OnthePotomac

If this will help, I have a MG 55lb 12V, digital variable speed on my 17'6" aluminum and I can stand on that thing all day on the Potomac in wind, current and tide and never run out of juice. I store in a state park and so the 12V battery has to come home with me each outing to get charged up and that is why I do not have a 24V TM. I use the engine to get me to a spot and then hours on the TM moving around up the big tributaries. It is a big river.

I doubt it because mine lay baking on the deck each outing in the extreme summer heat and I have always done only a clean and lube over Christmas/New Year holidays each year.

Look at the relatively new Shimano SLX for $99. It is the same size as the Curado 70 and comes in an 8.2:1 version. I have not found much that compares to my 14 year old Shimano 100B's in the $100 range, but then I have maintained them my self since purchase and they are in pristine condition. My SLX has, so far, proven to be pretty slick little reel for the price and I have worked the daylights out of it on the Potomac. P.S. Get your 100B spiffed up by DVT and you will continue to enjoy it.

I use mine on the tops of heavy grass beds and like a Mister Twister 4" chartreuse grub on my silver spoon. Their tail action is great. My preference is with a snap swivel on this and other spoons.

I have never used a tool to place an O ring. Smelly Jelly the worm and just slide on the O ring.

Wow, I think I will stick to Smelly Jelly bass feast and my boat hand wipes.?

And here is why KVD L&L works so well: Line & Lure is a special polymer blend that becomes part of the fishing line it is applied to. Other line treatments you find on the market are primarily silicone oil and solvents. Silicone oil only temporarily coats the line and solvents can damage line. Silicone oil rapidly comes off the line (on your hands and in the water), requiring re-treatment of the line after just a few casts. The special polymers in Line & Lure are hydrophobic (water repelling) and very slippery. It doesn't allow water to draw back on to the reel spool, which eliminates the line drag that a "wet" spool has. It also protects the line from wearing out as quickly as un-treated line because it resists the abrasion that wears line out. It contains no oils or solvents as in Reel Magic that can build up and collect dirt like silicone/oil treatments will. And it makes braid a whole lot easier to fish with.

Never had that problem with my MGL. There is a pressure tension spring under that cast control cap...is it there?

My three 200E7's are now nine years old and perform like they just came out of the box, but I do keep them cleaned and lubed properly myself. Nothing has ever had to be replaced in them. At the top of my Shimano reels I am crazy about along with my 14 year old Curado 100B's.

Well I will be different. I throw jigs on 15lb Invizx and it works well, but I don't have any trees or bushes to throw into.

All I have ever used for a very long time is Trilene 17lb XL for spinner baits, buzz baits, swim jigs and blade baits. Love that stuff and not expensive.

Hard to tell how the key washer on top of the drag in the drive gear would make that noise, but my first Curado K did have a badly deformed hole in it. The opening, which fits on the drive shaft, are stamped out by machine and I guess it got caddy wampass in the machine when its turn came. I sent it to Shimano and they quickly returned a new one at no charge.

You will find that some of the pros sponsored by BPS will fish occasionally with the white Carbon Lite 2.0. The one who surprised me the most was Rick Clune fishing with one. I am certainly not a pro, but my deck is covered with the Carbonlite 2.0 rods. Love them.

I have never been one to hop around on braid line since I only use it on my frog rod and besides the stuff lasts forever, so the Sufix 832 I bought several years ago is still hanging on the peg board and the original spooling on the reel has now been there three years.

You guys have to stop fishing for whales. Never had that happen to older, or newer Shimano reels and they take a beating on the Tidal Potomac.

Another one here with no trailer, but never without a 2/0 trailer hook and boy, has that ever come in handy.

Holy cow, you did not get paid enough. BTW, I had an (now deceased) uncle in Cheboygan who had a class B oil business and was fortunate to have a government contract to fuel the beautiful cutter kept there in those days. I was only 17 and we would visit them and I would make a B line to the pier to look at that thing. As much as I have always loved boats I don't know how I ended up in the field artillery.

There are several quality bearing oils on the market today, I just started with Yellow Rocket Fuel when a friend taught me how to strip and clean baitcasters many years ago and that is what he used. There are saltwater anglers and some fresh water also who only use TSI301 and 302 on all of their SS bearings. My pinion and crankshaft bearing dips have been so successful I may move in that direction also.

A-Jay, did you ever figure out the best way to mount a trolling motor on a CG cutter LOL

I check three things on the morning I am going to launch on the Potomac, Weather weather and weather each from a different weather site. To borrow a phrase from aviators modified: There are old anglers and there are bold anglers, but there are no old, bold anglers.

I do not have that bait, but I really like Mister Twister grubs on a Hopkins spoon.

I buy mine from the company who makes TSI301 and it is pricy for a can, but I sure as heck did not pay $15 to get it. A can of it will last a very, very long time just dipping a bearing in it and I even rub down my guns with it with a cotton ball. The real lubricant, TSI302 is suspended in a solvent which evaporates in seconds and this mix is TSI301, which also does some cleaning. You can also buy just the TSI302 if you wish. Any TSI product and grease of any kind are not compatible at all and until the solvent evaporates in 301 within seconds it will damage plastic. This company developed it for NASA because you cannot use oil in space. The stuff stays on metal forever and the salt water guys use it a lot on all of their bearings. https://amgas.com/prodpage.htm

I hear you, last summer I got under the console to turn the screw on the tac and could not get out. Thank goodness the wife came out to ask me something and gave me a sturdy leg pull to save the day.LOL

The dark shield on the Shimano bearing means it is anti-rust and I have never bothered to upgrade them since they are excellent bearings. I have cleaning my own Shimano reels for 16 years and have never removed the shields. I put mine in a tiny food strainer, step outside and blast them with either CRC Electronic cleaner, or Brake Kleen, give them a short soak in lighter fluid, blow dry them with a computer keyboard blower, a tiny drop of Yellow Rocket Fuel and good to go. I only use SS spool bearings. I have never felt the need for acetone to get them clean. I gave up packing my pinion bearings in grease years ago and after stripping them clean of grease initially by the same method I use for my other bearings, I dip them in TSI301 and it has worked really fine. Last year I started doing the same with my crankshaft bearings,

Honda should certainly be able to tell you what the optimum RPM is for that engine and if you pull the prop and look on either the outside edge, or the inside edge the size of the prop will be stamped. The Honda folks will also be of help in recommending a good size prop for your engine.