The bench seat is $$$$$$$$ from Ranger, the skins are like $300-400. Bassboatseats.com has a black Friday sale where you can get a pair of buckets and coin box for less that the Ranger skins. I'd just run the seats until then. I paid $3k for my 88 374 with no Talon and Hieroglyphics for graphs (but a Merc XR4) 4 years ago. Assuming there are no issues the $5500 is a good price.

I'll ask around here for you man, let me know if you still need one.

I think Skeeters are definitely more bang for the buck and the SHO is a great motor. Rangers are mostly Merc, with substantial upcharges for Evinrudes and Yamahas. I've heard a lot of stories of Ranger's CS slipping due to the White River (JM) purchase. I've also seen Skeeters and their magical screws on basically every one I've been in (Screw drops on the floor from somewhere and nobody can figure out where it came from). Dealer is most important for sure, even more important is a good mechanic at the dealer. I have a Ranger (got an amazing deal on it). If I did it again, I'd go with a Phoenix or a Falcon, and I'd run a Honda...

The GT Transducers had their production stopped when the Lowrance Suit started and they went with the CV Transducers. Once the suit was settled they announced they would be re-introducing the GT series. Seems that the initial production run has been delayed. Still a bummer, but not uncommon.

I have owned 4,5, and 6 power Phenix blanks. The 5 is most similar to a MH St Croix for your reference.

I'm of the no skirt persuasion myself. I could see perhaps if you were in a lake with no slender baitfish, that the skirt would make a swimbait a bit more panfishy (water displacement and profile), but that's it. I do think it's 99% confidence when it all comes down to whether someone uses one or not.

BG is the spinning equivalent to the Fuego CT in my eyes.

Clear a couple things up. A Daiwa 3000 is huge, 2500 or 2000 sized for bass fishing. A 4000 Shimano is not the same as a 3000. The 3000 and 2500 shimano are the same except for a deeper spool and larger knob on the 3000. BG is amazing

Well... The force of the fish pulling the line out is equal to the torque you are putting on the fish during the retrieval, when the drag is slipping. Holding line in one hand and pulling the line out of the reel has one variable you are missing... nobody is turning the handle... Having heard this same story from many others in my area and rebuilding their reels (dozens), I have never seen a case that sounds like this be anything other than an issue with the drag stack (wet, dirty, oily, worn out). Damaged gears don't mesh... you feel that immediately. Metal shavings inside an all metal reel get you 2 things... noise (shavings hitting frame/sideplates etc. OR they get caught up in grease and jam up in the components... which you would feel.

Sounds like drag, a sheared gear would show up on the casts/retrieves before and after the fish. I had a big old smallie do the same to my OG Fuego a week ago. We just laughed at how it was now a fair fight between 270lbs of me and 5lbs of anger. I replace the drag and was good to go.

Bone is the best color for sure. One Knocker VS Rattles? The fish will tell you, I for one see a lot more of the one knocker getting thrown, the rattling version is sort of a change up that can give the fish a bit of a change of pace for sure.

Fuegos have that extended spool axle like tatula. The 1016 spool is a free floating spool (no extended axle). I guess you could try and see if the spool fit the frame first, then take the brown shaft out from under the cast control cap of the t3 and see if the Fuego frame could accept it. I don't think it will though. Without that, even if the spool fit, you'd have no cast control tension.

Once you hit 75mph+ in a bass boat you won't feel the need to go much faster. 75+ is attainable in many modern boats with no "tweaks". I know of a Phoenix 721 with a flashed 250 Yammy SHO on it that hits 84mph. 2 Outboards is twice the maintenance and gas $$$$.

Those look Hydro Dipped. Essex makes reel seats with a "better" looking carbon print. You can get them from Custom Rod Components. There are 2 spinning models with carbon checkerboard type pattern

I live in that area...

They are everywhere on Champlain. A buddy the scuba dives says that he's watched them obliterate schools of Perch right in front of him. There are islands that have had most of the trees die or have a grey/white glaze all over them. Do manage to smack one with the boat every now and then though (they pop out of the water to a "thump").

Mend-It as previously stated Boil cheaper baits. If you know what you are doing you can boil just sections of the bait to help with the action, while maintaining the harder head area for jigheads and screwlocks. Find a custom pourer that can make you a bulk order that is cheaper than Keitech. That all being said... Love me some Keitechs.

Do you have Navionics on your phone? If you do ($10 if you don't) then there is your mapping. Then in the Short term you have your maps and the Piranha you get temp, depth, and can quickly figure out bottom composition based on the return. That is all you really need. It might be a good political move (with wife) to run that for a bit like that. Upgrade in a few months when 2019 stuff comes out, that's when you cash out the political escrow you've created.

If you are running a 9 and 10 on your Crestliner, check the starting battery, if you have a small cranking battery you might have an issue. There are a ton of opinions on what you should/could do. The idea of no finder up front where you are spending most of your time, seems like a bad idea. You have the ipilot stuff, put a 9 up front and get a basic (for the time being) 5 or 7 (GPS/Sonar) for the console. Your face is going to be what 2 feet from it? It'll do the job until you can afford to go bigger (you might even be happy with what you have). I have an 18' Ranger with 2 7" Garmin units. I'm 6'5" so my eyes are probably further away from the screen than yours would be... 7" is fine. I catch a bunch of fish, I am competitive in tournaments, regardless of my screen size. If you have the coin then go for it, but don't feel that it will make a huge difference. Confidence and making the right decisions is what catches fish.

There's also a bit of a Yamaha shortage currently. It might be just SHO's though. What's he running now? Rebuilding might be a good idea for some motors, but others become money pits (more so than they already are). How for is Weida's Marine in Kentucky.

A lot of the swimbaiters that do the youtube, social media stuff, use this camera: SJCAM Action Camera SJ4000 WiFi Wireless Chipset Novatek 96655 4x Digital Zoom Full HD 1080P Sport Waterproof 30m Extra 2 BatterieS https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VFVUAMQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_vsl2AbJDEC8CZ

The taxidermist in Milton has the fish.